Battle of the Hornburg

The Battle of the Hornburg is a fictional battle in J. R. R. Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings. The battle pitted the forces of the Wizard Saruman against the Rohirrim under King Théoden, who had taken refuge in the mountain fortress of the Hornburg at Helm's Deep. The engagement is also informally known as Battle of Helm's Deep or simply Helm's Deep after that location. It was the second largest battle of the War of the Ring.

Often published in the volume The Two Towers, the battle is recounted in the chapter "Helm's Deep", and the aftermath is briefly shown in the next one, "Flotsam and Jetsam".

The battle

Background

After being released from his malevolent adviser Gríma Wormtongue's influence by the benevolent Wizard Gandalf, Théoden set out to the Fords of Isen, where his marshal Erkenbrand was fighting Saruman's forces. However, Théoden found out that they had been scattered. Gandalf advised him to take refuge in the Hornburg fortress of Helm's Deep, an area named after one of their kings. Then Gandalf left on an unexplained errand. Théoden's army went to the area, where local people were commanded by a captain called Gamling the Old. Many of the forces there were too old or too young. The women and children of Théoden's capital Edoras were safe in Dunharrow, led by the King's niece Éowyn.

The battle

The forces of Saruman, common Orcs and Uruk-hai, along with some orc-human hybrids (called "half-orcs and goblin-men" — which may have referred to or included the Uruk-hai themselves) and human Dunlendings, arrived at the valley of Helm's Deep in the middle of the night during a storm. Meanwhile, Legolas the Elf and Gimli the Dwarf agreed to compete, to see which one could kill the most orcs.

The attackers quickly scaled over the first defence, Helm's Dike, forcing the defenders there to fall back to the fortress. When the Orcs were close, the defenders drove them back with arrows and stones, but they managed to get close to the wall after multiple charges. They attempted to break down the gate with a battering ram, but a sortie led by Aragorn and Éomer scattered the forces.

The Orcs and Dunlendings then raised hundreds of ladders to scale the wall. Aragorn and Éomer repeatedly motivated the tired defenders to repel the Orcs coming up the ladders. However, some Orcs had crept in through a culvert which let a stream out of Helm's Deep, and while the defenders were busy with the assault on the wall, they were suddenly attacked from behind. This was repulsed and the culvert was blocked up under Gimli's supervision.

However, the enemies reentered the culvert and blasted a wide hole in the wall using an ambiguous explosive device invented by Saruman, a "blasting-fire". The defenders then retreated to the Glittering Caves, Éomer and Gimli among them.

Soon Saruman's forces broke through the gate and gained entrance to the fortress. At this moment, however, the horn of King Helm was sounded, and a cavalry charge led by Théoden and Aragorn rode forth, followed by all the Rohirrim left inside. They cut their way through the Orcs and broke free.

Both armies then noticed that many Huorns had moved to block a possible escape route for the Orcs. Then Gandalf arrived on Shadowfax, with Erkenbrand and a thousand infantry — the remaining strength of the Rohirrim that had been routed at the Fords of Isen. They charged into the fray. The Dunlendings were so terrified of Gandalf that they could no longer fight. The Orcs lost control and ran into the "forest" of Huorns, where they were completely annihilated by the ents.

After the battle, those Dunlendings who surrendered were given amnesty by King Théoden and allowed to return home (much to their surprise, since Saruman had told them that the men of Rohan would burn all survivors alive). The Rohirrim required that all hostilities cease, and that the Dunlendings retreat behind the River Isen again and never recross while bearing arms.

Among the Rohirrim dead was Háma, captain of Théoden's personal guard and doorward of his hall (he plays a significant role in the previous chapter, "The King of the Golden Hall"). Gimli was wounded, but had killed 42 to Legolas' 41.

Terminology

The event is sometimes called the Battle of Helm's Deep, a title which was never used by Tolkien but which is often used by readers and other fans, this has led to the misconception that the term "Helm's Deep" refers to the fortress. Properly speaking, the fortress is the Hornburg (Anglo-Saxon = horn fortress) and Helm's Deep is the ravine behind it. In one of his letters regarding a proposed film adaptation, Tolkien protested the use of Helm's Deep, stating that, "the 'defence of the Hornburg' would be a better title, since Helm's Deep, the ravine behind, is not shown" (Letters, 210).

Adaptations

In Ralph Bakshi's animated film

The Battle of the Hornburg is a key part of Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated adaptation. However, it is never referred to by that name, or any other name. Bakshi calls the fortress itself "Helm's Deep". As Gandalf says to Aragorn:

"Halfway between Edoras and Isengard, there lies an old strong fortress that men call Helm’s Deep."

As already given above, this usage of Helm's Deep is incorrect, as regards to the source material.

Some differences between the book and the film battles are:

• Bakshi does not elaborate on different kinds of Orcs through dialogue (as is true for the whole film), though some Orcs are clearly visually different from others.

• Aragorn and Legolas repel a battering-ram crew by themselves, instead of Aragorn and Éomer leading a sortie against the ram.

• Directly after this sequence, the "blasting-fire" is used to breach the wall. It is turned into magical projectiles resembling comets coming from Isengard (Aragorn, seeing them, calls out "Fire of Isengard!"). While Tolkien does not give detailed descriptions, "blasting fire" is clearly different in the book (as Orcs are said to have "brought" it).

