Part of the outer defences of Minas Tirith, two towering forts built by the Gondorians in the wall of the Rammas Echor to guard the eastern entrance to the Pelennor Fields, some twelve miles from Minas Tirith. From their gate a raised road known simply as the Causeway led on across wide river flats to reach Osgiliath on the Anduin, and it was from this roadway that the Causeway Forts took their name.
During the War of the Ring, the invading army of Mordor passed along the Causeway out of the ruins of Osgiliath. At the Forts, soldiers of Gondor tried to mount a defence, but the invaders used a device of fire and smoke to break down the guarding towers and so pass on into the heartland of Gondor.
Notes
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The Causeway Forts were connected with the Rammas Echor, the Wall of the Pelennor. It seems reasonable, therefore, to assume that the forts were built at the same time as the wall. We're not told exactly when that was, but the weight of evidence suggests the year III 2984 or shortly thereafter (see note 1 to the entry for the Rammas Echor for the reasoning behind this date).
Of course, it is not impossible that the forts already existed when the wall was built, and were simply incorporated into its structure. The Causeway from Osgiliath must have already existed when the wall was built, so it is not implausible that it had forts to guard it. If this possibility is correct, then the forts might have been built much earlier than III 2984, and perhaps even dated back to the earliest days of Gondor.
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- Updated 14 June 2024
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