Battle horns in Lord of the Rings

This is a very random topic, but I felt like posting it since I've recently seen the Lord of the Rings movies again. The movies are, of course, phenomenal, but one thing I noticed more this time than the first was the unique sounds made by the battle horns of the various cultures.

My favorite happens to be the noble call of the Rohirrim trumpet. Individually they may sound a little odd, but when blown in unison (as before the battle of the Pelennor fields), they sound a deep, rich, and stirring chord. It's no wonder they contribute to the willingness of such proud warriors to ride straight at the foe without thought of self-preservation.

Another effective battle-call is the blood-curling wail of the Haradrim horns, as heard while they pilot their massive mumakil towards the city of Minas Tirith. The sound scythes over the battlefield and into the hearts of their foes, striking a blow for fear and doubt. It's a sound that chills the blood and makes one think of death and terror.

Surprisingly, my third favorite is the icy blast of the orc-horn. The one loud, long, metallic note embodies the crushing efficiency of their industry, announcing their presence and daring any and all to challenge their supremacy. One can scarcely believe that the sound comes from a blown horn at all; it is strangely reminiscient of a mechanically-operated foghorn.

Less impressive, yet still effective, is the simple, deep call of the horns of Gondor. They lack emotion and sustain, and could not be used for much besides giving signals. While this is, of course, the main purpose of a battle-horn, one hopes for a signal that stirs the blood of allied soldiers, or strikes fear into the heart of the enemy. The best thing about these horns is the long range over which their sound carries.

The high-pitched, whiney sound of Elven horns, as heard when the Elves approach Helm's Deep, is my least favorite of them all. One wonders why the Elves, for all their fine arts in other areas, aren't embarassed by this weak-sounding note, and motivated to create a better one. I'm glad, for their sakes, that their bite is stronger than their bark.

Now, if only I could hear the sound of Dwarven horns...

Would anyone else like to comment on this (probably not)? Perhaps you'd like to discuss the actual role of horns in ancient warfare? We might broaden the discussion to include other musical instruments and forms of battlefield communication.

Yeah, I also love the horns in LOTR. My favorite is quite easily the Haradrim horn. It adds to the impression of them having a sort of middle-eastern culture, and I can imagine how scary it would be for a Gondorian soldier to see those Mumakils whilst hearing that noise at the same time. It's scary, but it sounds kind of cool as well.

The Haradrim horn is my favourite too. I'll never forget hearing that and then seeing the insane Mumakil Commander when I first saw ROTK, it really was a great scene.

Second for me would be the Uruk horn when Saruman looks out over the balcony in TTT. You here it again in Mordor in ROTK.

Third is probably Boromir's, though I do also like Rohan's and the Black Gate horn from TTT. The Easterling horn in TTT was good too though we don't get a chance to hear it ROTK.

Whilst it is admittedly impossible to argue with War horns being cool, I found that Boromirs horn, when he blew it at the end of the first movie sounded too mechanical and contrived - it was just one single note.

Whenever I've heard a horn blown in RL the sound is equally cool but has an uneveness to it. Boromirs horn sounded too much like a gas powered fog horn in my opinion. Also its hard to blow a horn when locked in mortal combat with dozens of orcs [/end bitter cynic mode]

War horns are great though and I love all 3 movies of LotR

Originally Posted by The Blind King of Bohemia

The Easterling horn in TTT was good too though we don't get a chance to hear it ROTK.

I didn't even remember the Easterling horn. Does anyone remember which scene it is heard in?

The Orc/Uruk horns heard in Mordor/Isengard are the same, as far as I know. As I said, I do like their long, powerful blast, although it's only my third favorite.

I'm surprised not more people like the horns of Rohan. Mind you, I'm referring to the sound of a host of horns blown in unison, as the banners of the horsemen emerge over the Eastern horizon with the rising sun at their backs. It's the most stirring, noble sound I can imagine coming from war-horns, and it even made me wish I could join in their charge.

BTW, I agree with RabidGibbon about Boromir's horn. One short, simple note doesn't do much for the emotions. It's still cool, but not as cool as most of the others.

hmm, I have to see those again :P
They definitely add to the atmosphere - IIRC, I liked the orcs' assault on Helm's Deep in TTT, and their horns when they came to the gates.

re Boromir's blow: aw, come on, people, he was wounded !

