In the north-western White Mountains of Middle-Earth, Helms Deep is a particular valley. Some of the Rohirrim army, led by King Théoden, seek refuge at Helms Deep with its castle the Hornburg from an attack by army of Saruman. Tolkien premised it on the Cheddar Gorge, a limestone gorge around 400 ft deep in the Mendip Hills, with a sizable cave complex network that he toured on his honeymoon in 1916 and returned to in 1940. Tolkien recognised this cave complex as the inspiration for the Glittering Caves of Aglarond at the head of Helms Deep, which lay behind the fortress Hornburg. The Deeping-coomb is a broader valley with Helms Deep being a narrow gorge or ravine at its head. However, the term is often used to refer to the defences at the mouth of the gorge and the larger valley beneath it. The Glittering Caves of Aglarond are a vast network of magnificent speleothems that are located deep within the White Mountains at the foot of the Thrihyrne peak. The battle-hardened Deeping Wall, which was 20 feet tall and wide enough for four soldiers to stand shoulder to shoulder, blocked the Helm-Gate, the entrance of the gorge and it had a culvert for the Deeping-stream, which trickled down into the valley. A steep staircase led to the back gate of the Hornburg castle and a large causeway descended in front of the main gate at one end of the wall. An outlying ditch and rampart known as Helm-Dike was constructed directly across the Deeping-coomb about two furlongs past the gate. The defences were sketched out in great detail by Tolkien. When King Helm Hammerhand of Rohan and his people fled from the pursuing Dunlendings led by Wulf during the winter of Third Age, the valley was given his name. [Information Credit : Battle of Helm’s Deep, Wikipedia] [image: Artistic Imagination of Helm’s Deep] #Mythology
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