The Battle of Helm's Deep , also called the Battle of the Hornburg , is a fictional battle in J. R. R. Tolkien 's The Lord of the Rings that saw the total destruction of the forces of the Wizard Saruman by the army of Rohan , assisted by a forest of tree-like Huorns .
120-527: Helm's Deep was a valley in the north-western White Mountains of Middle-earth . Helm's Deep, with its fortress the Hornburg, becomes the refuge of some of the army of Rohan, the Rohirrim, under King Théoden , from assault by the forces of Saruman. Although Théoden says that "the Hornburg has never fallen to assault," in the battle a massive army of Uruk-hai and Dunlendings sent by Saruman almost overwhelms
240-465: A Semitic language influenced by Hebrew phonology . Like medieval Jewish groups, the Dwarves used their own language only among themselves, and adopted the languages of those they live amongst for the most part, for example taking public names from the cultures they lived within, whilst keeping their "true-names" and true language a secret. Tolkien further underlined the diaspora of the Dwarves with
360-584: 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 within the Hornburg 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
480-529: A culvert for the Deeping-stream which flowed down the valley. At one end of the wall the Hornburg castle stood on a spur of the mountain; a long stair led to its rear gate, and a long causeway led down forwards from its main gate. About two furlongs (400 metres) down from the gate was an outer trench and rampart, Helm's Dike, built right across the Deeping-coomb. Tolkien drew detailed sketches of
600-432: A breach in the wall using a "blasting-fire" from Orthanc, perhaps "a kind of gunpowder "; Saruman's army rushed in. Some defenders retreated to the Glittering Caves of Aglarond, while others retreated to the Hornburg. Saruman's forces broke through the Hornburg gate just before dawn. At this moment, Helm's horn was sounded, and Théoden and Aragorn rode out, followed by all the Rohirrim left inside. They cut their way through
720-540: A connection with Jewish history and language. Dwarves appear in his books The Hobbit (1937), The Lord of the Rings (1954–55), and the posthumously published The Silmarillion (1977), Unfinished Tales (1980), and The History of Middle-earth series (1983–96), the last three edited by his son Christopher Tolkien . The medievalist Charles Moseley described the dwarves of Tolkien's legendarium as " Old Norse " in their names, their feuds, and their revenges. In
840-595: A futile attempt to reach the shore to search for her, and drowned in the bay. Mithrellas, a Silvan Elf and one of the companions of Nimrodel, is said to have become the foremother of the line of the Princes of Dol Amroth. According to an alternate account about the line of the Princes of Dol Amroth cited in Unfinished Tales , they were descendants of a family of the Faithful from Númenor who had ruled over
960-409: A glimmering world looks up from dark pools covered with clear glass; cities such as the mind of Durin could scarce have imagined in his sleep, stretch on through avenues and pillared courts, or into the dark recesses where no light can come. The mouth of the gorge, Helm's Gate, was closed by the battlemented Deeping Wall, 20 ft (6.1 m) tall, and wide enough for four men to stand abreast, with
1080-478: A language he had devised for them. Ilúvatar , creator of Arda , is aware of the Dwarves' creation and sanctifies them. Because they had been made by a Vala, Dwarves lacked souls until granted them by Ilúvatar. Aulë sealed the seven Fathers of the Dwarves in stone chambers in far-flung regions of Middle-earth to await their awakening. Each of the Seven Fathers founds one of the seven Dwarf clans. Durin I
1200-481: A setting in which the trees might really march to war". The Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey calls it a "shock" that the battle is decided by having a forest of Huorns destroy Saruman's army of Orcs. Charles Oughton likens the Battle of Helm's Deep to Livy 's account of Horatius Cocles 's heroic defence of Rome's Pons Sublicius bridge. The heroes Aragorn, Éomer , and Gimli hold off the army of Orcs; Horatius holds off
1320-450: A stormy night. They stormed the first defence, Helm's Dike, forcing the defenders to fall back to the fortress. They attempted to break down the gate with a battering ram , but a sortie led by Aragorn and Éomer briefly scattered the attackers. The Orcs and Dunlendings raised ladders to scale the wall, but were held back by the Men of Rohan atop the wall. Orcs crept into the culvert and made
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#17327825698361440-705: A war against the Númenórean kingdoms. He captured Minas Ithil, but Isildur escaped by ship to Arnor; meanwhile, Anárion was able to defend Osgiliath. Elendil and the Elven -king Gil-galad formed the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, and together with Isildur and Anárion, they besieged and defeated Mordor. Sauron was overthrown; but the One Ring that Isildur took from him was not destroyed, and thus Sauron continued to exist. Both Elendil and Anárion were killed in
1560-624: A writing system originally created by Elves in Beleriand to write Sindarin, and later more fully developed by Daeron, an Elf of Doriath. The Cirth runes are adapted by Dwarves for writing Khuzdul. The Dwarves keep their language secret and do not normally teach it to others, so they learn both Quenya and Sindarin to communicate with the Elves, especially the Noldor and Sindar . By the Third Age
1680-512: Is "compulsively truculent", Faramir is courteous, urbane, civilised: the people of Gondor are self-assured, and their culture is higher than that of Rohan. The same is seen, Shippey argues, in the comparison between the mead hall of Meduseld in Rohan, and the great hall of Minas Tirith in Gondor. Meduseld is simple, but brought to life by tapestries, a colourful stone floor, and the vivid picture of
1800-467: Is described only as a "hero of old wars"; Tolkien did not envision him as a king when he wrote that chapter. Tolkien had not yet envisioned Helm's Deep in his first sketch for the decisive battle between Rohan and the forces of Saruman. In an outline published in The Treason of Isengard as “The Story Foreseen from Fangorn," the Rohirrim rode west at Gandalf's urging, as in the published text, but met
1920-624: Is marked by the tolling of a bell in the Seaward Tower ( Tirith Aear ) of Dol Amroth, and he recovers at an inn in the city. Its ruler, the Prince of Dol Amroth, is subject to the sovereignty of Gondor. The principality's boundaries are not explicitly defined, though the Prince ruled Belfalas as a fief, as well as an area to the east on the map labelled Dor-en-Ernil ("The Land of the Prince"). Imrahil, Prince of Dol Amroth in The Return of
