Battle of the Hornburg

The Battle of the Hornburg, often called the Battle of Helm's Deep, was the first large-scale battle of the War of the Ring, where the Rohirrim under King Théoden defended the Hornburg from Saruman's army of Dunlendings and Uruk-hai.
== History ==
=== Prelude ===
After being freed by Gandalf from Gríma Wormtongue's influence, Théoden rode for the Fords of Isen where Erkenbrand was battling Saruman's Orcs. As Théoden rode west, he met Ceorl, who informed him of Erkenbrand's defeat. Unable to meet Saruman's force head-on with his small force, Gandalf advised him to ride straight to the Hornburg where many of the people of Westfold were taking refuge in the Glittering Caves. A local captain called Gamling the Old led the garrison of about a thousand men. With the arrival of Théoden, the defenders' strength was just under three thousand men, allowing the defences to be fully manned.
=== The battle ===
The army of Saruman, ultimately consisting of Uruk-hai, Wild Men of Dunland, Orcs, and Half-orcs, was reinforced on the way to Hornburg, due to casualties in the Battles of the Fords of Isen. The army would arrive at the fortress at midnight on March 3.
The Orcs quickly overran the first defense of Helm's Dike, but sustained many losses to the rearguard, "filling up the dike to the top". After moving past the dike, the Orcs approached the fortress of the Hornburg and sent arrows into the fortress. However, they did not get any response. But when they got closer they were met with a volley of arrows and rocks which made them break ranks. The Orcs soon got close enough to Hornburg and attempted to break the gate down with tree trunks, but were scattered by a small attack team led by Aragorn II and Éomer from a postern-door that ran between the brink of the cliff and the wall of the Hornburg. After the team had driven back the Orcs with the ram, they retreated from the new assault upon the gate. While running back, two Orcs who had faked their deaths knocked Éomer to the ground. As Aragorn ran back to save him, a hidden Gimli hewed the Orcs' heads, saving Éomer and giving Gimli his first two kills to Legolas' twenty.
The attackers then raised hundreds of ladders to scale the Deeping Wall; the defenders threw down the ladders, but were attacked from behind by Orcs who had crawled through the culvert at the base of the Deeping Wall. Gimli and Gamling the Old with a unit of men from the Westfold attacked the Orcs who got through the hole. Gimli, after getting twenty-one kills to Legolas' twenty-four, helped block the culvert with stones, flooding the stream. Unfortunately, this blockage was destroyed along with a good portion of the Deeping Wall by Saruman's devilry; the Fire of Orthanc.
A huge host of Orcs poured into the new breach, and after a desperate battle in the Deep, some of the defenders led by Éomer, Gimli and Gamling retreated into the Glittering Caves while Aragorn, Legolas and the remainder fought their way into the keep via a stairway from the Deep to the fortress. During the retreat, Aragorn stumbled and was almost overcome by Orcs; but was saved by Legolas and a boulder that was cast down upon the Orcs from the wall.
Just before dawn, Aragorn called for a parley at the gate and told the Orcs that they would die if they didn't surrender, but the Uruk-hai laughed at his threat and attempted to shoot Aragorn down, almost killing him. The Orcs then blasted open the gate, destroying the arch with the 'blasting-fire'. Suddenly, Théoden and Aragorn led a powerful cavalry charge out of the keep to the blasts of the great horn of Helm Hammerhand, followed by the defenders of the Hornburg, driving the Uruks away from the remains of the gate. At the same time, Éomer and Gimli with the company in the caves pushed the Orcs out of the Deep. The army of the Mark drove the enemy behind the Dike into the Deeping-coomb.
Just then, Gandalf on his horse Shadowfax arrived with Erkenbrand and a thousand-foot soldiers. They charged Sauraman's host, trapping them between Erkenbrand's army, Théoden's army, and a newly appeared forest of strange trees. The Dunlendings dropped their weapons and surrendered, while the Uruk-hai fled into the forest.
=== Immediate aftermath ===
One of the Rohirrim dead was Háma, a captain of Théoden's personal guard and doorward of Meduseld, whose body the Orcs hewed after he died. Nonetheless, the refugees in the Glittering Caves were safe in their entirety, and thus returned to their homes. Gimli had lost his helmet in the battle and was wounded badly on the head, but he had killed forty-two Orcs to Legolas' forty-one.The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, Book Three, Ch. VII: "Helm's Deep"
The surrendering Dunlendings were spared and given amnesty by Erkenbrand, much to their surprise, as Saruman had claimed that the men of Rohan would burn all survivors alive. The Dunlendings would be required to retreat behind the River Isen again and never re-cross it bearing arms. At Erkenbrand's orders, the Dunlending prisoners were put to work repairing the damage to the Hornburg before being sent home. The slain Dunlendings were buried in a communal mound, while the Orc carcasses were simply piled off to the side of the battlefield and left to rot.
