The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrimincludes one of J.R.R. Tolkien’s most important stories about Helm’s Deep, underscoring why the location is so important to the people of Rohan by the events ofThe Lord of the Ringstrilogy. Introduced inThe Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Rohan is one of the nations of Men that the heroes must recruit to combat the forces of Sauron. Targeted and manipulated by Saruman, the Rohirrim end up falling back to their ancient fortress of Helm’s Deep to withstand the White Wizard’s assault.
The ensuing battle is one of the key battles ofThe Lord of the Ringstrilogy, with the adaptation of the conflict seen in Peter Jackson’s cinematic trilogy standing out as one of the film’s most impressive and enduring sequences. However, Helm’s Deep has survived more than just one massive siege within the lore andtimeline ofLord of the Rings. This is where much of the subject matter inThe War of the Rohirrimstems from, which delves into a conflict that ended up actually naming the fortress.
Helm’s Deep Is Named After Helm Hammerhead
Custom Image by Milica Djordjevic
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrimdelves into the history of Helm’s Deep and the fate of the King it was named after, Helm Hammerhead. Roughly two hundred years before the events ofLord of the Ringsand the rule of Théoden,the Rohirrim were ruled by Helm Hammerhead.Helm commanded the Rohirrim during a tumultuous time for the kingdom, as their battles with the Dunlendings steadily became more dangerous. After refusing the wealthy Freca’s request to marry his son Wulf to Helm’s daughter Héra, Helm struck Freca and killed him.
King Helm is played by Brian Cox inThe Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
This set off a massive conflict with the Dunlendings, led by a vengeful Wulf. The Rohirrim only survived by retreating to the Súthburg, which would later be known as Helm’s Deep in honor of Hammerhead.Helm plays a major role inThe War of the Rohirrim, and the event that eventually got the fortress named after him is depicted in the film.The War of the Rohirrimfills in the blanks why the Rohirrim have such confidence in the location as a haven duringThe Two Towers, as the fortress has survived similar onslaughts to the one sent by Saruman.
Helm’s Deep’s History In Lord Of The Rings Explained
Helm’s Deep Was Originally Constructed By The Men Of Gondor
Despite eventually becoming irrevocably tied to them, Helm’s Deep was actually not constructed by the Rohirrim. The fortress was actually constructed during the height of the Númenórean power, with the early leaders of Gondor having the fortress built within a massive gorge. Named the Fortress of Aglarond (which translates to “Glittering Caves” in the Elvish language of Sindarin), this fortress sat for many years before it became used as a prominent location in Tolkien’s stories.
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The Fortress of Aglarond was eventually one of the places granted by the Gondor Steward Cirion to King Eorl of the Éothéod. This helped establish the nation of Rohan. While Gondor continued to control the great fortress Angrenost (otherwise known as Isengard) for a time,the Rohirrim dubbed their new fortress the Súthburg. It would retain those names until the events ofThe War of the Rohirrim, at which point it began to be known as Helm’s Deep and Hornburg in honor of King Helm.
The Battle Of Helm’s Deep In Two Towers & What Happened
Helm’s Deep Was Crucial To The Survival Of Middle-earth
One of the most iconic conflicts inThe Lord of the Rings, theBattle of Helm’s Deep occurs during the events ofThe Two Towers. Hoping to snuff out those who would resist the rule of Sauron, Saruman sent his armies of Orcs and Dunlendings to rush through Rohan. When the nation retreated to Helm’s Deep,the armies of Saruman followed them. Although the specifics of the battle differ slightly from the original books and the Peter Jackson-directedLord of the Rings: The Two Towers, they ultimately built to the same conclusion.
While the fortress initially held against the armies, Saruman’s experiments with explosives gave the Orcs a means to blow apart the walls and spill into the fortress. However, Théoden and Aragorn were able to successfully lead a counterattack that forced the orcs back into the battlefield — where reinforcements led by Gandalf helped rout the orcs.The Battle of Helm’s Deep is a crucial moment in the War of the Ring, solidifying the resistance against Sauron’s influence and setting the stage for the Rohirrim to play a vital role in saving Gondor during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
Where Helm’s Deep Is Located In Middle-earth
Rohan’s Proximity To Isengard Made It A Natural Target For Saruman
On the map of Middle-earth, Helm’s Deep can be found at the head of the Westfold Vale, a mountain range that stretches across most of Gondor.This places Helm’s Deep at the base of Thrihyrne, one of the White Mountains. Protected by a massive gorge behind them, Helm’s Deep makes sense as an ideal fortress of last resort. Helm’s Deep is located to the northwest of Edoras, the capital of Rohan. The closest other notable location in Middle-earth to Helm’s Deep is Isengard, located at the edge of the more northern Misty Mountains range.
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This makes sense, given the shared history of Helm’s Deep and Isengard as fortresses constructed by ancient Gondor citizens long before the events ofThe Lord of the Rings. Similarly, their proximity to the Ent-filled Fangorn Forests also means that (as seen in Tolkien’s original texts and the extended edition of Peter Jackson’sThe Two Towers) part of the forest was able to relocate to Helm’s Deep to help destroy the last of Saruman’s forces. In the expanded lore of the Fourth Age afterThe Lord of the Rings,Gimili helped establish a Dwarven colony in the Glittering Caves.
How Helm’s Deep Is Connected To War Of The Rohirrim
The War of the RohirrimDelves Into The Importance Of Helm’s Deep
The War of the Rohirrimis largely about the conflict that erupted in Rohan centuries beforeThe Lord of the Rings. In this era, the kingdom still knew the fortress as Súthburg. The film’s plot builds to the massive siege at the Súthburg and the efforts of Helm to beat back the Dunlending armies seeking to bring them down.This battle and the actions of Helm during it led to the fortress being renamed Helm’s Deep in his honor.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrimgoes a step further than that too, using the lore of Middle-earth to set up a story of lost friendship and generational wraith.
Even the term “the Hornburg” stems from that battle, as tales of Helm blowing his mighty horn and terrifying the enemies of his kingdom with it also became part of his legend.The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrimgoes a step further than that too,using the lore of Middle-earth to set up a story of lost friendship and generational wraith.The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrimbuilds on the history of Middle-earth and highlights the impressive stories that occurred within Helm’s Deep but have never been adapted for the screen before.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
Cast
Set before the events of the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is an animated action-adventure fantasy film that follows a King of Rohan named Helm Hammerhand. When his home comes under siege by Dunlendings, Hammerhand prepares himself and his allies to fight back against them, with the war leading to the eventual establishment of Helm’s Deep.
