Grond

"Bring up the wolf's head."

- Gothmog

Grond was a one hundred fifty-foot long battering ram with a head in the shape of a ravening wolf, forged in Mordor during the final years of the Third Age, specifically for use by the army besieging the city of Minas Tirith in Gondor. It shared its name, in homage, with the "Hammer of the Underworld," a great mace wielded by Morgoth, Sauron's former master.

It was a battering ram said to be 60 feet high, 150 feet long, and as thick around as an enormous tree. Fire burned in its great maw. It was operated by a team of great beasts, and several trolls were needed to utilize it. Aided by the "spells of ruin" laid on it during its forging in Mordor, and by the Witch-king of Angmar during the Siege, Grond smashed open the formidable gate of Minas Tirith with just three blows.

Film Portrayal


In Peter Jackson's film The Return of the King, Grond has fire spewing from its gaping jaws and is pulled by four huge rhinoceros-like creatures. The wolf design is extended, with the whole battering ram carved to resemble a great wolf. Gothmog refers to it as both "Grond" and "the wolf's head" in the film. When the miniscule orc-built battering ram failed to breach the Gate of Minus Tirith, Grond was called in. It took six massive mountian trolls to man the Wolf's Head. As the Host of Morgul approached Minas Tirith, they could be heard chanting "Grond!" After the destruction of the Ring, Grond, like almost all of Sauron's tools of evil, disappeared.

Grond also appears in the video games The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth.

To see a video of Grond click here

External link

 * Grond at Tolkien Gateway