towers

the road to isengard 711
all that were not hurt or wounded, began a great labour; for
many had fallen in the battle and lay dead upon the field or
in the Deep.
No Orcs remained alive; their bodies were uncounted. But
a great many of the hillmen had given themselves up; and
they were afraid, and cried for mercy.
The Men of the Mark took their weapons from them, and
set them to work.
‘Help now to repair the evil in which you have joined,’ said
Erkenbrand; ‘and afterwards you shall take an oath never
again to pass the Fords of Isen in arms, nor to march with
the enemies of Men; and then you shall go free back to your
land. For you have been deluded by Saruman. Many of you
have got death as the reward of your trust in him; but had
you conquered, little better would your wages have been.’
The men of Dunland were amazed; for Saruman had told
them that the men of Rohan were cruel and burned their
captives alive.
In the midst of the field before the Hornburg two mounds
were raised, and beneath them were laid all the Riders of the
Mark who fell in the defence, those of the East Dales upon
one side, and those of Westfold upon the other. But the men
of Dunland were set apart in a mound below the Dike. In a
grave alone under the shadow of the Hornburg lay Háma,
captain of the King’s guard. He fell before the Gate.
The Orcs were piled in great heaps, away from the mounds
of Men, not far from the eaves of the forest. And the people
were troubled in their minds; for the heaps of carrion were
too great for burial or for burning. They had little wood for
firing, and none would have dared to take an axe to the
strange trees, even if Gandalf had not warned them to hurt
neither bark nor bough at their great peril.
‘Let the Orcs lie,’ said Gandalf. ‘The morning may bring
new counsel.’
In the afternoon the King’s company prepared to depart.
The work of burial was then but beginning; and Théoden