• More importantly, Éomer is not present at the start of the battle. Gandalf rides off to find him and his Riders (and explicitly says so), and returns with them at the end.

Peter Jackson's "Battle of Helm's Deep"

The Battle of the Hornburg is also a key part of Peter Jackson's film adaptation, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

In the context of the film, it is referred to as the Battle of Helm's Deep, and like Bakshi, Jackson identifies "Helm's Deep" with the fortress itself. As Gríma says to Saruman:

In the movie, 10,000 of Saruman's Uruk-hai lay siege to the fortress, which is defended by around 300 Rohirrim (before the battle, Legolas states their strength to be "three hundred against ten thousand", but he may have meant at that time, as more were fleeing to the fortress). About 400-500 Elves of Lórien join the defences. Elrond, at the prompting of Galadriel, sends the Elves under the command of Haldir of Lórien to reinforce the defence of the keep. During the battle, many of the Elves are killed, including Haldir. The defenders suffer heavy losses, but hold out till dawn, when Gandalf arrives with 2,000^[1] riders led by Éomer, who finally turn the tide of the battle and send Saruman's forces into retreat. In the Extended DVD version, the Huorns make an appearance; they were absent from the theatrical cut.

Peter Jackson gave himself a cameo appearance as one of the Rohirrim; he throws a spear at the Uruks. Producer Barrie Osborne has a similar cameo, as a Rohirrim throwing a rock down on them.

The film contains many differences from Tolkien's work, and several of these differences concern the battle. These differences include:

• In an earlier scene, Gandalf suggests that the forces of Rohan should meet Saruman's army in the open field, an idea immediately rejected by Théoden. The opposite happens in the book: Théoden rides to reinforce Erkenbrand at the Fords of Isen; when it is learned that Erkenbrand was defeated and driven from the fords, Gandalf advises Théoden to divert his force to the Hornburg.

• Before and during the battle, Jackson shows women and children of Rohan being sheltered within the Deeps, overseen by Éowyn. Later, he shows all boys able to carry weapons arming for battle. Aragorn comforts a boy named Haleth son of Háma (already dead at this point in the movie, but who dies before the gates of the Hornburg in the book). In the text, the women and children of Edoras are sheltered at Dunharrow. However three parts of the folk from the Westfold had taken shelter in the Deeps after the defeat of Erkenbrand at the ford of Isen

• In the novel, there are no other Elven archers besides Legolas present. Legolas merely wishes that they had a hundred archers of Mirkwood with them, and tells Gimli that his folk are busy with their own troubles. The Elves of Lothlórien and Mirkwood do withstand assaults by Sauron's armies; but these battles occur off stage. This change was met with both bitterness and enthusiasm with viewers of various persuasions (readers of the original book, Jackson's fans, etc.). Jackson never makes it clear how a regiment of Elves were able to march from Lórien to Helm's Deep in one day while it took Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli three days to run across Rohan from the Emyn Muil to Fangorn forest. Critical readers also claimed it went against the idea of Elves declining ("fading") and leaving Men to their own devices. In his commentary on the Extended DVD version, Jackson said he wanted to show the sacrifice of the Elves in a visible fashion. Craig Parker, the actor who portrayed Haldir, suggested on his commentary his character was killed to show the consequences of battle as opposed to "boys running around hitting sticks together and wandering off at the end."

• The ambiguous "blasting-fire" of the novel is interpreted as bombs detonated by a torch-bearer.

• Aragorn's parley is not featured. However, he and Gimli (whose height is used for comedic effect at the start of the battle) share a scene where they sneak through a side-door and he tosses the dwarf into a group of enemies who are battering down the doors to the keep. This scene, while popular with some viewers, felt jarring and was insulting to Gimli, according to others. Legolas also has a prominent scene, as he slides down a staircase using a shield as a makeshift "snowboard", shooting arrows all the while. This scene also met with mixed reactions.

• In the original, Gandalf returns with infantry led by Erkenbrand, whereas in the film they are cavalry led by Éomer (a change already made by Bakshi in his version). In the book, Éomer is of course present at the start of the battle.

• At the end of the battle, Gimli wins the contest by 43 to Legolas' 42 (both numbers are different from the kill count in the book by exactly one). Jackson inserts another comedy scene here, with Legolas shooting a dead Uruk and claiming a tie in jest. The result of the contest is only shown in the extended version of the movie. In the book, Legolas' reaction is entirely different, stating he does not mind losing the contest as he is so relieved to see Gimli alive.

In the original version of the film, Elrond and Arwen had gone to see Galadriel in person, and it was Arwen who led the Elves to fight alongside the Rohan defenders. Arwen's involvement was rejected after Jackson revised the portrayal of her character from a "warrior princess" to a role closer to that of the book, but the Elves remained part of the battle since Jackson liked the concept.^[2]

In other media

The battle is featured in the real-time strategy games The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring, and The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth, the latter chiefly based on the Jackson films. The former includes lines very close to the book in its cutscenes, notably in Aragorn's parley.

It is also possible to fight the battle with the Games Workshop tabletop miniature wargame The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game, based on the films and the book.

In 2007, the Folk Metal band, Battle Saga, released an EP called Of Heroes and Legends which featured a song called Battle of the Hornburg.

An episode of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends parodied Jackson's interpretation of the battle.

See also

• Middle-earth warfare

References

External links