A battle formation used by the soldiers of Númenor and Gondor. When faced with a force still in the process of arraying its troops, the Númenóreans would quickly form themselves into a wedge-shaped formation and charge into the disorganised lines of their enemy, breaking apart their ranks. This tactic took its name from the shape of the formation: nernehta is Quenya for 'man-spearhead'. The same tactical move was also known less formally by its Sindarin name, as a dírnaith.
Notes
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Our only reference to the nernehta is as a theoretical possibility available to Isildur in III 2. Beyond that, its history is unknown, though at that date early in the Third Age it had evidently been established among Númenórean soldiery for some time. Similarly, we have no information about how long the use of the nernehta lasted into the Third Age.
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- Updated 4 April 2023
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