2040-431: Is portrayed by Richard Armitage , with Ken Stott as Balin, Graham McTavish as Dwalin, Aidan Turner as Kíli, Dean O'Gorman as Fíli, Mark Hadlow as Dori, Jed Brophy as Nori, Adam Brown as Ori, John Callen as Óin, Peter Hambleton as Glóin, William Kircher as Bifur, James Nesbitt as Bofur, and Stephen Hunter as Bombur. Jackson's films introduce a story arc not found in the original novel, in which Kili and
2160-595: Is properly the narrow gorge or ravine at the head of a larger valley (the Deeping-coomb), but the name is also used for the fortifications at the mouth of the gorge and the larger valley below. The gorge, which wound deep into the White Mountains at the feet of the Thrihyrne mountain, led into the Glittering Caves of Aglarond, an extensive series of spectacular speleothems . In The Lord of the Rings ,
2280-787: Is the eldest, and the first of his kind to awake in Middle-earth. He awakens in Mount Gundabad , in the northern Misty Mountains , and founds the clan of Longbeards (Durin's Folk); they found the city of Khazad-dûm below the Misty Mountains, and later realms in the Grey Mountains and Erebor (the Lonely Mountain). Two others lie in sleep in the north of the Ered Luin or Blue Mountains, and they found
2400-682: The Prose Edda . She notes that Boromir is given a boat-funeral in The Two Towers . Fimi further compares the helmet and crown of Gondor with the romanticised "headgear of the Valkyries ", despite Tolkien's denial of a connection with Wagner's Ring cycle , noting the "likeness of the wings of a sea-bird" in his description of Aragorn's coronation, and his drawing of the crown in an unused dust jacket design. The classical scholar Miryam Librán-Moreno writes that Tolkien drew heavily on
2520-491: The Dwarf Gimli , who like all dwarves is well versed in geology, horrified that the caves are used only as a refuge, describes them lyrically as: immeasurable halls, filled with everlasting music of water that tinkles into pools, as fair as Kheled-zâram in the starlight. […] when torches are kindled and men walk on the sandy floors under the echoing domes, ah! then […] gems and crystals and veins of precious ore glint in
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#17327825698362640-582: The Elves —who are the imagined "authors" of the myths, and are therefore biased against Dwarves. Tolkien was inspired by the dwarves of Norse myths and of later Germanic folklore (such as that of the Brothers Grimm ), from whom his Dwarves take their characteristic affinity with mining, metalworking, and crafting. In The Hobbit , Dwarves are portrayed as occasionally comedic and bumbling, but largely as honourable, serious-minded, and proud. Tolkien
2760-700: The First Age by seafaring Sindar from the west havens of Beleriand who fled in three small ships when the power of Morgoth overwhelmed the Eldar ; the Sindar were joined later by Silvan Elves who came down Anduin seeking the sea. Another account states that the haven was established in the Second Age by Sindarin Elves from Lindon, who learned the craft of shipbuilding at the Grey Havens and then settled at
2880-569: The Hebrew Bible . Medieval views of Jews also saw them as having a propensity for making well-crafted and beautiful things, a trait shared with Norse dwarves. The Dwarf calendar invented for The Hobbit reflects the Jewish calendar 's Rosh Hashanah in beginning in late autumn. In The Lord of the Rings , Tolkien continued the themes of The Hobbit . When giving Dwarves their own language, Khuzdul , Tolkien decided to create an analogue of
3000-1038: The Malvern Hills with C. S. Lewis , and recorded excerpts from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings in Malvern in 1952, at George Sayer's home. Sayer wrote that Tolkien relived the book as they walked, comparing the Malvern Hills to the White Mountains of Gondor. Gondor, as it appeared in Peter Jackson 's film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings , has been compared to the Byzantine Empire. The production team noted this in DVD commentary, explaining their decision to include Byzantine domes into Minas Tirith's architecture and to have civilians wear Byzantine-styled clothing. However,
3120-636: The Menegroth , Khazad-dûm , and Erebor . Among the many treasures they forge are the named weapons Narsil , the sword of Elendil , the Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin and the necklace Nauglamír, the most prized treasure in Nargothrond and the most famed Dwarven work of the Elder Days. In The Hobbit , Thorin gives Bilbo a Mithril coat of linked rings of mail . In Grey-elvish or Sindarin
3240-514: The Rohirrim , Stoningland. Tolkien's early writings suggest that this was a reference to the highly developed masonry of Gondorians in contrast to their rustic neighbours. This view is supported by the Drúedain terms for Gondorians and Minas Tirith —Stonehouse-folk and Stone-city. Tolkien denied that the name Gondor had been inspired by the ancient Ethiopian citadel of Gondar , stating that
3360-637: The Wainriders . The critic Tom Shippey compares Tolkien's characterisation of Gondor with that of Rohan. He notes that men from the two countries meet or behave in contrasting ways several times in The Lord of the Rings : when Éomer and his Riders of Rohan twice meet Aragorn's party in the Mark, and when Faramir and his men imprison Frodo and Sam at Henneth Annun in Ithilien. Shippey notes that while Éomer
3480-566: The battering ram named Grond attacked the Great Gate; it burst asunder as if "stricken by some blasting spell", with "a flash of searing lightning, and the doors tumbled in riven fragments to the ground". The Witch-king rode through the Gate where Gandalf awaited him, but left shortly afterwards to meet the Riders of Rohan in battle. Gondor, with the support of Rohirrim as cavalry, repelled
3600-511: The orcs of Mordor. Gondor's geography is illustrated in the maps for The Lord of the Rings made by Christopher Tolkien on the basis of his father's sketches, and geographical accounts in The Rivers and Beacon-Hills of Gondor , Cirion and Eorl , and The Lord of the Rings . Gondor lies in the west of Middle-earth , on the northern shores of Anfalas and the Bay of Belfalas with
3720-1009: The Byzantines by the Persians and the Muslim armies of the Arabs and the Turks , as well as the Langobards and Goths; Gondor by the Easterlings, the Haradrim, and the hordes of Sauron. Both realms were in decline at the time of a final, all-out siege from the East; however, Minas Tirith survived the siege whereas Constantinople did not . In a 1951 letter, Tolkien himself wrote about "the Byzantine City of Minas Tirith." Tolkien visited
