Battle of Hornburg
The Battle of Helm's Deep or 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 Saruman against the warriors of Rohan under King Théoden, who had taken refuge in the mountain fortress of Helm's Deep.
Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.
The forces of Saruman, Orcs and Uruk-hai together with human Dunlendings, arrived at the valley of Helm's Deep in the middle of the night. They quickly scaled over the first defense, Helm's Dike, and attempted to break down the fortress's gate with a battering ram. But Aragorn, Éomer, and some other Rohirrim attacked, scattering the forces threathening the doors.
The Orcs and Dunlendings then raised hundreds of ladders to scale the wall. Aragorn and Éomer had to repeatedly move the defenders, who were getting weary, to repel the Orcs coming up the ladders and crossing the wall. However, some Orcs had crept in though a culvert which let a stream out of Helm's Deep, and while the defenders were busy with the assault on the wall, they suddenly attacked, having made it past the wall. The defenders quickly reacted and drove back the Orcs, and the culvert was blocked up under supervision by Gimli.
However, the enemies reentered the culvert and caused an explosion using a device of Saruman's. This made a wide hole in the wall, and Saruman's forces could not be stopped. The defenders retreated to the Glittering Caves and to the Deep. Soon Saruman's forces used their blasting fire to gain entrance to the Deep. At this moment, however, the horn of Helm's Deep was sounded, and after a moment a sortie led by Théoden and Aragorn rode forth, followed by men on foot. Théoden and Aragorn cut through the Orcs and Dunlendings and arrived at Helm's Dike.
Both armies then noticed that many trees, Huorns, had moved to block a possible escape route for the Orcs. Then Gandalf, Erkenbrand, and a thousand riders arrived, and charged. The Dunlendings were so terrified of Gandalf that they could no longer fight. The Orcs lost control and ran into the trees, where the Huorns destroyed them. Thus, Rohan won the battle.
After the battle those Dunlendings who surrendered were given amnesty by King Théoden and allowed to return to home. The Rohirrim required that all hostilities cease, and that the Dunlendings retreat behind the Isen river again. The slain Dunlendings were buried in a mound of their own apart from the Orc carcases.
The Battle of Helm's Deep is a key part of a movie based on the book, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. The amount of time spent around the battle in the movie was much more than in the original book.
