How did it happen in the movies?
After seeing Denethor’s death, we cut to the battlefield in front of Minas Tirith, where Éomer, Théoden, Éowyn and Merry fight Orcs. At first they succeed in driving the Orcs back, away from the city, but suddenly a horn is heard and Haradhrim with their Mumâkil appear and trample a number of the Rohirrim.
Chaos emerges as everyone tries to avoid the feet of the beasts and Éomer succeeds in killing one of the Mumâkil

In the turmoil, Éowyn rescues Théoden from a few Orcs, staying unnoticed herself. At the end of the scene she succeeds in putting down the pink headed-Orc.


Per Sjögren – The Battle of the Pelennor Fields

How did it happen in the books?
This scene matches a brief description in the books, of only a paragraph long…
Théoden, King of the Rohirrim, led his army to take the northern half of the Pelennor Fields. The Orcs were fleeing for the river for the Rohirrim. But the Haradrim saw this and their leader displayed his standard, attacking the King. Théoden killed the chieftain of the Haradhrim, but Darkness fell again and frightened Snowmane. While Théoden’s horse stood up on high, a black dart was shot in his direction and pierced Snowmane. He crashed down, with Théoden underneath him.

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Related Information
Related Books vs. Movies Articles:
- 5.05. The Ride of the Rohirrim by Rosearialelven

Interesting Links:
Our Gallery has has screencaps of the theatrical version, as well as the extended edition.

A transcript of 'The Lord Of the Rings: The Return of the King' can be found in our Film Fun & Facts section.

A summary of 'The Lord Of the Rings: The Return of the King' can be found in Elrond's Library.

Some articles that are related to this sequence:
- The Middle-earth Section of Elrond's Library has articles about The Lands of Rohan, The History of Rohan, Éowyn of Rohan and Théoden son of Thengel.
- Under Literature Studies you can find an article about The Rohirrim and the Anglo-saxons.
- The Armoury Section has articles about The Battle of the Pelennor Fields and Fighting styles of the Rohirrim.

Forum threads related to this sequence:
- You can discuss this sequence in detail in ROTK Sequence by sequence #10: The Battle of the Pelennor Fields in the Movies Forum.
- The Book Club discusses this chapter here.

Take a look at how some artists saw this part in the book:
- The Battle of the Pelennor Fields by Ivan Allen
- The Battle of the Pelennor Fields by Allan Lee
- The Battle of the Pelennor Fields by Per Sjögren

Looking for something more creative - you may find it here: