An explosion rocks the Deeping Wall, and soon there are more as Saruman’s blasting fires make what little hope the heroes had go up in smoke. But as dawn approaches, Aragorn still believes that victory may come with the new day, and Théoden realizes it’s better to burn out than fade away. We see Gimli’s martial prowess on display, investigate what makes a parley a parley, and hear the horn of Helm Hammerhand sound in the Deep (and keep sounding and sounding…). Plus, Legolas defies the laws of physics in a new mailbag question.
A big thank-you from the PPP to Bret Devereaux at A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry for his 8-part blog series analyzing the Battle of Helm’s Deep. Please see Bret’s blog here, and follow Bret on Twitter at @BretDevereaux.
Recommended Reading:
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Two Towers: Being the Second Part of The Lord of the Rings (Mariner Books, paperback) “Helm’s Deep”, pp. 525-29
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays (HarperCollins, paperback)
Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (Mariner Books, paperback)
RE: Aragon saying they do not know their peril.
As best as I can tell, the events of the parley, the blast, the murmur, the horn and the charge follow each other quite closely. And when the charge comes to a halt the Huorns are already planted just beyond the dike.
What I’m saying is that during the parley Aragon can probably _see_ the Huorns by the first light of the new day. Or at least he can see that there is _something_ going on down in the valley. Unless the Huorns are already at least moving up the valley at this point, I don’t think they could be in position by the end of the charge.
Fittingly I think, dawn doesn’t just bring vague hope, it brings hope with a factual basis! It brings reinforcements!