Less than half of the 10,000 Uruk-hai who had survived the main battle had fled into the strange forest, where they were never be seen again, as this was actually the newly arrived Huorns from Fangorn Forest. At night, unseen by the Rohirrim, the Huorns slew all remaining Uruks and buried them in a hill later known as the Death Down.
=== Later aftermath ===
The Battle of the Hornburg was critical to the survival of Rohan and to its participation in the War of the Ring as a whole; had the Rohirrim lost the battle, their people as a whole would have been obliterated by the rampaging legions of Saruman's Uruk-hai and would not have been able to aid Gondor at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Merry and Pippin's persuasion of Treebeard to attack Isengard was critical as well, guaranteeing Rohan's survival for a time.
== In adaptations ==
In Peter Jackson's film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, an expanded and emotionally-potent version of the book's events is depicted, as the people of Rohan possess a more prominent role in the conflict, Elves of Lothlórien arrive as reinforcements, the technology and tactics of Isengard are depicted in great detail, and the entire battle takes on a more climactic role than Tolkien likely intended. Some Tolkien purists were disappointed by the film's addition of the old men and young boy conscripts of the Rohirrim, plus the Lórien Elves, neither who was shown alive at the end of the battle (as Jackson wanted to show the toll of war). Nonetheless, the Battle of the Hornburg is among the film trilogy's depiction of events that is largely faithful to its literary counterpart. This adaptation of the battle has been described as one of the greatest battle scenes in film, combining "technical mastery, sweeping spectacle and tonal balance". 
For Jackson`s film, the keep was built into the mountainside and resembles a World War I bunker, in keeping with Tolkien's history as a soldier in that war. The entrance to the Glittering
Caves of Aglarond is also contained within the keep itself, rather than at the top of the deep behind the Deeping Wall as in the book. Further, the Uruk-hai assault the main gateway in a testudo, or locked-shields style formation, and the 'blasting fire' is depicted as gunpowder. The battle was filmed mainly at night, in frequent heavy natural rain or when necessary with artificial rain on the actors, for more than three months. The Helm's Deep set used some computer-generated imagery; some parts were constructed as full size sets; some shots used a 1/4 scale physical model, while more distant shots used a 1/85 scale model. In the final battle scene, Weta Digital's "Massive" crowd simulation software and "Grunt" rendering software were used, with thousands of Uruk-hai modelled using Alias/Wavefront's "Maya" software.
Preceding the battle, the entire city of Edoras is evacuated to Helm's Deep, along with all the people of Rohan, rather than merely the refugees of the Westfold, and Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli accompany King Théoden and his people there. Along the way, they are attacked by Saruman's Warg-riders. During this fight, Éowyn leads the evacuees on to Helm's Deep while the Riders of Rohan fight off the attack. Aragorn becomes entangled with the harness of a Warg and is dragged off the side of a cliff. Upon arrival at Helm's Deep, the Rohirrim begin belated siege preparations, during which Aragorn, found by the horse Brego, arrives with news of 10,000 Uruk-hai coming from Isengard, news which leads Théoden to order conscription of mature boys and old men for the impending battle. Aragorn suggests calling for aid to the downtrodden Théoden, and Legolas argues with him about the Rohirrim defenders' fighting odds. All are surprised at a sudden arrival of Haldir and an army of Elves from Lórien. They had been sent by Elrond to support the Rohirrim, in honor of the ancient alliance between Men and Elves. Aragorn, Legolas, and Haldir's Elves station on the Deeping Wall, ensuring that every fortification of the Hornburg is manned.
The battle begins once the Uruk host of 10,000 has formed fully in front of the castle - an accidental bow shot by an old man named Aldor kills an Uruk at the front, followed by a volley of arrows from all defenders once the Uruks begin to charge forward. The events are similar to those in the book, as Uruk-hai pour over ladders on the Deeping Wall to be met with a brave but shifting defence by the Rohirrim; however, Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn's roles are greatly expanded, and the device responsible for destroying the wall is revealed as a form of gunpowder. Once the wall is blown, the Uruk-hai pour into Helm's Deep through the breach.
