Grond (battering ram)

Grond, or the Ram,The History of Middle-earth, Vol. 8: The War of the Ring, Part Three: Minas Tirith, VII: "The Ride of the Rohirrim" was a huge battering ram with a hideous head resembling that of a ravening wolf. It was used in the arsenal of Sauron for the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, toward the end of the Third Age.The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Five, Ch. IV: "The Siege of Gondor", pgs. 101-2
==History==
Grond was forged "in the dark smithies of Mordor" for a long time during the final years of the Third Age, specifically for use by the Morgul-host besieging the city of Minas Tirith in Gondor, at the climax of the War of the Ring. Spells of ruin were laid on it and it was named in homage after the Hammer of the Underworld, a great mace wielded by Morgoth, Sauron's former master.
Grond was said to be as "great as a forest-tree a hundred feet in length", making it much larger than any other such battering ram in Middle-earth. On March 14,The Chronology of The Lord of the Rings, pg. 72 Grond was brought up to the Great Gate of the City by a group of great siege beasts, escorted by bands of Orcs, and pushed by several Mountain-trolls. While Grond itself was fire-proof, the beasts pulling it were not and would occasionally go mad and run through the battlefield, trampling anything and anyone underfoot.
After failing to smash the gates the first time, the Witch-king of Angmar spoke in "some forgotten tongue words of power and terror to rend both heart and stone" and thus aided Grond in smashing open the formidable Great Gate of the City with just three more blows.
==Etymology==
Grond is a name in Sindarin that means "very weighty and ponderous".Parma Eldalamberon 17, "Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in The Lord of the Rings", pgs. 99, 183
==Speculation==
Though it shared its name with Grond, Morgoth's mace, it may have been created in the likeness of Carcharoth, the wolf of Angband.
==In adaptations==
===The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King===
In Peter Jackson's 2003 film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Grond has fire spewing from its carved jaws, and is pulled by "Great Beasts": four huge rhinoceros-like creatures. The ram's wolf design is extended, with the entire battering ram carved to resemble a great wolf. Gothmog refers to it as both "Grond" and the wolf's head in the film; in the Extended Edition of the film, he summons it after a failed attempt to breach Minas Tirith with a standard battering ram. As the Host of Mordor and its allies watched it approaching Minas Tirith, they could be heard chanting its name: "Grond! Grond! Grond! Grond!" It is much like its portrayal in the book, as it strikes Minas Tirith's gates four times before breaking through. Grond was said to be 60 feet high and 150 feet long. Fire burned in its great maw.
===The Return of the King (1980 film)===
In the 1980 animated film, Grond is depicted as drooling acid in one shot, and its eyes glow red. Here the Great Beasts that tow it into position are Oliphaunts.
===The Lord of the Rings Online===
In Chapter 8 of Book 3 in The Lord of the Rings Online, the player is able to damage Grond to delay its coming for the battle. However, the arrival of Gothmog forces the player to retreat.
===The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth===
Grond makes an appearance in The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth.
===The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King(video game)===
Grond makes an appearance in video game of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
==Gallery==
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Amharic 	ግሮንድ
Arabic 	جروند
Armenian 	Գրոնդ
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Грунд
Chinese (Hong Kong) 	葛龍德
Chinese (Mandarin) 	格龙得
French 	Gronde
Georgian 	გრონდი
Greek 	Γρονδ
Gujarati 	ગ્રોન્ડ
Hebrew 	גרונד
Hindi 	गरोड
Japanese 	グロンド
Kannada 	ಗ್ರೋನ್ಡ್
Kazakh Cyrillic 	Гронд
Korean 	그 론드
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Гронд
Macedonian Cyrillic 	Гронд
Malayalam 	ഗ്രൊംദ്
Marathi 	ग्रोन्द
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Гронд
Persian 	گراند
Punjabi 	ਗ੍ਰੋਨ੍ਦ
Russian 	Гронд
Sanskrit 	ङ्रोन्द्
Serbian (Cyrillic) Grond (Latin)	гронд
Tajik Cyrillic 	Гронд
Sinhalese 	ග්‍රොඳ්
Tamil 	கிராண்ட்
Telugu 	గ్రోన్డ్
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Ґронд
Urdu 	گراونڈ
Uzbek 	Гронд (Cyrillic) Grond (Latin)
Yiddish 	גראָנד
==References==
Category:Articles needing references
Category:Army of Mordor
Category:Weapons
de:Grond (Ramme)
fr:Grond
it:Grond (Ariete)
pl:Grond (taran)
ru:Гронд
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