Helm's Deep

Helm's Deep is a great fortified gorge in the White Mountains on the western edge of Rohan in Middle-earth, guarded by the stronghold called the Hornburg. It is the chief refuge of the Rohirrim in time of war, a place of such strength that, by the reckoning of the Mark, it had never been taken by an enemy so long as men defended it. It is the site of the desperate Battle of the Hornburg, one of the great clashes of the War of the Ring.

Helm's Deep takes its name from Helm Hammerhand, a king of Rohan who took refuge there in a bitter winter siege in ages past. The defile and its fortress have guarded the Westfold of Rohan ever since.

Geography

Helm's Deep is a deep, narrowing gorge cut into the northern face of the White Mountains. Across its mouth runs the Deeping Wall, a great rampart of stone, and at its end stands the Hornburg, a tower and fortress built upon a heel of rock where the gorge narrows, with the Deeping Stream flowing out beneath it through a culvert in the wall. Behind the fortress the gorge runs back into the mountain to the Glittering Caves of Aglarond, vast caverns of wondrous beauty where the people of the Westfold could shelter. The horn of Helm, sounded from the Hornburg, echoes through the Deep.

History

The Hornburg and the works of Helm's Deep were built by the Men of Gondor in the days of their power, to guard the western marches alongside Isengard, and later passed to the keeping of Rohan. King Helm Hammerhand made his last stand and sheltered there during the Long Winter, when Rohan was invaded and brought to the edge of ruin, and from him the place took its name. Thereafter it stood as the great refuge of the western Mark.

In the story

When Saruman looses his army of Uruk-hai and Dunlendings against Rohan, King Théoden withdraws with his warriors to Helm's Deep. There the Rohirrim, with Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and a small force, withstand a furious night assault in the Battle of the Hornburg. Saruman's host breaches the Deeping Wall with a blasting-fire, but the defenders hold the Hornburg until dawn, when Gandalf arrives with Erkenbrand and a host of riders, and a forest of Huorns from Fangorn traps and destroys the fleeing enemy. The victory at Helm's Deep breaks the strength of Isengard.