Battle of the Hornburg

"A new power is rising, its victory is at hand. This night the land will be stained with the blood of Rohan. March to Helm's deep, leave none alive. TO WAR! There will be no Dawn for Men."

- Saruman

The Battle of the Hornburg was a battle during the War of the Ring where the Rohirrim defended the Hornburg from Saruman's army of Uruk-Hai.

Pre-Battle
After being freed by Gandalf from Gríma Wormtongue's influence, Théoden went to the Fords of Isen where Erkenbrand was battling Saruman's orcs. When Théoden got there, he realized that the army was scattered, so Gandalf told Théoden to help the refugees to Hornburg where many people from Westfold were also taking refuge. Soon Gandalf brought the Rohirrim to defend Helm's Deep from Saruman's attacking forces. The soldiers were led by a local captain called Gamling the Old. Unfortunately, many of the soldiers there were either too young or too old.

The Battle
The army of Saruman made up of Uruk-hai, common Orcs, Wild Men of Dunland, and half-orcs arrived in the middle of the night. Legolas and Gimli agreed to do a contest to see how many kills they could get.

The Orcs quickly overran the first defence in Helm's Dike, approaching the fortress as the Rohirrim retreated. They shot arrows at the Rohirrm, but there was no response at first. When the Orcs got closer to the fortress, the defenders sent a volley of arrows and stones at them, forcing the orcs to fall back. 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 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, the team retreated from the new assault upon the gate. While running back, two Orcs who had faked thier deaths knocked Éomer to the ground. Even as Aragorn ran back to save him, a hidden Gimli hewed the Orc's heads saving Éomer and giving Gimli his first two kills to Legolas's 20.

The attackers then raised hundreds of ladders to scale the Deeping Wall; the worn-out defenders threw down the ladder attacks, but were attacked from behind by Orcs who had crawled through the culvert at the base of the 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 21 kills to Legolas's 24, 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 Orthranc' (most likely magic, but the movie makes it look like gunpowder).

Out from the new larger hole a huge host of Orcs poured in, and after a desperate battle in the Deep, the defenders led by Éomer, Gimli and Gamling retreated into the Glittering Caves while Aragorn and Legolas fought thier way back to the keepp into the keep via a large stairway from the Deep to the citadel. During the retreat, Aragorn was overcome by Orcs; but was saved by Legolas and a boulder that was cast down upon the Orcs from the wall. Ladders and Saruman's 'blasting-fire' were cast upon the walls of the Hornburg, and the fighting was hot. Aragorn called for a parley 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 him down, almost killing Aragorn. The Orcs then made it to the gate and destroyed the arch with Saruman's 'blasting-fire'. Suddenly, Théoden and Aragorn led a vicious cavalry charge out of the keep to the blasts of the great horn of Helm, 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 men from 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 swordsmen on foot, and they charged the Orcs, caught between Erkenbrand's army, Theoden's army and the Huorons of Fanghorn; Saruman's army were defeated. After the orcs and Uruks were driven into the Huorns, the Dunlendings surrendered and were spared, but were forced to take an oath never to attack Rohan again. The Orcs that survived, if any, made for the planes.

Immediate Aftermath
Less than half of the 10,000 Uruk-Hai survived the main battle, after being driven into Huorns at most one fourth managed to escape into the plains of Rohan.The surviving Dunlendings were sent home and their slain were buried in a communal mound. The orc carcasses were simply piled off to the side of the battle field and left to rot. One of the Rohirrim dead was Háma, a captain of Théoden's personal guard and doorguard of Meduseld. 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.

Later Aftermath
The battle was critical to the survival of Rohan and their participation in the War of the Ring as a whole; had the Rohirrim lost the Battle of the Hornburg, their nation as a whole would have been obliterated by the rampaging legions of Saruman's livid Uruk-hai. Merry and Pippin's persuasion of Treebeard to attack Isengard was critical as well, and guaranteed Rohan's survival for a time. Had the battle been lost, and the Ents refused to attack Isengard, Saruman's forces would've opened up a two-front war with Gondor and crush them. This battle also gave valuable, albeit painful, war experience to the hitherto-lax Riders of Rohan that would prove to be invaluable on the Pelennor Fields but a short while after.

Film Version
In The Two Towers (film), the city of Edoras was evacuated to Helm's Deep. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli accompanied King Théoden and his people there. Along the way they were attacked by Saruman's Warg-Riders. During this fight, Éowyn led the evacuees on to Helm's Deep while the Riders of Rohan fought off the attack. Aragorn became entangled with the harness of a Warg and was dragged off the side of a cliff.

After reaching Helm's Deep, the Rohirrim began to prepare for a siege. During these preparations, Aragorn, who had been found by the horse Brego, arrived with news of 10,000 Uruk-hai coming from Isengard. In response to this, Théoden orders every male able to bear arms, including some of the mature children and old men, to be armed and ready to fight. Aragorn suggested calling for aid but Théoden didn't believe anyone would come. Aragorn also tried lifting the morale of Haleth, one of the boy soldiers.

