Who Won The Battle Of Helm’s Deep? How Did They Win?

“History became legend. Legend became myth.” These dialogues are like poetry to me, and every time I listen to them (Yes! I’ve rewatched The Lord Of The Rings quite a few times), it gets me pretty pumped up for what’s about to ensue.

The Lord Of The Rings film trilogy is known for some of the grandest special effects and detailed battle scenes. The Battle Of Helm’s Deep was the first proper battle/war in the fantasy series we witnessed, and the chaotic sequence had us all wondering what would happen the first time we watched.

So who won the Battle Of Helm’s Deep, and how did they win?

King Theoden, along with Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, won at Helm’s Deep with the help of Haldir and his 1000 elf warriors, Eomer and his 2000 Rohirrim soldiers, and Gandalf. At Isengard, the Ents and the trees destroyed Saruman’s men and all their weapon machinery. At Gondor, Faramir and Sam saved Frodo from the Wraith and claimed victory over Gondor.

After many years I rewatched the film, and there were just so many things to unpack. Don’t worry though. I won’t get into the frame-by-frame description of how it all happened because I’d rather you rewatch the film and rave about it too.

The Battle Of Helm’s Deep is the collective fight waged in three different locations – Helm’s Deep, Isengard and Gondor simultaneously. Here’s how it all went down.

Helm’s Deep

We all know it’s going down when Aragorn comes back from the dead (Not really, but it felt like it.) and informs Theoden that there are 10,000 Uruk-Hai’s approaching Helm’s Deep to capture the fort and conquer Rohan.

Of course, our heroes are unprepared, with merely 300 Rohirrim soldiers on their end. Each soldier, farmer, and anybody who can wield a sword is fighting for survival with the mindset that they will not see the dawn. But hold it there, there’s still hope because Elrond sends Haldir and 1000 warriors as an honor to the allegiance between the men and the elves.

The battle begins, and despite this addition, Saruman’s Uruk-Hais breach the fort from all fronts. They are able to blow up the walls of the fort, use giant logs to break the gates, climb the walls via ladders, and wreak havoc amongst Rohirrim soldiers.

Lord of The Rings - Battle of Helms Deep Opening

I truly loved this sequence because they didn’t show Uruk Hais as mere mindless creatures. Their appearances might be barbaric, but their minds weren’t. The war tactics employed not only struck fear in the characters of the movie but even made us wonder if our heroes will ever see the light of the day.

Despite everything, they did. Call it hope, blind faith, or sheer skill; they held off the enemies till dawn. Then as per Gandalf’s words, Aragorn led all the remaining soldiers outside the fort towards the East, and there we saw Gandalf The White as vibrant as ever along with Eomer’s 2000 Rohirrim soldiers.

Though the numbers weren’t mentioned during the battle, a good volume of the enemies was defeated by the 1300 soldiers of Theoden and the elves. With Eomer’s 2000 more men attacking from the opposite direction, the remaining Uruk-Hais were trapped, had nowhere to go, and hence got trampled from both sides.

What proved advantageous for Theoden and our heroes was that the Uruk-Hais had only planned the tactics until they breached the wall and not after that because Saruman thought it’ll all be a piece of cake once that was done. Furthermore, Saruman also had eyes on the happenings of Helm’s Deep and not on Gandalf or Galadriel.

This played a massive role in the Uruk-Hais downfall because Gandalf, on the one hand, got Eomer and Rohan’s 2000 most fearsome and loyal soldiers, and Galadriel, on the other hand, implicitly urged Elrond to join hands with the men once again.

Isengard

I think this part in the film was bound to happen. The Ents and the trees of the forests already detested other creatures who eradicated forests for their own greed (Bet there’s a commentary on humankind’s behavior towards nature here).

However, Saruman’s men destroying the dense forest and many of Treebeard’s friends was just the last trigger the Ents needed. Once that happened, the war became personal to the trees as well.

If you’re wondering how they could easily tear apart Isengard’s extensive war machinery and take down all the Uruk-Hais there, the answer is relatively simple. Saruman sent 10,000 fighters to Helm’s Deep and had very few creatures/fighters left in Isengard.

Furthermore, he didn’t predict that the trees would go to war with him or his army, so he wasn’t prepared. Also, the Ents turned out to be smart even without any prior planning. They opened up the dams, flooding the entire area and also the underground depths where machinery was being built, thus destroying everything.

Although I must say, the Hobbits had a significant influence over the Treebeard, who somewhat led the other Ents.

Gondor

While the battles at the other two places were physical and a contest of might and strategy, the fight at Gondor was completely within Frodo Baggins and Faramir. The ring enticed Faramir from the moment he saw it and wanted to keep it to give Gondor its status back.

Frodo, on the other hand, is wise and knows well that the ring only brings destruction. Though the two were in a tiff, Frodo got possessed by the ring once again as he walked towards the only Wraith present there. The ring enchanted Frodo into trying to give his ring to the Wraith, but Sam and Faramir were there just in time.

While Faramir shot the Wraith Dragon, Sam saved Frodo by putting him out of harm’s way (Quite literally!)

To me, this was the single-most-important victory. After all, if the ring had been lost, all would be lost. Faramir understanding the ring’s significance and summoning the strength to do the right thing redeems his previous act. It also shows growth across characters because Boromir didn’t have it in him to do what Faramir did.

Furthermore, it was necessary to showcase how, once again, with Sam’s help, Frodo fights off the enchantment and depicts the minor victory of good over evil.

Conclusion

This way, our heroes – The men, the elves, the ents and trees, the dwarfs (can’t forget Gimli) won the Battle Of Helm’s Deep. The all-out battle was a much-needed pay-off because it not only marked the ending of one chapter but segued into the initiation of another.

The Lord of the Rings (2002) - The final Battle - Part 4 - Theoden Rides Forth [4K]

It showed that the living beings of Middle Earth could come together when needed and ended with a glimmer of hope. A hope that all is not lost yet. There’s still a little fight left in everyone.

About The Lord Of The Rings (Film Series)

The Lord of the Rings is a series of three epic fantasy adventure films directed by Peter Jackson, based on the novel written by J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are subtitled The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002), and The Return of the King (2003). Produced and distributed by New Line Cinema with the co-production of WingNut Films, it is an international venture between New Zealand and the United States.