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3840-629: The Deathless In the fantasy of J. R. R. Tolkien , the Dwarves are a race inhabiting Middle-earth , the central continent of Arda in an imagined mythological past. They are based on the dwarfs of Germanic myths who were small humanoids that lived in mountains, practising mining , metallurgy , blacksmithing and jewellery . Tolkien described them as tough, warlike, and lovers of stone and craftsmanship. The origins of Tolkien's Dwarves can be traced to Norse mythology; Tolkien also mentioned
3960-701: The Dunlending captives were put to work in repairing the fortress. The bodies of the Orcs that had entered the forest of Huorns were never seen again; the Huorns had buried them in an earthen mound known as "Death's Down". Among the Rohirrim dead was Háma, captain of Théoden's personal guard and doorward of his hall ; the Orcs had hewn his corpse, an atrocity that Théoden recalled during his later parley with Saruman. Gimli had been wounded, but had killed 42 Orcs to Legolas's 41. In Book III, ch. 5 of The Two Towers , Helm
4080-458: The Dwarves are called Naugrim ("Stunted People"), Gonnhirrim ("Stone-lords"), and Dornhoth ("Thrawn Folk"), and Hadhodrim . In Quenya they are the Casári . The Dwarves call themselves Khazâd in their own language, Khuzdul . Khuzdul is created for them by Aulë, rather than being descended from an Elvish language, as most of the languages of Men are. They write it using Cirth runes ,
4200-519: The Dwarves are estranged from the Elves and no longer routinely learn their language. Instead, they mostly use the Westron or Common Speech, a Mannish tongue, in communicating with other races. Each Dwarf has two personal names, a secret or "inner" name in Khuzdul, which is used only among other Dwarves and is never revealed to outsiders, and a public "outer" name for use with other races, taken from
4320-617: The Elf Tauriel (a character also invented for the films) fall in love. In Iron Crown Enterprises ' Middle-earth Role Playing (1986), Dwarf player-characters receive statistical bonuses to Strength and Constitution, and subtractions from Presence, Agility and Intelligence. Seven "Dwarven Kindreds", named after each of the founding fathers—Durin, Bávor, Dwálin, Thrár, Druin, Thelór and Bárin—are given in The Lords of Middle-earth—Volume III (1989). In Decipher Inc. 's The Lord of
4440-590: The Extended Edition, later released on DVD. Helm's Deep is based on the Cheddar Gorge , a limestone gorge 400 ft (120 m) deep in the Mendip Hills , with a large cave complex that Tolkien visited on his honeymoon in 1916 and revisited in 1940, and which he acknowledged as the origin of the Glittering Caves of Aglarond at the head of Helm's Deep, behind the fortress. Helm's Deep
4560-488: The Extended Edition, later released on DVD. The 2013 expansion to The Lord of the Rings Online entitled Helm's Deep depicts the fortress of Helm's Deep as well as the surrounding area of Western Rohan, the Battle of Helm's Deep featuring prominently. Ered Nimrais Gondor is a fictional kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien 's writings, described as the greatest realm of Men in the west of Middle-earth at
4680-512: The Falls of Rauros, over which Boromir's funeral-boat is sent. Further down the river are the hills of Emyn Arnen. The capital of Gondor at the end of the Third Age, Minas Tirith (Sindarin: "Tower of Guard" ), lay at the eastern end of the White Mountains, built around a shoulder of Mount Mindolluin. The city had seven walls: each held a gate, and each gate faced a different direction from
4800-515: The Glittering Caves of Aglarond on the cave complex that he had visited there. The army of Rohan was according to Tolkien armed and equipped much like that of the armies depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry . He noted further that his walking forest was partly a response to Shakespeare 's Macbeth , which tells of the coming of "Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane hill". Scholars have likened the way Aragorn, Éomer, and Gimli heroically hold off
4920-423: The Huorn forest and were destroyed. After the battle, the Dunlendings were given amnesty by Erkenbrand and allowed to return home (much to their surprise, since Saruman had told them that the men of Rohan would burn all survivors alive). The Rohirrim required that all hostilities cease, and that the Dunlendings retreat behind the River Isen again and never recross while bearing arms. Before they were freed, though,
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5040-608: The Jews? Their words are Semitic, obviously, constructed to be Semitic." This raises the question, examined by Rebecca Brackmann in Mythlore , of whether there was an element of antisemitism , however deeply buried, in Tolkien's account of the Dwarves, inherited from English attitudes of his time. Brackman notes that Tolkien himself attempted to work through the issue in his Middle-earth writings. The philologist Helge Fauskanger analyses Khuzdul, finding in it features of Semitic languages . The original editor of The Hobbit "corrected" Tolkien's plural "dwarves" to "dwarfs", as did
5160-411: The King , was linked by marriage both to the Stewards of Gondor and to the Kings of Rohan. He was the brother of Lady Finduilas and uncle to her sons Boromir and Faramir ; a kinsman of Théoden ; and the father of Éomer 's wife Lothíriel. Imrahil played a major part in the defence of Minas Tirith ; the soldiers whom Imrahil led to Minas Tirith formed the largest contingent from the hinterland to
5280-533: The King's niece Éowyn . The garrison of Helm's Deep consisted of some 1,000 men, but around 1,000 more defenders had arrived from across Rohan by the time of the battle. The enemy, Saruman 's army, consisted of at least 10,000 Orcs and men, most marching from Isengard to Helm's Deep, and others heading to the Fords of Isen. An additional force of Men of Dunland joined the enemy. The forces of Saruman, common Orcs, large Uruk-hai, "half-orcs and goblin-men", and Dunlendings (Men of Dunland), arrived at Helm's Deep on
5400-421: The Men of the Mountains. They built a subterranean complex at Dunharrow, later known as the Paths of the Dead, which extended through the mountain-range from north to south. They became subject to Sauron in the Dark Years. Fragments of pre-Númenórean languages survive in later ages in place-names such as Erech , Arnach , and Umbar . The shorelands of Gondor were widely colonized by the Númenóreans from
