return

1084 the return of the king
great as a forest-tree a hundred feet in length, swinging on
mighty chains. Long had it been forging in the dark smithies
of Mordor, and its hideous head, founded of black steel, was
shaped in the likeness of a ravening wolf; on it spells of ruin
lay. Grond they named it, in memory of the Hammer of the
Underworld of old. Great beasts drew it, orcs surrounded it,
and behind walked mountain-trolls to wield it.
But about the Gate resistance still was stout, and there the
knights of Dol Amroth and the hardiest of the garrison stood
at bay. Shot and dart fell thick; siege-towers crashed or blazed
suddenly like torches. All before the walls on either side of
the Gate the ground was choked with wreck and with bodies
of the slain; yet still driven as by a madness more and more
came up.
Grond crawled on. Upon its housing no fire would catch;
and though now and again some great beast that hauled it
would go mad and spread stamping ruin among the orcs
innumerable that guarded it, their bodies were cast aside from
its path and others took their place.
Grond crawled on. The drums rolled wildly. Over the hills
of slain a hideous shape appeared: a horseman, tall, hooded,
cloaked in black. Slowly, trampling the fallen, he rode forth,
heeding no longer any dart. He halted and held up a long
pale sword. And as he did so a great fear fell on all, defender
and foe alike; and the hands of men drooped to their sides,
and no bow sang. For a moment all was still.
The drums rolled and rattled. With a vast rush Grond
was hurled forward by huge hands. It reached the Gate. It
swung. A deep boom rumbled through the City like thunder
running in the clouds. But the doors of iron and posts of steel
withstood the stroke.
Then the Black Captain rose in his stirrups and cried aloud
in a dreadful voice, speaking in some forgotten tongue words
of power and terror to rend both heart and stone.
Thrice he cried. Thrice the great ram boomed. And suddenly
upon the last stroke the Gate of Gondor broke. As if
stricken by some blasting spell it burst asunder: there was a