Previously in our series on the War of the Ring in the Middle-Earth universe we talked about the
beginning of the war for Rohan, as Isengard, now allied with Mordor, attacked the horselords at
the battles of Isen, taking over the crossing and pouring its forces into the country. As many times
before, the Rohirrim retreated to the Helm’s Deep, where their fate and possibly the fate of all good
peoples of the Middle-Earth will be decided. Making such life or death gambles would have
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While Gandalf was looking for Erkenbrand in hopes to reinforce Théoden, the king was leading
what forces he had and the civilian population towards Helm’s Deep, and although Saruman had
a chance to attack their column, he knew that the noose was now tightening around the Rohan,
and planned to destroy the Sons of Eorl for good and all within the Hornburg. Despite
being advised by Grima that the walls of the fortress were impenetrable, the sorcerer through
his sorcery had devised a solution: the Fires of Orthanc - immensely destructive explosives.
If placed in the weak spot of the Deeping Wall, a culvert that allowed water to pass from the
Glittering Caves out of the fortress, the Fires of Orthanc would destroy it. While the armies of
Rohan and Isengard were on their way to fight a decisive battle at the Helm’s Deep, the ancient
race of Ents was deliberating what actions they should take and after three days the Entmoot
decided that they would attack Isengard in what came to be known as the Last March of the Ents.
Théoden arrived at Helm’s Deep and met with the commander of the fortress in the
absence of Erkenbrand, Gamling the Old who had a force of thousand defenders of varying quality
as the majority of the finest fighters had followed Erkenbrand to the Fords.
With the forces of Théoden, the Rohirrim numbered just under three thousand soldiers,
allowing for the defences to be fully manned. Saruman’s army consisted of Uruk-Hai,
the Wild Men of Dunland, Orcs and Half-Orcs and due to casualties suffered at the Fords
was reinforced prior to arrival meaning the ten thousand Uruk-Hai and their auxiliary forces
arrived on the 3rd of March. Despite the best preparations of those now standing
atop the walls of the Hornburg, the situation remained a desperate one, causing Legolas to
finally turn aside the lifelong enmity of the Elves towards their Dwarven counterpart
and speak faithfully to his companion, “But you comfort me, Gimli, I'm glad to have you standing
nigh with your stout legs and your hard axe. I wish there were more of your kin among us.
But even more would I give for a hundred good archers of Mirkwood.” Newly made friends decided
to test each other’s mettle by counting the enemies they would kill in the upcoming battle.
The battle began with the Uruks attacking the first line of defences of Hornburg known as the
Helm’s Dike. This was an ancient trench and rampart about a quarter of a mile below the
fortress and stretched for a mile or more across the valley. It was immensely steep in some places
reaching twenty feet high at its peak and the gap in the middle was also extremely wide,
allowing for Théoden’s rearguard to exact heavy casualties before abandoning the fortification.
They were able to fill the trench with the corpses of Uruks and men of Dunland
before retreating back to the fortress proper. Passing the dike, the Uruks launched a hail
of crossbow bolts and arrows at the fortress but received no reply. Deceived by the eerie
silence of the defenders they approached the fortifications and were surprised by a hail of
arrows and rocks forcing them to lose cohesion and break ranks. Yet even in this disordered state and
despite heavy losses, the weight of their numbers allowed them to push forward and assault the main
gate using tree trunks as battering rams. The gate barely held creaking and buckling under
the pressure. Requiring time to shore up their defences Théoden sent an advance party of Aragorn,
Gimli and Éomer through a small side gate and out on to the Causeway in order to buy time.
The ploy was successful and the heroes managed to cause casualties, but then were counterattacked.
As Aragorn and Éomer attempted to retreat through the side gate,
the horse lord was set upon by several Orcs and if not for the intervention of Gimli would have been
slain. Dwarf's timely attack pushed the enemy back yet again, allowing the trio to retreat.
Despite the best attempts of the uruk-hai, the gate was still standing,
so the attacking force hefted hundreds of ladders up against the Deeping Wall
and set about scaling the sprawling fortification. The defenders who were already exhausted by the
persistent fighting at this point, threw back assault after assault upon the battlements.