5520-413: The Orcs and drove them back from the fortress walls to Helm's Dike. As day dawned, both armies saw that a forest of angry, tree-like Huorns now filled the valley, trapping Saruman's army. Above them, Gandalf appeared on Shadowfax , with Erkenbrand and a thousand footsoldiers who had escaped from the Fords of Isen. They charged into the fray. The Dunlendings dropped their weapons, while the Orcs fled into
5640-414: The Ring, the forces of Gondor, led by Aragorn under the alias Thorongil, attacked Umbar and destroyed the Corsair fleet, allowing Denethor II to devote his attention to Mordor. Denethor sent his son Boromir to Rivendell for advice as war loomed. There, Boromir attended the Council of Elrond , saw the One Ring , and suggested it be used as a weapon to save Gondor. Elrond rebuked him, explaining
5760-452: The Rings , the part of the Dwarf Gimli was voiced by David Buck . In Peter Jackson 's live action adaptation of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , Gimli's character is from time to time used as comic relief, whether with jokes about his height or his rivalry with the elf Legolas . Gimli is played by John Rhys-Davies , who gave the character a "Welsh-derived" accent. In Jackson's three-film adaptation of The Hobbit , Thorin
5880-435: The Rings , in order to explain why the Dwarves had Norse names, he created an elaborate fiction that many of the languages used in the book were "translated" into real-life languages for the benefit of the reader, roughly retaining the relationships of the languages among themselves. Thus, Westron was translated into English, the related but more archaic language of the Rohirrim was translated into Anglo-Saxon ( Old English ), and
6000-474: The Rings Roleplaying Game (2001), based on the Jackson films, Dwarf player-characters get bonuses to Vitality and Strength attributes and must be given craft skills. In the real-time strategy game The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II , and its expansion , both based on the Jackson films, Dwarves are heavily influenced by classical military practice, and use throwing axes, war hammers, spears, and circular or Roman-style shields. One dwarf unit
6120-401: The Rohirrim) were built by Gondor to guard the shoulders of the Gap of Rohan . Like Angrenost to the north, it was initially well guarded, but as the population of Calenardhon dwindled it was not maintained and was left to a hereditary small guard who intermarried with Dunlendings . When Cirion, Steward of Gondor , gave Calenardhon to the Éothéod , Aglarond was transferred into the care of
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#17327825698366240-454: The Rohirrim, who named it Súthburg ("South-fortress" in Old English). The Gondorian guard was merged with that of Isengard. Guard duty of the Fords was initially shared between Gondor and Rohan, but later maintained only by the Rohirrim. In a 1958 letter to Rhona Beare, one of a group of enthusiasts, Tolkien stated that the Rohirrim "were not ' Mediaeval ' in our sense" (as the Third Age was meant to be thousands of years earlier) but that all
6360-435: The absent king by showing their loyalty to the Stewards of Gondor. The kingdom's ascendancy is restored only with Sauron's final defeat and the crowning of Aragorn as king. Based upon early conceptions, the history and geography of Gondor were developed in stages as Tolkien extended his legendarium while writing The Lord of the Rings . Critics have noted the contrast between the cultured but lifeless Stewards of Gondor, and
6480-585: The allegiance of a hobbit, but very differently: Denethor, Steward of Gondor, undervalues Pippin because he is small, and binds him with a formal oath, whereas Théoden, King of Rohan, treats Merry with love, which the hobbit responds to. In his analysis of the historical lore of Númenor, Michael N. Stanton said close affinities are demonstrated between Elves and the descendants of Men of the West, not only in terms of blood heritage but also in "moral probity and nobility of demeanor", which gradually weakened over time due to "time, forgetfulness, and, in no small part,
6600-419: The appearance and structure of the city was based upon the inhabited tidal island and abbey of Mont Saint-Michel , France. In the films, the towers of the city, designed by the artist Alan Lee , are equipped with trebuchets . The film critic Roger Ebert called the films' interpretation of Minas Tirith a "spectacular achievement", and compared it to the Emerald City from The Wizard of Oz . He praised
6720-430: The appendix on "Durin's Folk" in The Lord of the Rings , Tolkien describes dwarves as: a tough, thrawn race for the most part, secretive, laborious, retentive of the memory of injuries (and of benefits), lovers of stone, of gems, of things that take shape under the hands of the craftsmen rather than things that live by their own life. But they are not evil by nature, and few ever served the Enemy of free will, whatever
6840-406: The army of Etruscans at the bridge. Oughton finds multiple matches between the two accounts. Several of these are not present in Thomas Babington Macaulay 's poem " Horatius " which retells Livy's tale, though Oughton suggests that Tolkien did make additional use of Macaulay for some details. In Peter Jackson 's 2002 film The Two Towers the keep was built into the mountainside and resembles
6960-417: The army of Orcs to Horatius Cocles 's heroic defence of a bridge of ancient Rome . Peter Jackson 's 2002 film The Two Towers makes the battle dramatic, following Tolkien's account quite closely, but with changes to the forces involved: the defenders include a group of Elf -warriors sent by Elrond ; the attackers include neither men nor wargs (battle-wolves). Huorns appear only in additional scenes in
7080-455: The army of Saruman on the open plain. An indecisive battle ensued, after which the Rohirrim camped for the night, and woke to see the enemy surrounded and destroyed by a wood that had appeared overnight. After the publication of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien wrote about the history of Rohan , in writings now collected by his son Christopher in Unfinished Tales . These state that the fortresses of Aglarond and Angrenost (renamed Isengard by
7200-407: The beginning of the Third Age, left his realm behind in search of his beloved Nimrodel, a Nandorin who had fled from the horror unleashed by the Dwarves in Moria . He waited for her at Edhellond, for their final voyage together into the West. But Nimrodel, who loved Middle-earth as much as she did Amroth, failed to join him. When the ship was blown prematurely out to sea, he jumped overboard in