Originally Posted by Blodrast

re Boromir's blow: aw, come on, people, he was wounded !

Actually, he wasn't wounded until after he blew the horn multiple times. He was, however, rushed and winded, as he was fending off large numbers of orcs single-handedly, and blew the horn during the brief moments between assaults.

His blow was perfectly fine, however; that wasn't the issue. Rather, it's the horn itself. Not that there's anything wrong with the sound; it's just a little unimaginative.

Haradrim horn by far IMO, just sounds really cool ., it's a very distinct and as you said blood curling sound,

I didn't even remember the Easterling horn. Does anyone remember which scene it is heard in?

Well I'm not 100% if its the horn or if its part of the music but listen carefully near when they finish going into the Black Gate. It sounds quite high pitched. Might be wrong though.

Originally Posted by The Blind King of Bohemia

Well I'm not 100% if its the horn or if its part of the music but listen carefully near when they finish going into the Black Gate. It sounds quite high pitched. Might be wrong though.

No, you're absolutely right. The horn sounds different from the one that's blown by the orc when the gate is opened. You hear it when Sméagol pulls back Frodo when he wants to run to the black gate.

are you sure that horn didn't belong to the southrons ? I thought that in the book when frodo was at the black gate they passed , not easterling.
But I have no idea how that horn sounded though , don't recall that moment music wise...

Well the guys in that scene are from Rhun. Which is to the east and south-east of Mordor. So they are both Southrons, and easterlings.

I can also remember the Rhunic horn, but just barely. The Elven and Rhohirim horns are fresher in my mind. Because they are in the Battle For Middle Earth RTS game when you use the summon Elvish and Rhohric allies power.

Rhun is the country north - east of Mordor , so these men could maybe even be Haradrim
or people from Rhun who just made a really long walk to get to the black gate ( since they came from the south in the movies )

Rhun stretches pretty far south, mostly cause no western person has ever been out that way to make a map since the Numenorians came through there. So the geography and borders aren't well known. Also there are only like 3 ways into Mordor. And the black gate is the only one that large formations of men can enter easily. Sure you could go by Minas Morgul and Cirith Ungol, but then Shelob would eat half your guys. And the northern approach is just as bad.

yeah but judging from this picture

http://images.google.nl/imgres?imgur...lr%3D%26sa%3DN

I don't think they would have gone al the way around Mordor and then go to the black gate from the south ( like shown in the movie s) that would have been stupid walking hundreds of miles more. it would have been easier to go to the Black gate from the North or enter mordor from the east and then go through Mordor the the Dark Tower or the Black Gate.

So either the movie just messed up that part by showing men of Rhun rather than Harad or they made the mistake of thinking they would like to march probably more than a 1000 miles to enter Mordor from the south via the Black Gate.

IMO they messed up on the direction. One of Faramirs boys says that they have seen many thousands of Southrons enter the black gate. But Haradrim all rid Mumakil. And in BFME the guys who appear in the black gate scene from TTT are called soldiers of Rhun. In fact in an earlier scene these soldiers of Rhun are scene escorting a Mumakil to the Mordor.

In TTT Madril said Southrons and Easterlings are passing through the Black Gate, but he wasn't talking about the scene we saw with just Easterlings. Plus as shown when they ambush them not all Haradrim/Southrons ride Mumakil they are on foot too.

Well that settles it, time to break out the extended edition of TTT (I have all 3 extended editions Wahahaha). The guys on foot looked like the guys going to the black gate.

Rhun is North East in middle earth. And judging by how they look, they are not Haradrim, different uniforms. Also, seeing as the landscape around mordor is very hard to travel by it wouldnt be suprising if the men of Rhun could first travel a bit south and swing around enter the gate, looking as if they come form the South.

The Haradrim also doesnt allways ride Mumakils, in the book at the battle of Pelennors fields they attack on horses in a large scale as well.

As for wich horn is the best, Haradrims is the best! they were so cool and ancient looking it was a pain to see them loosing hehe