If you see the moon sinking towards the west as the sun climbs in the east this morning (2021 March 6), you may be seeing them as they were over the victory of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
T.A. 3019 March 10 (S.R. 1419 Rethe 10) was called the “Dawnless Day” because of the darkness that started flowing out of Mordor on the 9th. The gloom kept the region around Minas Tirith in darkness even through March 14 (Rethe 14) when it was besieged, and the City was nearly taken just before dawn on the 15th when the Witch-king broke through the gates; but the Rohirrim came at dawn and turned the tide of the battle. They couldn’t win the battle on their own, however, and things turned for the worse after King Théoden fell. Though Merry and Éowyn defeated the Witch-king, saving Théoden from an even worse fate, the armies of Mordor continued their assault.
It was even as the day thus began to turn against Gondor and their hope wavered that a new cry went up in the City, it being then mid-morning, and a great wind blowing, and the rain flying north, and the sun shining…
Thus came Aragorn son of Arathorn, Elessar, Isildur’s heir, out of the Paths of the Dead, borne upon a wind from the Sea to the kingdom of Gondor; and the mirth of the Rohirrim was a torrent of laughter and a flashing of swords, and the joy and wonder of the City was a music of trumpets and a ringing of bells.
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King, “The Battle of the Pelennor Fields“
It’s probably no surprise that the Moon was not mentioned in the story for this battle. I’m sure no one paused to take note of what the Moon was doing during one of the most epic events in the history of Middle-earth, but in fact the Moon would have entered its third quarter less than half a day before this morning (since it should correspond with the moon of 1942 March 10), and it wouldn’t set this day until about an hour before noon (unless the White Mountains got in the way before then).
So after the gloom of Mordor was cleared away by the south-west wind and Aragorn’s fleet arrived at mid-morning, then the Sun would have been climbing in the east while the Moon was sinking towards the west, pretty much as depicted below. Not only did the wind speed Aragorn’s fleet to Minas Tirith in time for them to win the day, it also cleared the sky to reveal the Sun and Moon in time for them to witness this victory in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
The Shire Reckoning Project 