Ruled by Gondor for thousands of years, Isengard was home to the Tower of Orthanc, a 500 foot
tall, impenetrable tower built by the Dunedain, where they stored many of the treasures brought
from the kingdom of Numenor.
As their power declined and the northern population dwindled, most significantly after the great
plague of 1636, Gondor withdrew resources from the region, closing Orthanc and sending
its keys to the capital Minas Tirith.
Despite the difficult circumstances, they attempted to retain control by creating the
hereditary title Lord of Isengard and charging this noble line to maintain a permanent garrison
outside the tower.
For many years this worked well, but as Gondor’s influence continued to lessen, the people
of Isengard developed friendships with the Dunlendings of the west, relatively primitive
hill-men considered enemies of the Dunedain.
When Gondor withdrew their people from Calenardhon, it was the Dunlendings who moved in to settle
the land, mixing with whoever remained.
Yet they acted without Gondor’s permission and so when the land was later given to the
Northmen, they founded the Kingdom of Rohan, uprooting and driving the Dunelendings back
into the west.
While Rohan went on to enjoy a golden Age of Prosperity, the Dunlendings now considered
them the enemies, further strengthening their relations with the men of Isengard who shared
a disdain for the northmen.
Yet even so, Isengard remained loyal to Gondor for many more years, until at last a combination
of unfortunate events led to their downfall.
Not only did the Lord of Isengard’s bloodline die out with no more heirs, but the Stewards
of Gondor lost all interest in this far away colony, no longer checking up on them at all.
Now ruled by a council of the highest ranking Dunedain warriors, the population of Isengard
further intermixed with the Dunlendings, allowing to settles outside the walls.
Events then culminated in 2710, when the Dunlendings seized control of Isengard, and killed any
remaining loyalists who refused to surrender.
As Gondor was unable to spare any of their forces, Isengard became a Dunlending realm,
openly hostile to the horselords of Rohan, who were on the decline from their golden
age and so lacked the strength to take them head on, instead merely sending riders to
defend their western holdings.
In the coming decades, conflict escalated not only in Rohan, but also Eriador further
north, where in 2740 they faced an Orc invasion.
Fortunately, the warriors called Rangers, descended from the Dunedain of Arnor, continued
to patrol and defend their ancient homelands, beating back enemy forces.
Yet even so, their victory was incomplete, as a band of orcs led by King Golfimbul of
Mount Gram slipped passed them to find the prosperous realm of the shire, ripe for conquest.
Sounding the alarm, Bandobras Took, the legendary hobbit hero rallied their defences, resulting
in the Battle of the Greenfields in 2747.
Despite many centuries of peace in the shire, and little to no combat experience, the hobbits
fought valiantly and defeated the orcs, with Bandobras striking off the head of their king.
By the following year in 2748, Eriador was largely free of Orc influence once more.
Returning south, the Kingdom of Rohan continued to struggle with Dunlending raids in the west,
while also facing domestic troubles at home.
Born of mixed northmen and dunlending blood, the noble lord Freca made his lands in Adorn
rich and prosperous to the point where he felt no need to attend councils or obey commands
from King Helm in Edoras.
Claiming descent from King Freawine who ruled a century earlier, Freca was proud and ambitious,
travelling to the capital in 2754 with a retinue of men hoping to pressure them into arranging
a marriage between Helm’s daughter and his son Wulf.
Yet Helm was a mighty warrior in no way intimidated, instead rejecting the proposal with insults
and disrespect.
Enraged, Freca spoke harshly in return prompting the king to strike him dead with a blow so
fierce he earned the nickname hammerhand.
Upon the death of their leader, Wulf and the men of Adorn were declared enemies of rohan,
leading them to take refuge with the Dunlendings who accepted them warmly.
Four years later in 2758, Wulf son of Freca, was in command of Isengard and ready to take
his revenge.
Allying with other enemies of Gondor and Rohan, the Corsairs of Umbar and their Haradrim supporters
invaded from the south, while Wulf led the Dunlending of Isengard to war in the north.
With Gondor distracted and unable to send reinforcements, Wulf led his people to great
victories, winning the battle of the Fords of Isen, before capturing the capital of Edoras,
slaying Helm’s eldest son Prince Haleth, and taking the Golden Hall of Medusled where
he declared himself King.
Driven into exile, Helm Hammerhand retreated to the fortress of the Hornburg where they
were besieged.
To make matters worse, the region then suffered through 5 months of extreme cold called the
Long Winter, devastating both sides of the conflict.
Facing starvation in the Hornburg, Helm’s last remaining son Hama led a group of men
outside the walls in search of food but never returned.
Devastated by the loss of his kingdom and both his sons, Helm Hammerhand dedicated wherever
remained of his life to causing as much damage to their enemy as possible, beginning with
the psychological damage of blowing a great warhorn every night to announce his coming.
He then crept out of the hornburg alone, dressed in white to stalk and silently kill as many
as possible.
Night after night, Helm blew the horn and terrorized the enemy camp, until at last he
succumbed to famine and cold, freezing to death in a fighting stance.
With the southern invasion defeated and Long Winter at an end, Gondor at last sent reinforcements
North, where they combined with what remained of Rohan’s army hiding in Dunharrow to drive
out Dunlending forces.
With the king and his sons dead, leadership fell to Helm’s nephew Frealaf, born to his
younger sister Hild, another mighty warrior who personally led a raid into Edoras where
he killed King Wulf and liberated the capital.
Clearing the land of enemies, the combined armies of Rohan and Gondor laid siege to Isengard
and starved out the last remaining Dunlendings, after which the land was given to the wizard
Saruman, along with the keys to the Tower Orthanc, in the hopes this powerful ally might
help keep Rohan safe in the future.
While Saruman concerned himself with the great realms of the south, the wizard Gandalf was
more concerned with the fate of his Hobbit friends in the Shire, and so spent the Long
Winter helping them survive.