All 4 Uses of
vanguard
in
The Return of the King
- The vanguard passed through the trenches of fire by many devious paths that had been left between them.†
Chpt 5.4 *
- 'Surely,' he cried, 'this is the greatest jest in all the history of Gondor: that we should ride with seven thousands, scarce as many as the vanguard of its army in the days of its power, to assail the mountains and the impenetrable gate of the Black Land!†
Chpt 5.9
- The vanguard passed on through the ruins of Old Gondor, and over the wide River, and on up the long straight road that in the high days had been made to run from the fair Tower of the Sun to the tall Tower of the Moon, which now was Minas Morgul in its accursed vale.†
Chpt 5.10
- But Gandalf and Aragorn rode with the vanguard to the entrance of Morgul Vale and looked on the evil city.†
Chpt 5.10
Definitions:
-
(1)
(vanguard) the leading position in any movement or field
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
More rarely, vanguard is used in a military context to specifically refer to units moving at the head of an army.