Helm's Deep
Helm's Deep is the most formidable natural fortress in Rohan, a deep gorge carved into the northern arm of the White Mountains, and the site of the pivotal Battle of the Hornburg, where the Rohirrim, led by King Théoden and aided by Gandalf the White and the Huorns of Fangorn, crushed the invading army of Saruman. Its name derives from Helm Hammerhand, the legendary king of Rohan who took refuge there during the Long Winter, and its defenses—the Deeping Wall, the Hornburg, and the Glittering Caves—made it a symbol of Rohirric resistance against overwhelming odds.
Geography and Defenses
Helm's Deep is a narrow gorge winding southward into the mountains from the Deeping-coomb, a broad valley in the Westfold. At its mouth stands the Hornburg, a tower built by the sea-kings of Gondor upon a spur of rock thrust out from the northern cliff. A high wall, the Deeping Wall, runs from the Hornburg to the southern cliff, barring the entrance to the gorge; beneath it a wide culvert allows the Deeping-stream to pass out. The stream then flows through a gully across a green gore, past Helm's Dike—an ancient trench and rampart two furlongs below the Gate—and into the Deeping-coomb. Within the gorge itself, the Glittering Caves of Aglarond open into the mountains' heart, vast caverns of immeasurable halls, domes, and pillars of white, saffron, and dawn-rose stone, which Gimli the Dwarf later declared more beautiful than any dwelling of his kindred.
The Battle of the Hornburg
During the War of the Ring, Saruman's host of Uruk-hai, Dunlendings, and half-orcs, numbering some ten thousand, marched on Helm's Deep after the Rohirrim were driven back from the Fords of Isen. King Théoden, newly healed of Wormtongue's poison, led his remaining Riders—about a thousand men—into the fortress. The assault began at midnight under a thunderstorm, with the enemy using torches, ladders, grappling hooks, and a blasting fire of Orthanc to breach the Deeping Wall. Aragorn, Éomer, and Gimli fought in desperate sorties, and Legolas shot down scores of orcs from the battlements. When the wall fell and the Hornburg's gate was shattered, Théoden rode forth at dawn with a charge that swept the invaders back to the Dike. There they found themselves trapped between the king's company and a newly risen forest of Huorns, sent by Treebeard, which swallowed the fleeing enemy whole. Gandalf the White arrived with Erkenbrand's Westfold-men, completing the rout.
Aftermath and Significance
The victory at Helm's Deep broke Saruman's power in the West, allowing Rohan to muster its full strength for the ride to Minas Tirith. The dead were buried in mounds—the Riders of the Mark in two barrows, the Dunlendings in a third, and the Orcs in a great pit called the Death Down, over which no grass would ever grow. The Huorns returned to Fangorn, and the Deeping-stream ran clean again. Gimli, who had fought with his axe and counted forty-two kills, later returned with Legolas to explore the Glittering Caves, which he described as "immeasurable halls, filled with an everlasting music of water" and "columns of white and saffron and dawn-rose." The caves became a lasting symbol of the friendship between Dwarf and Elf, and Gimli eventually became Lord of the Glittering Caves, leading his people in great works of stone for Gondor and Rohan.
