Helm's Deep

Aragorn II, son of Arathorn, was the last Chieftain of the Dúnedain of the North and the first King of the Reunited Kingdom of Gondor and Arnor. Fostered in Rivendell as Estel, he spent sixty years as a Ranger and a captain in foreign lands before the War of the Ring, in which he guided the Fellowship, walked the Paths of the Dead, won the Pelennor Fields and the Black Gate, and took the crown as King Elessar. He reigned for a hundred and twenty years with Arwen as his queen.

Éomer son of Éomund, nephew and foster-son of Théoden, was Third Marshal of the Mark when he met Aragorn on the plains of Rohan and lent him horses against the king's orders. He fought at the Hornburg and the Pelennor, took the kingship when Théoden fell, and reigned for sixty-five years as the eighteenth King of Rohan, the friend of King Elessar and the renewer of the Oath of Eorl.

Gandalf, called Olórin in Valinor and Mithrandir by the Elves, was the wisest of the Istari, a Maia sent by the Valar to rouse the free peoples against Sauron. Bearer of Narya, the Ring of Fire, he uncovered the Necromancer, set the quest of Erebor in motion, unmasked the One Ring, led the Fellowship, died against the Balrog of Moria and returned as Gandalf the White to guide the West to victory in the War of the Ring, after which he sailed into the West.

Gimli son of Glóin was the Dwarf of the Fellowship of the Ring. He walked from Rivendell to the Black Gate through Moria, Lothlórien, Helm's Deep and the Paths of the Dead, became the devoted friend of the Elf Legolas and of the Lady Galadriel, and after the war founded a Dwarf-colony in the Glittering Caves. Tradition says he sailed West with Legolas, the only Dwarf ever to do so.

Legolas, son of Thranduil of the Woodland Realm, was the Elf of the Fellowship of the Ring. A peerless archer and tracker, he walked from Rivendell to the Black Gate beside Aragorn and Gimli, forged the first true friendship between Elf and Dwarf in an age, and after the death of the King Elessar built a ship and sailed into the West with his Dwarven friend.

Saruman the White, Curunír to the Elves, was the chief of the Istari and head of the White Council, a Maia of Aulë whose great knowledge of craft and Ring-lore turned to pride. He seized Isengard, fell under Sauron's sway through the palantír, bred the Uruk-hai and made war on Rohan, was overthrown by the Ents and cast out of the order by Gandalf, and died a beggar's death in the Shire at the hand of his own servant.

Théoden son of Thengel was the seventeenth King of Rohan, the king whom Gríma Wormtongue and Saruman had made old before his time and whom Gandalf roused to lead his people again. He won the Battle of the Hornburg, mustered the Rohirrim at Dunharrow, and broke the siege of Minas Tirith in the great charge across the Pelennor, where he died beneath his horse after felling the chieftain of the Haradrim.

Helm Hammerhand, ninth King of Rohan, killed the Dunlendish lord Freca with a single blow of his fist and so began the war in which Wulf, Freca's son, overran the Mark. Besieged in the Hornburg through the Long Winter, Helm went out alone at night to kill his enemies with his hands, and died standing on the Dike, frozen in the snow. The fortress of Helm's Deep bears his name.

Chief of the Mearas, the great horses of Rohan, and the swiftest horse of his day. Taken from Théoden's herds by Gandalf in T.A. 3018 and afterwards given to him outright, he carried the wizard across half of Middle-earth in the War of the Ring, and alone of all beasts stood unmoved before the Witch-king at the broken gate of Minas Tirith.

Erkenbrand, Lord of the Westfold and master of Helm's Deep, gathered the scattered Rohirrim after the Second Battle of the Fords of Isen and came down over the Dike at dawn with Gandalf and a thousand men to break Saruman's siege of the Hornburg. Under King Éomer he became Marshal of the West-mark.

Wulf, son of the half-Dunlendish lord Freca, fled Rohan when Helm Hammerhand killed his father and returned four years later at the head of a Dunlendish invasion. He took Edoras, sat in Meduseld as king through the Long Winter, and was slain there by Helm's nephew Fréaláf in 2759.

Gamling the Old, a veteran of the Westfold who commanded the guard on Helm's Dike, fought through the Battle of the Hornburg beside Éomer and was the man who recognised the war-cries of the Dunlendings and explained their ancient hatred of the Rohirrim.

Háma, Doorward of Meduseld and captain of King Théoden's household guard, used his own judgement to let Gandalf keep his staff when he came to heal the king, and proposed Éowyn as ruler of the Mark in Théoden's absence. He fell before the gate of the Hornburg at Helm's Deep.

The white horse of King Théoden of Rohan, who carried him from Edoras to Helm's Deep and on to the Pelennor Fields. Struck by a dart of the Witch-king, he fell and crushed his master beneath him, and was buried on the field under a mound that stayed green ever after.

Helm Hammerhand, ninth King of Rohan, killed the Dunlendish lord Freca with a single blow of his fist and so began the war in which Wulf, Freca's son, overran the Mark. Besieged in the Hornburg through the Long Winter, Helm went out alone at night to kill his enemies with his hands, and died standing on the Dike, frozen in the snow. The fortress of Helm's Deep bears his name.

Háma, Doorward of Meduseld and captain of King Théoden's household guard, used his own judgement to let Gandalf keep his staff when he came to heal the king, and proposed Éowyn as ruler of the Mark in Théoden's absence. He fell before the gate of the Hornburg at Helm's Deep.

Erkenbrand, Lord of the Westfold and master of Helm's Deep, gathered the scattered Rohirrim after the Second Battle of the Fords of Isen and came down over the Dike at dawn with Gandalf and a thousand men to break Saruman's siege of the Hornburg. Under King Éomer he became Marshal of the West-mark.

Halbarad was a Ranger of the North and a kinsman of Aragorn who led the thirty Dúnedain of the Grey Company south in the War of the Ring. He carried Arwen's standard through the Paths of the Dead and unfurled it on the Pelennor Fields, where he was killed.

Théodred, only child of King Théoden and Second Marshal of the Mark, commanded the defence of the Westfold against Saruman and fell at the First Battle of the Fords of Isen on 25 February 3019. His death left Éomer as the king's heir and was the grief that Gríma used to keep Théoden from acting.

Háma, Doorward of Meduseld and captain of King Théoden's household guard, used his own judgement to let Gandalf keep his staff when he came to heal the king, and proposed Éowyn as ruler of the Mark in Théoden's absence. He fell before the gate of the Hornburg at Helm's Deep.