The Rohirrim were surprised by the arrival of Haldir from Lórien and his archers. They were sent by Elrond to support the Rohirrim, in honor of the ancient treaty with the king of Gondor, represented by Aragorn. Aragorn, Legolas, and Haldir's Elves were stationed on the Deeping Wall, which ensured that every fortification of the Hornburg was manned. "An alliance once existed between Elves and Men. Long ago we fought and died together. We come to honor that allegiance."

- Haldir speaking to Théoden and Aragorn

The battle began when an older man accidentally fired an arrow at the Uruk-hai, killing one by hitting it in the neck. At first it consisted primarily of volleys of arrows. The Elven Archers demonstrated their unmatched proficiency of archery, as they loosened devastating hails of arrows in seconds, felling many Uruk-hai. For a while, their fine skills of bowmanship seemed to halt the momentum of the Uruk-hai charge, as so many Uruks were killed. But the Uruks were not ones to sit idly by as they found several Elvish arrows lodged in their throats; they utilized their new weapons. However, the vast waves of bloodthirsty Uruk-hai, reached the base of the Deeping Wall. At a short range, the Uruk Crossbowmen could finally hit back with their slow-loading, yet hard hitting weapons. A good few elves were killed, one falling horribly into the mass of Uruks below. Then the Uruk-hai began raising ladders, each with a berserker on top. Many elves were killed during this stage of the battle but they and the Rohirrim were managing to keep the Uruk-hai from getting a good foothold on the wall. While the elves were sword-fighting with the Uruk-hai on the wall, the sappers, a group of four Uruk-hai, laid the charges that were prepared by Saruman in the culvert under the wall. A berserker lit the blasting powder despite Legolas shooting him.

Once the wall was blown, the Uruk-hai poured into Helm's Deep. The elves, led by Aragorn, were the first defense against them. While they fought, more Uruk-hai brought a battering ram up to the main gate. Théoden led his men to brace the door, which eventually broke under the assault. Aragorn and Gimli worked together to give the Rohirrim enough time to mend the door and then escaped via a rope lowered by Legolas.

The Uruk-hai used ropes to raised massive ladders that carried dozens of Uruk-hai up to the main Hornburg walls. Although one was shot down by Legolas, many more sprung up.

With the gate broken again, as well as the main fortifications being overrun, Théoden pulled his men back to the keep itself. During the retreat, Haldir was killed before Aragorn could rescue him.

Once inside the keep, Théoden fell into despair while his men tried to brace the door. Aragorn sent word to evacuate the caves.

Aragorn remembered Gandalf telling him that he would arrive at dawn and convinced Théoden to ride out. Gimli sounded the horn of Helm Hammerhand, which frightened the orcs. The Rohirrim, along with Aragorn and Legolas mounted on their horses and charged the Uruks just as they broke through the door. Théoden's cavalry drove out all of the orcs from the Hornburg and retook the gate, with Saruman's main host now gathered outside the fortress.

Outside the keep, Théoden and Aragorn saw Gandalf arrive on Shadowfax. Alonside him was Éomer and his cavalry, and together they charged down the valley. The Uruk-hai formed up a phalanx of spears to repel Elmer’s horsemen; however their defense is thrown into disarray when they encounter real sunlight. Between the combined forces, the Uruk-hai forced to retreat.

In the extended edition, the Uruks are driven into a Huorn forest, and Éomer orders his men to stop pursuing them. The Rohirrim watch from a safe distance as the Huorns slaughter remaining Uruk-hai.

In the extended edition DVD, after the battle, Gimli is sitting on a corpse nearby the gate and Legolas walks up to him, saying he killed forty-two Uruk-Hai, while Gimli responds by saying he was on forty-three. Legolas shoots the corpse Gimli is sitting on, and says he has forty-three because the corpse was twitching. Gimli responds to that because he stuck his axe into the Uruk's nervous system, with him shaking his axe to shake the body, thus proving his point.

"That's because I got my axe embedded into his nervous system!"

- Gimli speaking to Legolas(Extended Edition Only)

Elves of Lórien
The elves' involvement in the defense of the Hornburg proved critical in delaying the enemy; as their superior archery and sword skills enabled them to defend the Deeping Wall for a time. Around 500 Elves, or so, marched to defend the Hornburg. Otherwise, the Rohirrim did not have sufficient manpower to cover all of the Hornburg's fortifications and hold out long enough, being forced to supplant their ranks with teenage boys and old men. The elves' sacrifice bought enough time for Gandalf, Eomer and the two thousand mounted Rohirrim horseman to arrive and turn the tide of the battle.

But the price that the elves paid was high indeed: most of them who left Lothlórien including Haldir were slain in the battle. They were buried by the men of Rohan with honor in the land of their allies. Around 20 of them returned to accompany their kin on that final journey to the Undying Lands.

Rohirrim

 * Háma, Doorward of the Meduseld
 * Haleth(presumed), son of Háma
 * Haldir of Lórien

Isengard

 * Sharku
 * Uglúk