7320-414: The centuries that Gondor was ruled by the Stewards; Aragorn brought a sapling of the White Tree into the city on his return as King. John Garth writes that the White Tree has been likened to the Dry Tree of the 14th century Travels of Sir John Mandeville . The tale runs that the Dry Tree had been dry since the crucifixion of Christ , but that it would flower afresh when "a prince of the west side of
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#17327825698367440-538: The danger of such use, and instead, the hobbit Frodo was made ring-bearer, and a Fellowship , including Boromir, was sent on a quest to destroy the Ring. Growing in strength, Sauron attacked Osgiliath, forcing the defenders to leave, destroying the last bridge across the Anduin behind them. Minas Tirith then faced direct land attack from Mordor , combined with naval attack by the Corsairs of Umbar. The hobbits Frodo and Sam travelled through Ithilien, and were captured by Faramir , Boromir's brother, who held them at
7560-447: The day of the last new moon of autumn. However, in his first drafts of the book, Durin's Day was the first new moon of autumn. After he had finished writing the book, Tolkien went back and changed all occurrences of the date to the last new moon, more in keeping with the real-world Celtic calendar , but overlooked one mention in Chapter IV, which still named the date as the first new moon. Tolkien never noticed this inconsistency, and it
7680-480: The defence of the city. They marched under a banner "silver upon blue", bearing "a white ship like a swan upon blue water". Some like Finduilas are of Númenórean descent, and still speak the Elvish language. Tolkien wrote about the city's protective sea-walls and described Belfalas as a "great fief". Prince Imrahil's castle is by the sea; Tolkien described him as "of high blood, and his folk also, tall men and proud with sea-grey eyes". Local tradition claimed that
7800-413: The defences. Saruman's Orcs breach the fortress wall that blocks the valley by setting off an explosion in a culvert ; Aragorn names it "Saruman's devilry" and "the fire of Orthanc "; the critic Tom Shippey calls it "a kind of gunpowder". The defenders hold out in the fortress until dawn, when Théoden and Aragorn lead a cavalry charge that drives the Orcs from the fortress. They are surprised to see
7920-532: The destruction of their home countries; the brothers Romulus and Remus found Rome, while the brothers Isildur and Anárion found the Númenórean kingdoms in Middle-earth; and both Gondor and Rome experienced centuries of " decadence and decline ". Dimitra Fimi , a scholar of fantasy and children's literature, draws a parallel between the seafaring Númenóreans and the Vikings of the Norse world, noting that in The Lost Road and Other Writings , Tolkien describes their ship-burials , matching those in Beowulf and
8040-457: The early years of the Third Age , Gondor was victorious and wealthy, and kept a careful watch on Mordor, but the peace ended with Easterling invasions. Gondor established a powerful navy and captured the southern port of Umbar from the Black Númenóreans , becoming rich. As time went by, Gondor neglected the watch on Mordor . A civil war gave Umbar the opportunity to declare independence. The kings of Harad grew stronger, leading to fighting in
8160-468: The editor of the Puffin paperback edition. According to Tolkien, the "real 'historical' plural" of "dwarf" is "dwarrows" or "dwerrows". He described the word "dwarves" as "a piece of private bad grammar". In Appendix F of The Lord of the Rings , Tolkien explained that if people still spoke of "dwarves" regularly, English might have retained a special plural for the word "dwarf", as with the irregular plural of "goose", "geese". Despite his fondness for it,
8280-433: The end of the Third Age . The third volume of The Lord of the Rings , The Return of the King , is largely concerned with the events in Gondor during the War of the Ring and with the restoration of the realm afterward. The history of the kingdom is outlined in the appendices of the book. Gondor was founded by the brothers Isildur and Anárion, exiles from the downfallen island kingdom of Númenor . Along with Arnor in
8400-410: The even more distantly related language of Dale was translated into Norse. It is possible that the problem of explaining the Dwarves' Norse names was the origin of the entire structure of the Mannish languages in Middle-earth along with the fiction of "translation". Tolkien's only mention of the Dwarves' calendar is in The Hobbit , regarding the "dwarves' New Year" or Durin 's Day , which occurs on
8520-439: The filmmakers' ability to blend digital and real sets. The setting of Minas Tirith has appeared in video game adaptations of The Lord of the Rings , such as the 2003 video game The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King where it is directly modelled on Jackson's film adaptation. Several locations in Gondor were featured in the 1982 role-playing game Middle-earth Role Playing game and its expansions. Durin
8640-671: The form "dwarrow" only appears in his writing as "Dwarrowdelf" ("Dwarf-digging"), a name for Moria. He used "Dwarves", instead, corresponding to his "Elves" as a plural for "Elf". Tolkien used "dwarvish" and "dwarf(-)" (e.g. " Dwarf-lords ", "Old Dwarf Road") as adjectives for the people he created. In Rankin-Bass ' 1977 animated film adaptation of The Hobbit , Thorin was voiced by Hans Conreid , with Don Messick voicing Balin , John Stephenson voicing Dori , Jack DeLeon voicing Dwalin , Fíli , Kíli , Óin , Glóin , Ori , Nori , Bifur , and Bofur , and Paul Frees voicing Bombur . In Ralph Bakshi 's 1978 animated film The Lord of
8760-527: The fortifications. The valley was named after King Helm Hammerhand of Rohan, when he and his people sought refuge from the invading Dunlendings under Wulf during the winter of T.A. 2758–2759. Théoden had been released by the Wizard Gandalf from the influence of Gríma Wormtongue , his malevolent adviser and Saruman's spy. He then set out to the Fords of Isen, where his marshal Erkenbrand
8880-968: The general history of the Goths , Langobards and the Byzantine Empire , and their mutual struggle. Historical names from these peoples were used in drafts or the final concept of the internal history of Gondor, such as Vidumavi, wife of king Valacar (in Gothic ). The Byzantine Empire and Gondor were both, in Librán-Moreno's view, only echoes of older states (the Roman Empire and the unified kingdom of Elendil), yet each proved to be stronger than their sister-kingdoms (the Western Roman Empire and Arnor, respectively). Both realms were threatened by powerful eastern and southern enemies:
