Battle at the borders of Fangorn

The Battle in the Lindos of Fangorn is a fictional military conflict that belongs to the legendarium created by the British writer J. R. R. Tolkien and that appears in his novel The Lord of the Rings.

The hobbits Merry and Pippin are captured by the orcs in the vicinity of Parth Galen and are taken by these to Isengard as prisoners. A few miles before he reached the forest of Fangorn, Pippin, who was all bruised and aching, notices a strange maneuver in the Isengard orcs, led by Uglúk, who tried to pass and move away from the Orcs of Mordor who were led by Grishnákh. He sensed that the former were trying to outwit the latter and that might be beneficial to them.

Notice, also that a troop of men are following the servants of Saruman and Sauron. These belonged to an Éored de rohirrim of the East Folde, commanded by Éomer, third Mariscal of the Mark and nephew of the king Théoden.

The Rohirrim tried to encircle the Orcs to cut them to the Fords of the Isen and in passing killed the stragglers, to prevent them from dispersing and forcing them to follow the Entaguas River line. Rohan's men began to attack the rear orca firing with their bows, stopping occasionally to avoid the arrows of the orcs, who fired without aim, since they had to continue running.

By nightfall the orcs had to set up camp on a hill very close to Fangorn Lindes to prepare for Éomer's attack and to wait for reinforcements that were supposed to be hidden in the forest. These were part of a White Hand maneuver against those of Mordor to steal the prisoners, since Saruman already operated to betray Sauron. Soon the camp was populated with bonfires and the sentinels were stationed at the top of the hill. The Rohirrim were not visible at the moment; from time to time some arrow flew to the camp and killed some orc. These responded but the enemy was backlit and therefore wasted many arrows.

This situation of uncertainty, plus the internal disputes unleashed among the orcs, was exploited by Pippin who insinuated Grishnákh that he possessed the Ring. He took them out of the camp and in doing so saved them from the attack of Éomer. In addition a spear crossed the orc of Mordor and the hobbit fled to the forest. Meanwhile, in the camp some "head of straw" dismounted and furtively approached the hill and killed many orcs, the Uglúk itself had to intervene to avoid a massive disbandment. Almost at the end of the night the orc Mauhúr's troop arrived and attacked the rohirrim that surrounded the camp. But after the first bewilderment, Rohan's riders recovered and counterattacked, sending a battalion to fight them. Meanwhile the others ended by closing the circle on the camp, riding around it with the intention of preventing them from coming out in support of the reinforcements. The new arrivals were decimated and Mauhur himself was killed, the few who were saved took refuge in the Forest and no more was known about them.

At dawn on February 29, 3019 T. E. rohirrim launch their final attack. "(...) Far and above the Rio Grande and the Pardas, over leagues and leagues of gray expanses, the dawn came, red as a fire, and the hunting horns echoed, and Rohan's horsemen awakened to life. The horns responded to the horns "(ESDLA, Book III, Cap 2). The charge was made from the east, the rohirrim kept the line along and over the ridge, despite receiving a barrage of orcas arrows. The onslaught was fierce, the vast majority of the enemies perished by spears and swords, some survivors fled in disarray, but were pursued one by one and killed by the horsemen. Only a compact wedge of orcs led by Ugluk faced the Fangorn forest by climbing the ridge and reaching the sentinels and fleeing them, killing three of them. It seemed that they were going to achieve their purpose, but Éomer himself led a group of rohirrim and intercepted the passage. The battle was short but hard, no orcs survived. The same Third Brand Marshal, dismounted and fought with Uglúk, killing him.

The Rohirrim buried their dead on a mound and sang songs of praise. This they took the corpses of the orcs and burned them in a great pyre, spreading, then, their ashes. This was seen at a great distance by the penetrating sight of Legolas, elf of the Black Forest.

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