Again, seeing the valour of men, a number of smaller Orcs were sent by their Uruk
commanders to crawl through the culvert and attack the defenders from behind. Gimli and
Gamling led a company of men from the Westfold and slaughtered the Orcs who had crawled through
bringing Gimli’s tally to twenty-one kills while Legolas now had twenty-four.
The company then set about blocking the culvert with stones and rocks to prevent such an attack,
however it is at this point that the sorcery of Saruman played its part.
Placing the Firs of Orthanc by the wall, a berserker was sent to set it ablaze.
Although Legolas did the best he could with his bow, he wasn't able to bring down the torchbearer
in time. The explosion brought down the culvert along with a large part of the Deeping Wall,
leaving Gimli and his company isolated while also bringing the fortress’ defences to its knees.
A massive host of Uruk-Hai poured through the breach and the defenders on the ground
led by Gimli, Éomer and Gamling were pushed back into the Glittering Caves. Meanwhile
Aragorn and Legolas who were atop the wall at the time of the explosion
engaged in a fighting retreat towards the Keep, barely avoiding being overrun, with Legolas being
forced to save Aragorn’s life from an Orc’s blade. At this exact same time the Entish assault on
Isengard began, with Treebeard leading from the front, accompanied by Merry and Pippin
who acted as rock throwers from on high. The rage of the Ents was incomparable, as they had first
been created at the request of Yavanna, one of the Ainur and Valar in order to protect her trees from
the newly created race of the Dwarves and been taught the common tongue by the Elves of old.
Their strength was also unmatched with Treebeard boasting that when roused to violence
they were stronger than any troll, with Morgoth having created the Trolls in order to produce
a force capable of matching them and failing in this regard. Following on from the Entmoot
within Fangorn Forest in Derndingle, the Ents decided to vent the fury at their failure to
fulfill their duty in shepherding the trees and with a common purpose of vengeance
never before witnessed among the Ents their fury drove them to enter the War of the Ring.
With Isengard having been emptied due to the assault on the Hornburg, their defences were no
match for the might of the Ents accompanied by a sizable contingent of Huorns. Huorns were an
ancient race of slow-moving trees who the Ents had cared for throughout the Second and Third Ages.
Obeying their shepherds they descended upon Isengard as a great dark forest, striking
fear into the hearts of the token garrison left in Isengard as the majority of the force had marched
to join the Battle of the Hornburg. Treebeard and company tore down their walls and broke the dam
over the Wizard’s Vale, destroying the pits, mines and weapons of war which Saruman had accumulated,
effectively cleansing the taint of darkness from the Valley.
Yet they were unable to break down the tower of Orthanc, which had been forged by the Numenoreans
and as such Saruman was effectively left as their prisoner. When news reached Sauron of
this setback he planned upon the reclamation of Isengard following on from his ultimate victory,
to grant the Tower of Orthanc to his loyal Black Numenorean servant the Mouth of Sauron.
The situation in Helm’s Deep was far grimmer. Gimli, Éomer, Gamling and their company barely
kept the Uruk-Hai at bay during the night within the Glittering Caves. While Théoden, Aragorn,
Legolas and the surviving defenders were holed up in the Keep, as the Uruk-Hai prepared to make
one final push through their defences the following day. Aragorn appeared just before dawn,
to offer parley stating that if the Uruk-Hai lay down their weapons they would be spared.
Laughing at this suggestion they attempted to feather the last of the line of Isildur with
arrows, almost killing him in the process. Theoden now began to despair before being
reminded by his comrades of the need to fight on in spite of the current desperate circumstances,
the descendant of Eorl pondered upon what had become of the Rohirrim:
“Where now are the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the harp on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?
They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow.
Who shall gather the smoke of the deadwood burning,
Or behold the flowing years from the Sea returning?”
Seeing that the defenders were desperate the Uruk-Hai broke down the gate of the Keep,
but were surprised to hear the Horn of Helm Hammerhand sound in the deep. Their surprise
did not last long, as Théoden leading his riders alongside Aragorn and Legolas
burst forth and pushed the Uruk-Hai back along the Causeway. The men of Rohan were roused to
particular fury as the words of their King now restored to the full strength of his character and
willing to lead them through whatever darkness lay ahead: “Arise now, Arise, Riders of Theoden!