9000-407: The great port of Pelargir near the river Anduin's delta in the fertile and populous region of Lebennin, stretching up to the White Mountains (Sindarin: Ered Nimrais , "Mountains of White Horns"). Near the mouths of Anduin was the island of Tolfalas. To the north-west of Gondor lies Arnor; to the north, Gondor is bordered by Wilderland and Rohan ; to the north-east, by Rhûn; to the east, across
9120-564: The great river Anduin and the province of Ithilien, by Mordor ; to the south, by the deserts of northern Harad . To the west lies the Great Sea. The wide land to the west of Rohan was Enedwaith; in some of Tolkien's writings it is part of Gondor, in others not. The hot and dry region of South Gondor, or Harondor was by the time of the War of the Ring "a debatable and desert land", contested by
9240-529: The greatest battle scenes in film, combining "technical mastery, sweeping spectacle and tonal balance". In the film, 10,000 of Saruman's Uruk-hai (with no Orcs of other races, Dunlendings or wargs to accompany them) lay siege to the fortress, defended by around 300 Rohirrim. Soon after, however, a large group of the Elves of Lothlórien join the defences, sent by Elrond , at Galadriel's prompting. The defenders suffer heavy losses, but hold out until dawn, when Gandalf arrives with 2,000 riders led by Éomer, who turn
9360-643: The hidden cave of Henneth Annûn, but aided them to continue their quest. Aragorn summoned the Dead of Dunharrow to destroy the forces from Umbar , freeing men from the southern provinces of Gondor such as Dol Amroth to come to the aid of Minas Tirith. During the Battle of the Pelennor Fields , the Great Gate was breached by Sauron 's forces led by the Witch-king of Angmar . He spoke "words of power" as
9480-546: The invasion by Mordor. Following the death of Denethor and the incapacity of Faramir, Prince Imrahil became the effective lord of Gondor. When Imrahil declined to send the entirety of Gondor's army against Mordor, Aragorn led a smaller army to the Black Gate of Mordor to distract Sauron from Frodo's quest. Sauron encircled the army at the Battle of the Morannon , but the hobbits succeeded, defeating Sauron and bringing
9600-686: The kingdom's coat of arms . Elendil, who founded the Kingdom of Arnor to the north, was held to be the High King of all the lands of the Dúnedain . Isildur established the city of Minas Ithil (Sindarin: "Tower of the Moon") while Anárion established the city of Minas Anor (Sindarin: "Tower of the Sun"). Sauron survived the destruction of Númenor and secretly returned to his realm of Mordor, soon launching
9720-576: The land of Belfalas since the Second Age , before Númenor was destroyed . This family of Númenóreans were akin to the Lords of Andúnië , and thus related to Elendil and descended from the House of Elros. After the Downfall of Númenor , they were created the "Prince of Belfalas" by Elendil . Unfinished Tales provides an account of "Adrahil of Dol Amroth" who fought under King Ondoher of Gondor against
9840-657: The language of the people amongst whom the Dwarf lives. For example, the Dwarves of Moria and the Lonely Mountain use outer names taken from the language of the Men of the north where they lived. In reality, Tolkien took the names of 12 of the 13 dwarves – excluding Balin – that he used in The Hobbit from the Old Norse Völuspá , long before the idea of Khuzdul arose. When he came to write The Lord of
9960-663: The last years of Tolkien's life, when he invented justifications for the place-names and wrote full narratives for the stories of Isildur's death and of the battles with the Wainriders and the Balchoth (published in Unfinished Tales ). Tolkien describes an early population of elves in the Dol Amroth region, writing many accounts of its early history. In one version, a haven and a small settlement were founded in
10080-497: The legend of Númenor ; these already contain a semblance of Gondor. The appendices to The Lord of the Rings were brought to a finished state in 1953–54, but a decade later, during preparations for the release of the Second Edition, Tolkien elaborated the events that had led to Gondor's civil war, introducing the regency of Rómendacil II. The final development of the history and geography of Gondor took place around 1970, in
10200-499: The line's forefather, Imrazôr the Númenórean had married an Elf, though the line remained mortal. The first people in the region were the Drúedain , a hunter-gatherer group of Men who arrive in the First Age . They were pushed aside by later settlers and came to live in the pine-woods of the Druadan Forest by the north-eastern White Mountains . The next people settled in the White Mountains , and became known as
10320-721: The lines of the Broadbeams and the Firebeards. The remaining four clans, the Ironfists, Stiffbeards, Blacklocks, and Stonefoots come from the East. After the end of the First Age, the Dwarves spoken of are almost exclusively of Durin's line. A further division, the even shorter Petty-dwarves , appears in The Silmarillion and The Children of Húrin . Moseley likens Mîm , the last known Petty-dwarf, to
10440-497: The lost stronghold of the Mines of Moria . Tolkien elaborated on Jewish influence on his Dwarves in a letter: "I do think of the 'Dwarves' like Jews: at once native and alien in their habitations, speaking the languages of the country, but with an accent due to their own private tongue..." In the last interview before his death, Tolkien said "The dwarves of course are quite obviously, wouldn't you say, that in many ways they remind you of
10560-503: The machinations of Sauron". The cultural ties between the Men of Gondor and Elves are reflected in the names of certain characters: for instance, Finduilas of Dol Amroth (the wife of Denethor and the sister of Prince Imrahil) shares her name with an Elf princess of the First Age . Leslie A. Donovan, in A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien , compares the siege of Gondor with the alliance of Elves and Men in their fight against Morgoth and other co-operative ventures in The Silmarillion , making
10680-449: The men of Harad. The region of Lamedon and the uplands of the prosperous Morthond, with the desolate Hill of Erech, lay to the south of the White Mountains, while the populous valleys of Lossarnach were just south of Minas Tirith. The city's port was also a few miles south at Harlond, where the great river Anduin made its closest approach to Minas Tirith. Ringló Vale lay between Lamedon and Lebennin. The region of Calenardhon lay to
10800-530: The middle of the Second Age , especially by Elf-friends loyal to Elendil . His sons Isildur and Anárion landed in Gondor after the drowning of Númenor, and co-founded the Kingdom of Gondor. Isildur brought with him a seedling of Nimloth (Sindarin: nim , "white" and loth , "blossom" ) the Fair, the white tree from Númenor. This tree and its descendants came to be called the White Tree of Gondor, and appears on