The battle slowly turns from here; Aragorn is briefly incapacitated and, the Elves begin to wither, and Haldir himself is slain. The Rohirrim begin to suffer casualties of their own, their already-sparse forces thinning and losing their weakest members, and the Uruk-hai begin to besiege the keep by using a battering ram against the main gate. Théoden is injured in this chaos, and Aragorn offers aid, to which he requests "Time, as much you can get me." To do this, Aragorn and Gimli stealthily circle the fortress to ambush the Uruk-hai on the causeway. Gimli and Aragorn earn time for the Rohirrim to refortify the entrance, but soon the defenses break down as Uruks fully breach the area behind the Deeping Wall, and all remaining Rohirrim retreat to the keep. Once inside where they are trapped, Théoden falls further into despair while his soldiers brace the doors, as Aragorn and Gamling deliberate on sending the women and children further into the caves.
As the Orcs break down the doors to the keep, Gimli notes that the sun is rising, allowing Aragorn to remember the arrival of Gandalf, and convinced Théoden to ride out with him. Gimli sounds the horn of Helm Hammerhand as Théoden, Aragorn, and the remaining Rohirrim upon horses charge out of the keep, through the Hornburg and out its gates, breaking the front line of the host at the causeway. From a vantage point, Théoden and Aragorn see Gandalf arrive upon Shadowfax on a high hill in the east, and with him Éomer and the horsemen he has gathered, who collectively plunge into the valley towards the Hornburg. The Uruk host, which is still great in number, forms up a massive phalanx of spears to meet Gandalf and Éomer's charge from above. The sun rises over this high point and shines on the battlefield, blinding many of the Uruk-hai and breaking their cohesive formation, and as the newly arrived forces charge into them, causing the Uruks to break and flee. 
In a deleted scene that is included in the Extended Edition, the Uruks escape into a nearly arrived "forest" of Huorns at their north, who have slowly moved there from Fangorn Forest. Éomer orders that the pursuit be halted and Rohirrim watch from afar, as the mass of Huorns is seen stirring followed by the death throes of the Uruk-hai as they are slain. 
== Notable deaths ==
*Háma, Doorward of Meduseld
== See also ==
*Tolkien vs. Jackson: Differences Between Story and Screenplay
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Slag van die Hornburg
Albanian 	Beteja e Kalaja me brirë
Amharic 	ቀንድ ምሽግ ጦርነት
Arabic 	معركة القلعة قرنية
Armenian 	եղջյուր բերդ նտամարտ
Azerbaijani 	Hornburg döyüş
Basque 	Hornburgko gudua (Battle of the Hornburg) Helmeko abismoko gudua (Battle of the Helm's Deep)
Belarusian Cyrillic	Рагаты крэпасць бітва (Battle of the Hornburg) Хельмава Падзь бітва (Battle of the Helm's Deep)
Bengali 	হর্নবার্গের যুদ্ধ
Bosnian 	Bitka u Hornburg
Breton 	Emgann ar Hornburg
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Битката на Рогоскал (Battle of the Hornburg) Битката на Шлемово усое (Battle of the Helm's Deep)
Cambodian 	សមរភូមិបន្ទាយហ៊ន
Catalan 	Batalla de les Fortalesa de la Banya (Battle of the Hornburg) Batalla de les Gorja d'en Helm (Battle of the Helm's Deep)
Chinese (Hong Kong)	聖盔谷之戰
Corsican 	Battagghia di li Fortezza Cornuta
Croatian 	Bitka na Hornburg
Czech 	Bitva o Hlásku (Battle of the Hornburg) Bitva o Helmův žleb (Battle of the Helm's Deep)
Danish 	Slaget ved Hornborg (Battle of the Hornburg) Slaget ved Helms kløft (Battle of the Helm's Deep)
