Places in Middle-earth
Gates of the Hornburg, The
Type: Fortresses, Towers, Defenses
Region: Rohan
Other Names
The gates
The great gate(s)
The Hornburg-gates
Location: The entrance to the fortress of the Hornburg; a ramp crosses the Deeping-stream and leads up to the fortified gates on the Hornrock.
Description: ... before the mouth of the Deep, there was a heel of rock thrust outward by the northern cliff. There upon its spur stood high walls of ancient stone ... The Hornburg it was called. ... Beneath it by a wide culvert the Deeping-stream passed out. About the feet of the Hornrock it wound....
The Two Towers, LoTR Book 3, Ch 7, Helm's Deep
There was a small postern-door that opened in an angle of the burg-wall on the west, where the cliff stretched out to meet it. On that side a narrow path ran round towards the great gate, between the wall and the sheer brink of the Rock.
The Two Towers, LoTR Book 3, Ch 7, Helm's Deep
The king and his Riders passed on. Before the causeway that crossed the stream they dismounted. In a long file they led their horses up the ramp and passed within the gates of the Hornburg.
The Two Towers, LoTR Book 3, Ch 7, Helm's Deep
The enemy surged forward, some against the Deeping Wall, other towards the causeway and the ramp that led up to the Hornburg-gates. ...
... in their midst they bore two trunks of mighty trees. ... They gained the gates. The trees, swung by strong arms, smote the timbers with a rending boom. ... Again and again the great rams swung and crashed. ...
'We did not come too soon,' said Aragorn, looking at the gates. Their great hinges and iron bars were wrenched and bent; many of their timbers were cracked.
The Two Towers, LoTR Book 3, Ch 7, Helm's Deep
There was a roar and a blast of fire. The archway of the gate above which [Aragorn] had stood a moment before crumbled and crashed in smoke and dust. The barricade was scattered as if by a thunderbolt. ... the gate fell....
The Two Towers, LoTR Book 3, Ch 7, Helm's Deep
Contributors: Elena Tiriel 11Jan05
