Timeline Event
Gamling foils the break-in through the culvert in the Battle of the Hornburg
Event Type: Military/Strategic
Age: 3rd Age - Ring War
Date: March 4, 3019
Description:
An event in the Battle of the Hornburg; see that entry for an overview:
Orcs had crept ... through the culvert ...
Down from the wall leapt Gimli with a fierce cry that echoed in the cliffs. 'Khazâd! Khazâd!' ...
'Ai-oi!' he shouted. 'The Orcs are behind the wall. ... Come, Legolas! There are enough for us both. Khazâd ai-mênu!'
Gamling the Old looked down from the Hornburg, hearing the great voice of the dwarf above all the tumult. 'The Orcs are in the Deep!' he cried. 'Helm! Helm! Forth Helmingas,' he shouted as he leaped down the stair from the Rock with many men of Westfold at his back.
Their onset was fierce and sudden, and the Orcs gave way before them. Ere long they were hemmed in in the narrows of the gorge, and all were slain or driven shrieking into the chasm of the Deep to fall before the guardians of the hidden caves. ...
'We must stop this rat-hole,' said Gamling. 'Dwarves are said to be cunning folk with stone. Lend us your aid, master!' ...
They gathered such small boulders and broken stones as they could find to hand, and under Gimli's direction the Westfold-men blocked up the inner end of the culvert, until only a narrow outlet remained. Then the Deeping-stream, swollen by the rain, ... spread slowly in cold pools from cliff to cliff. ...
There was for a while a lull in the assault, since the attempt to break in through the culvert had been foiled.
The Two Towers, LoTR Book 3, Ch 7, Helm's Deep
Contributors:
Elena Tiriel 11Jan05