At the close of the Battle of the Hornburg, the Huorns of the Ents passed into the Deeping-coomb, and the Orcs1 that had fled into that strange wood were not seen alive again. When the mysterious trees withdrew from the valley, they left behind a great dark mound or hill of stones piled over a deep pit, about one mile down the valley from Helm's Dike.
That mound was thought to be the resting place of the lost Orcs, created by the Ents and Huorns to contain their bodies. According to tales, no Man ever stood on that mound, and no green plant would grow there, earning it the name of the Death Down.
Notes
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The Death Down is described explicitly as being the grave of Orcs, though we know that the armies of Saruman also included Men and other beings as well as Orcs. We can account for the Men because most of them surrendered themselves to the Rohirrim. As for the other members of the army, such as the half-orcs and wolves that we know were present, we have no clear account, though it seems most plausible that they were counted among the Orcs and also laid within the Death Down.
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- Updated 19 July 2023
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