10920-667: The mouth of the Morthond . Other accounts say that Silvan Elves accompanied Galadriel from Lothlórien to this region after the defeat of Sauron at Eriador in the middle of the Second Age, or that Amroth ruled among the Nandorin Elves here in the Second Age. Elves continued to live there well into the Third Age, until the last ship departed from Edhellond for the Undying Lands . Amroth, King of Lothlórien from
11040-492: The name, Thráin, of two of Thorin Oakenshield 's ancestors. It suggests this may have been a philological joke on Tolkien's part. Dwarves were long-lived, with a lifespan of some 250 years. They breed slowly, for no more than a third of them are female, not all marry, and they have children only late in life. Tolkien names only one female, Dís, Thorin's sister. They are still considered children in their 20s, as Thorin
11160-805: The next. The city was surrounded by the Pelennor , an area of farmlands ringed by a wall. Inside the seventh wall was the Citadel, topped by the White Tower. Behind the tower, reached from the sixth level, was a saddle leading to the necropolis of the Kings and Stewards, with a street of tombs, Rath Dínen. Within the Court of the Fountain stood the White Tree , the symbol of Gondor. It was dry throughout
11280-572: The north of the White Mountains; it was granted independence as the kingdom of Rohan . To the northeast, the river Anduin enters the hills of the Emyn Muil and passes the Sarn Gebir, dangerous straits, above a large river-lake, Nen Hithoel. Its entrance was once the northern border of Gondor, and is marked by the Gates of Argonath, an enormous pair of kingly statues, as a warning to trespassers. At
11400-639: The north, Gondor, the South-kingdom, served as a last stronghold of the Men of the West . After an early period of growth, Gondor gradually declined as the Third Age progressed, being continually weakened by internal strife and conflict with the allies of the Dark Lord Sauron . By the time of the War of the Ring, the throne of Gondor is empty, though its principalities and fiefdoms still pay deference to
11520-581: The point that none of these would have succeeded without collaboration; further that one such success comes from another shared effort, as when the Rohirrim were only able to come to the aid of Gondor because of the joint efforts of Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn; and that they in turn collaborated with the oathbreakers from the Paths of the Dead. Sandra Ballif Straubhaar , a scholar of Germanic studies, notes in The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia that readers have debated
11640-433: The polished walls; and the light glows through folded marbles, shell-like, translucent as the living hands of Queen Galadriel . There are columns of white and saffron and dawn-rose […] fluted and twisted into dreamlike forms; they spring up from many-coloured floors to meet the glistening pendants of the roof: wings, ropes, curtains fine as frozen clouds; spears, banners, pinnacles of suspended palaces! Still lakes mirror them:
11760-679: The real-world prototypes of Gondor. She writes that like the Normans , their founders the Númenóreans arrived "from across the sea", and that Prince Imrahil's armour with a "burnished vambrace " recalls late-medieval plate armour . Against this theory, she notes Tolkien's direction of readers to Egypt and Byzantium. Recalling that Tolkien located Minas Tirith at the latitude of Florence, she states that "the most striking similarities" are with ancient Rome . She identifies several parallels: Aeneas , from Troy , and Elendil, from Númenor, both survive
11880-491: The rider, his bright hair streaming in the wind, blowing his horn. The Steward Denethor's hall is large and solemn, but dead, colourless, in cold stone. Rohan is, Shippey suggests, the "bit that Tolkien knew best", Anglo-Saxon, full of vigour; Gondor is "a kind of Rome", over-subtle, selfish, calculating. The critic Jane Chance Nitzsche contrasts the "good and bad Germanic lords Théoden and Denethor", noting that their names are almost anagrams. She writes that both men receive
12000-724: The ring from him in the dungeons of Dol Guldur . The Dwarves are portrayed in The Silmarillion as an ancient people who awake during the Years of the Trees , after the Elves at the start of the First Age , but before Men when the Sun and Moon are created. The Vala Aulë , impatient for the arising of the Children of Ilúvatar , creates the seven Fathers of the Dwarves in secret, intending them to be his children to whom he could teach his crafts. He teaches them Khuzdul ,
12120-606: The root Ond went back to an account he had read as a child mentioning ond ("stone") as one of only two words known of the pre-Celtic languages of Britain. Gondor is also called the South-kingdom or Southern Realm, and together with Arnor as the Númenórean Realms in Exile. Researchers Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull have proposed a Quenya translation of Gondor : Ondonórë . The Men of Gondor are nicknamed "Tarks" (from Quenya tarkil "High Man", Númenórean) by
12240-557: The same "the styles of the Bayeux Tapestry (made in England) fit them well enough", explaining that the soldiers in the tapestry are wearing chain-mail . Tolkien noted in a letter that he had created walking tree-creatures partly in response to his "bitter disappointment and disgust from schooldays with the shabby use made in Shakespeare 's Macbeth of the coming of 'Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane hill': I longed to devise
12360-511: The similarly named Mime from the Nibelungenlied . As creations of Aulë, they are attracted to the substances of Arda. They mine and work precious metals throughout the mountains of Middle-earth. They are unrivalled in smithing, crafting, metalworking, and masonry, even among the Elves . The Dwarf-smith Telchar is the greatest in renown. They build immense halls under mountains for their cities. They build many famed halls including
12480-528: The simple but vigorous leaders of the Kingdom of Rohan , modelled on Tolkien's favoured Anglo-Saxons . Scholars have noted parallels between Gondor and the Normans , Ancient Rome , the Vikings , the Goths , the Langobards , and the Byzantine Empire . Tolkien intended the name Gondor to be Sindarin for "Stone-land". This is echoed in the text of The Lord of the Rings by the name for Gondor among