Dutch 	Slag aan de Hoornburg (Battle of the Hornburg) Slag aan Helmsdiepte (Battle of the Helm's Deep)
Esperanto 	Batalo ĉe la Fortikaĵo de Corno
Estonian 	Selle Hornburg lahing
Filipino 	Labanan ng mga Hornburg
Finnish 	Ämyrilinnan taistelu (Battle of the Hornburg) Helmin syvänteen taistelu (Battle of the Helm's Deep)
French 	Bataille de la Fort-le-Cor (Battle of the Hornburg) Bataille du Gouffre de Helm (Battle of the Helm's Deep)
Frisian 	Slach fan 'e Hornburg
Galician 	Batalla das Fortaleza de Corno (Battle of the Hornburg) Batalla das Abismo de Helmo (Battle of the Helm's Deep)
Georgian 	ჰორნბურგთან ბრძოლა (Battle of the Hornburg) ჰელმის ხრამი ბრძოლა (Battle of the Helm's Deep)
German 	Schlacht um die Hornburg (Battle of the Hornburg) Schlacht um Helms Klamm (Battle of the Helm's Deep)
Greek 	Μάχη του Χόρνμπουργκ
Gujarati 	શિંગડા કેસલ યુદ્ધ
Hebrew 	ה קרב על הורנבורג
Hindi 	की लड़ाई सींग वाला किला
Hungarian 	Csata a Hornburg
Icelandic 	Orrustan við Hornburg
Indonesian 	Pertempuran Hornburg
Italian 	Battaglia del Fortezza del Corno (Battle of the Hornburg) Battaglia del Fosso di Helm (Battle of the Helm's Deep)
Irish Gaelic 	Cath na Hornburg
Japanese 	角笛城の合戦
Kannada 	ಕೊಂಬಿನ ಕೋಟೆ ಯುದ್ಧ
Kazakh 	Мүйізді бекініс шайқасы (Cyrillic) Müyizdi bekinis şayqası (Latin)
Korean 	나팔산성 전투 (헬름 협곡 공방전)
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Мүйүздүү чеп салгылашуу
Latvian 	Kauja Hornburg
Lithuanian 	Mūšis dėl Hornburg
Luxembourgish 	Schluecht vun der Hornburg
Macedonian Cyrillic	Битка со Рог замок
Malaysian 	Pertempuran Hornburg
Maltese 	Ġlieda tal-Hornburg ?
Marathi 	शिंग असलेला किल्ला लढाई
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Эвэрт цайз тулаан
Nepalese 	हर्न किल्ला लडाई
Norwegian 	Slaget om Hornborg (Battle of the Hornburg) Slaget om Helmsdjupet (Battle of Helm's Deep)
Persian 	(Battle of the Helm's Deep) جنگ گودی هلم (Battle of the Hornburg) نبرد قلعه شاخ
Polish 	Bitwą o Rogaty Gród (Battle of the Hornburg) Bitwa o Helmowy Jar (Battle of Helm's Deep)
Portuguese 	Batalha do Fortaleza de Chifres (Brazil)
Batalha das Fortaleza de Chifres (Portugal)
Batalha das Abismo de Helm (Battle of the Helm's Deep)
Punjabi 	ਸਿੰਗ ਕਿਲੇ ਦੀ ਲੜਾਈ
Romanian 	Bătălia de pe Hornburg
Russian 	Битва при Хорнбурге (Battle of the Hornburg) Битва при Хельмова Падь (Battle of the Helm's Deep)
Samoan 	Le Taua o le Hornburg
Scottish Gaelic 	Blàr an Hornburg
Serbian 	Битка на Рожната тврђава (Cyrillic) Bitka na Rožnata tvrđava (Latin)
Sinhalese 	අං බලකොටුව සටන
Slovak 	Bitka o Hornburg (Battle of the Hornburg) Bitka o Helmov žľab (Battle of the Helm's Deep)
Slovenian 	Bitka v Hornburg
Somalian 	Dagaalka ee ah Hornburg
Spanish 	Batalla de las Hornburg (Battle of the Hornburg) Batalla del Abismo de Helm (Battle of the Helm's Deep)
Sundanese 	Perang tina Hornburg
Swahili 	Vita ya Hornburg
Swedish 	Slaget vid Hornborgen (Battle of the Hornburg) Slaget vid Helms klyfta (Battle of the Helm's Deep)
Tajik Cyrillic 	ҷанг аз Ҳорнбург
Tamil 	கொம்பு கோட்டை சண்டை
Telugu 	కొమ్ముల కోట యుద్ధం
Turkish 	Hornburg Muharebesi (Battle of the Hornburg) Miğfer Dibi Muharebesi (Battle of the Helm's Deep)
Turkmen 	Şahly gala Söweşi
Uzbek 	Чохли қалъа жанги (Cyrillic) Shoxli qal'a jangi (Latin)
Vietnamese 	Trận Hornburg
Welsh 	Brwydr y Hornburg
Yiddish 	שלאַכט פון די האָרנבורג
Yoruba 	Ogun ti awọn Hornburg
== References ==
ca:Batalla de la Gorja d'en Helm
de:Schlacht um Helms Klamm
fr:Bataille de Fort-le-Cor
it:Battaglia del Fosso di Helm
pl:Bitwa o Helmowy Jar
ru:Битва при Хорнбурге
Category:Battles
Category:War of the Ring