Dire Deeds Awake, Dark is it Eastward. Let horse be bridled, horn be sounded! Forth Eorlingas!”
Simultaneously, upon hearing the Horn of Helm Hammerhand, Gimli, Éomer and Gamling
led their force out of the Glittering Caves driving the Uruk-Hai before them until they had
retreated beyond the Deeping Wall. The Uruk-hai attempted to reform just beyond Helm’s Dike,
as the two forces of Rohan converged to meet what was still a numerically superior foe in the field.
The battle hung on a knife’s edge, with the White Hand of Isengard
still holding a significant advantage in terms of the force they could bring to bear.
It is at this point that Gandalf upon Shadowfax with the rising Sun behind him.
He had brought with him Erkenbrand and a force of one thousand riders, battle-hardened survivors
of the conflicts on the River Isen, led by their valiant Captains Grimbold and Elfhelm. Likewise,
an entirely newly arrived forest of strange trees blocked off the final avenue of escape.
Following Gandalf’s lead, the Eorlingas charged into the rear of the Uruk-Hai, while Théoden and
Éomer’s forces supported the attack, crashing against the besiegers with all of the strength
their exhausted soldiers could muster. The sons of Eorl would prove their valour once more,
attacking the entrapped Fighting Uruk-Hai with a ferocity inspired by the men lost at the Fords of
Isen and in the previous raids on their country. The Uruks soon lost cohesion and broke ranks,
ensuring their slaughter, with the survivors fleeing into the newly emerged forest,
to their detriment. Less than half of the ten thousand Uruks were able to flee into the forest,
where they were all annihilated by the Ents and their younger saplings the Huorns,
ending the Uruk threat for good and all in the Riddermark. The battle was a costly
victory for the Men of Rohan, yet the power of Isengard was utterly shattered in the process.
The Dunlendings laid down their weapons and were granted amnesty by King Théoden
which came as a massive surprise to the Wild Men who had been told
by Saruman that any men who surrendered would be burned alive by the Rohirrim.
Those who surrendered were put to work repairing the Hornburg by Erkenbrand before being sent back
to their homes in Dunland. Saruman’s power was now broken as he remained a prisoner within Orthanc
unable to influence the events of the War of the Ring ever again.
The most important consequence of the Battle was the establishment of Dwarven martial prowess over
the Elves, as Gimli overtook Legolas to win their contest by forty-two Uruks killed to forty-one.
While these battles were raging Frodo, Sam and Gollum had safely traversed the Dead Marshes
and made their way to Ithilien, where they were captured by the elite unit of Gondorian army - the
Ithilien Rangers. During an interrogation conducted by Faramir, Sam accidentally gave
away the information that Frodo bore the Ring, but fortunately for all involved the Captain of the
Rangers proved his quality to be of the highest order. Recognising the importance of their quest
he allowed the company to continue on their journey, which headed towards the Morgul Vale
and from there into Mordor. He would face massive consequences for such an action from his father,
but considered it a slight price to pay, stating, “But fear no more! I would not take this thing,
if it lay by the highway. Not were Minas Tirith falling in ruin and I alone could save her,
so, using the weapon of the Dark Lord for her good and my glory. No, I do not wish for
such triumphs, Frodo son of Drogo.” Seeing his ally utterly destroyed,
Sauron now turned his eye firmly upon Gondor and the gleaming white bastion of Minas Tirith.
If Sauron’s true strength could be brought to bear upon the city before Rohan could answer
its call for aid, the Age of Man would fall soon to be replaced by a final Dark Age of Sauron.
Yet despite the might with which he could bring to bear upon the Gondorians,
Sauron still knew fear as the Ranger from the North looked set to take up his rightful mantle
as King of Gondor and the One Ring remained beyond his grasp and inching ever towards destruction.
This brings us to the events detailed within The Return of the King;
however, this is the story for our next documentary on the history of Middle-Earth. The
next few videos in this series will be dedicated to the concluding battles of the War of the Ring,
but we are planning to cover the battles of many other fantasy, sci-fi, and space opera universes,
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