12600-505: The south. With a Great Plague the population began a steep decline. The capital was moved from Osgiliath to the less affected Minas Anor, and evil creatures returned to the mountains bordering Mordor. There was war with the Wainriders, a confederation of Easterling tribes, and Gondor lost its line of kings. The Ringwraiths captured and occupied Minas Ithil which became Minas Morgul , "the Tower of Black Sorcery". At this time Minas Anor
12720-533: The southern end of the lake are the hills of Amon Hen (the Hill of Seeing) and Amon Lhaw (the Hill of Hearing) on the west and east shores; below Amon Hen is the lawn of Parth Galen, where the Fellowship disembarked and was then broken, with the capture of Merry and Pippin, and the death of Boromir. Between the two hills is a rocky islet, Tol Brandir, which partly dams the river; just below it is an enormous waterfall,
12840-574: The tales of Men alleged. For Men of old lusted after their wealth and the work of their hands, and there has been enmity between the races. The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia considers Tolkien's use of the adjective " thrawn ", noting its similarity with Þráinn , a noun meaning "obstinate person", and a name found in the Norse list of Dwarf-names, the Dvergatal in the Völuspá . Tolkien took it for
12960-418: The tide of the battle and rout Saruman's forces. In the original script of the film, Elrond and Arwen had gone to see Galadriel in person, and it was Arwen who led the Elves to fight alongside the Rohan defenders. Jackson rejected Arwen's involvement, revising her character from a "warrior princess" to a role closer to that of the book, but kept the Elves in the battle. Huorns appear only in additional scenes in
13080-455: The valley to the enemy's rear blocked by a forest of tree-like Huorns that have walked from Fangorn in the night. On the side of the valley are relieving forces assembled by Gandalf and Erkenbrand, a Rohirrim leader. These attack, driving the Orcs into the angry Huorn forest, from which the Orcs never emerge; the Huorns bury the Orcs' bodies in an earthen mound known as "Death's Down". Tolkien based Helm's Deep on England's Cheddar Gorge , and
13200-524: The war and the Third Age to an end. The Great Gate was rebuilt with mithril and steel by Gimli and Dwarves from the Lonely Mountain . Aragorn's coronation was held on the Gateway, where he was pronounced King Elessar of both Gondor and Arnor, the sister kingdom in the north. Tolkien's original thoughts about the later ages of Middle-earth are outlined in his first, mid-1930s, sketches for
13320-548: The war, so Isildur conferred rule of Gondor upon Anárion's son Meneldil, retaining suzerainty over Gondor as High King of the Dúnedain. Isildur and his three elder sons were ambushed and killed by Orcs in the Gladden Fields. Isildur's remaining son Valandil did not attempt to claim his father's place as Gondor's monarch; the kingdom was ruled solely by Meneldil and his descendants until their line died out. During
13440-488: The world should sing a mass beneath it". Tolkien's map-notes for the illustrator Pauline Baynes indicate that the city had the latitude of Ravenna , an Italian city on the Adriatic Sea , though it lay "900 miles east of Hobbiton more near Belgrade ". The Warning beacons of Gondor were atop a line of foothills running back west from Minas Tirith towards Rohan. Dol Amroth (Sindarin: "the Hill of Amroth" )
13560-634: Was a fortress-city on a peninsula jutting westward into the Bay of Belfalas, on Gondor's southern shore. It is also the name of the port city, one of the five great cities of Gondor, and the seat of the principality of the same name, founded by prince Galador. The whimsical poem " The Man in the Moon Came Down Too Soon " in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil tells how the Man in the Moon fell one night into "the windy Bay of Bel"; his fall
13680-571: Was at age 24; and as "striplings" in their 30s. Despite his young age, Dáin Ironfoot was 32 when he killed Azog , the orc chieftain of Moria . They had children starting in their 90s. The Dwarves are described as "the most redoubtable warriors of all the Speaking Peoples" – a warlike race who fought fiercely against their enemies, including other Dwarves. Highly skilled in the making of weapons and armour , their main weapon
13800-554: Was fighting Saruman's forces. However, Théoden found out that his forces had been scattered. Gandalf advised him to take refuge in the Hornburg fortress of Helm's Deep. Gandalf then left on an unexplained errand. Théoden's army went to the area, where local people were commanded by a captain called Gamling the Old. Many of the men there were very old or young. The women and children of Théoden's capital Edoras were safe in Dunharrow , led by
13920-567: 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 's "Massive" crowd simulation software and "Grunt" rendering software were used, with thousands of Uruk-hai modelled using Alias/Wavefront's "Maya" software. It has been described as one of
14040-509: Was influenced by his own selective reading of medieval texts regarding Jewish people and their history. The dwarves' characteristics of being dispossessed of their homeland in Erebor , and living among other groups but retaining their own culture, are derived from the medieval image of Jews, while, according to the Tolkien scholar John D. Rateliff , their warlike nature stems from accounts in
14160-460: Was not corrected until the 1995 edition of the book. The astronomer Bradley E. Schaefer has analysed the astronomical determinants of Durin's Day. He concluded that – as with many real-world lunar calendars – the date of Durin's Day is observational, dependent on the first visible crescent moon. In Tolkien's The Book of Lost Tales , the very few Dwarves who appear are portrayed as evil beings, employers of Orc mercenaries and in conflict with
14280-400: Was renamed to Minas Tirith, in constant watch of its now defiled twin city. Without kings, Gondor was ruled by stewards for many generations, father to son; despite their exercise of power and hereditary status, they were never accepted as kings, nor did they sit on the high throne. After attacks by evil forces, the province of Ithilien and the city of Osgiliath were abandoned. In the War of
14400-632: Was the battle axe , but they also used bows , swords , shields and mattocks , and wore armour. Sauron gave seven Rings of Power to Dwarf lords. The Rings caused them to be wrathful and greedy for gold, but they were not brought under Sauron's domination, nor did they gain longer life. Eventually all seven Rings were destroyed or reclaimed by Sauron. One of the rings was given to Durin III, and passed down to Thrór , who gave it to his son Thráin II, father of Thorin Oakenshield . Sauron captured Thráin and took
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