Destruction of Isengard

On March 3 during the late Third Age, a large group of Ents and Huorns were persuaded by Treebeard to take action against Saruman's forces, which caused the destruction of Isengard. This was partially enabled by the fact that all the Uruk-hai had been sent to Rohan, leaving only weak Orcs behind. They could not bring down the Tower of Orthanc.

History

Background

After a three day long Entmoot, an army of Ents and Huorns set off for the fortress of Isengard, making a terrifying racket. They arrived and began their attack on March 3rd. The time of their assault was fortunate, because they arrived just when the wizard Saruman was emptying Isengard for a final assault on Rohan. As a result, there were few left to defend Isengard besides Saruman himself.

Once the army of Isengard had left for Rohan, the Ents launched their attack on the walls. Attempts were made to hinder them with arrows, but these only served to irritate the attackers further, and, in a matter of minutes the Gate and much of the southern wall was reduced to ruin.

The battle

As the Hobbits Merry and Pippin, who were present during the battle, later recounted to their friends, ‘A punch from an Ent-fist crumples up iron like thin tin...Their fingers, and their toes, just freeze on to rock; and they tear it up like bread-crust.’ A ring of Huorns surrounded Isengard and killed all escaping Orcs.

Once the Gate and walls had been reduced to rubble, a young Ent named Quickbeam in the Westron tongue, spotted Saruman, and made for him, shouting 'The Tree Killer!', for his people and all Fangorn Forest in general had suffered from heavy deforestation to fuel the furnaces of Saruman. Other Ents followed him, but Saruman succeeded in escaping into the tower of Orthanc. Once in the tower, he activated spouts and vents all over the plain, scorching many Ents who had entered the fortress. One Ent, Beechbone, was unlucky enough to be caught fully in one of the fiery blasts, and the death of this Ent by Saruman's fire caused the Ent host to go berserk. Merry and Pippin recounted the incident, saying that the enraged roars of the Ents were enough to crack the stones. They destroyed the buildings and machinery on the plain, but could do nothing to hurt the tower itself.

At this point, the Ents took counsel and came up with a new plan of attack. By digging trenches and destroying Saruman's dam, the Ents and Huorns were to divert the course of the River Isen itself. As the Ents pulled down the dam, Gandalf arrived, meeting Treebeard and the hobbits during the night. Gandalf took counsel with Treebeard, resulting in the Huorns' involvement at the Battle of the Hornburg. At midnight, the Ents succeeded in destroying the dam, and the river flooded the 'bowl' of Isengard, submerging everything but Orthanc and filling in all the tunnels and holes where the machinery of war had been. The destruction of Isengard was complete, although Saruman was still untouched in the tower. Some men from Dunland surrendered and were allowed to leave.

The sound defeat of Saruman's host at the Battle of the Hornburg and the destruction of his fortress rendered him incapable of causing the West any further military harm, although he still had the power of his persuasive and commanding voice, with which he could still do (and did do) harm. Had the Ents not destroyed Isengard, despite the destruction of Saruman's main army, he still could have withstood a siege with his few remaining forces behind Isengard's normally impregnable walls, biding his time until he could renew his strength.^{[citation needed]}

In adaptations

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

The battle is depicted in Peter Jackson's 2002 film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. There are a few differences between the novel and film: Saruman is already in Orthanc when the Ents arrive, as is Gríma Wormtongue. There are also many Orcs and Uruks left over at Isengard, whom the Ents destroy while the Huorns leave for Helm's Deep. Merry and Pippin are also more involved in the battle, sitting on Treebeard's branches and pelting Orcs and Wildmen with rocks. Later (only in the Extended Edition) Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Gandalf, and Théoden arrive at the foot of Orthanc to extract information from Saruman, but only to be greeted by Saruman's magical voice. He attempts to charm Théoden into accepting his offer of peace, but Théoden refuses. The treacherous wizard tries to kill Gandalf after he offers him mercy, but Gandalf destroys his staff. Théoden tries to convince Wormtongue to leave Saruman, but Saruman slaps Wormtongue in the face in anger. In response, Wormtongue stabs Saruman in the back, who falls from Orthanc and lands on a spike. Legolas then shoots at Wormtongue and kills him.

The Lord of the Rings: Conquest

In the RPG The Lord of the Rings: Conquest, both the Ents and the Rohirrim participate. The Rohirrim capture the Pits of Isengard, slaying the Uruk-hai Captain in charge and destroying Saruman's fire machines. This prevented the Ents from taking further fire damage. The Rohirrim then proceed to kill Wormtongue and take the keys to Isengard to Treebeard. The Ents take over, destroying all the watchtowers and capturing the Gates of Orthanc. Gandalf then arrives to climb Orthanc and kills Saruman.

Translations

References