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Fire out of Isengard!
The
Fire of Orthanc was used with great effect during the Battle of Helms
Deep. It was utilised by Saruman's forces to blow a hole in the Deeping
Wall as well as destroying the main gate in the Hornburg.
Tolkien
never describes the Fire of Orthanc to a degree that any serious inferences
can be drawn to it's origin or composition. When it was used to cause
a great deal of destruction at the battle of Helm's Deep, Aragorn names
it 'the fire of Orthanc' and calls it the ' Devilry of Saruman'.
While Tolkien only gives us a glimpse of the Fire of Orthanc, it is most likely chemical or magical in nature.
Throughout history, numerous flammable and explosive chemicals have been used in warfare, from Greek Fire (probably a mixture of naphtha, sulphur and quicklime) to black powder (fireworks and gun powder), to nitroglycerine and trinitrotoluene (TNT). While it is not beyond the imagination to believe that Saruman created something as chemically advanced as nitroglycerine; black powder is the most likely candidate to be the Fire of Orthanc. Gandalf created fireworks for Bilbo's party, of which a major component was probably black powder. Therefore it can be surmised that Saruman would have been capable of creating his own version, though with a more destructive use.
It is equally plausible that both the Fire of Orthanc and Gandalf's fire
works are completely magical in nature. Both items are portable and capable
of being used (or set off) by someone other than the creator. However,
given the descriptions of magic used in Tolkien's world, this is less
likely than a chemical explanation. The reader never sees Gandalf or Saruman
hurling fire balls or lightning bolts, and it seems as if magic in Arda
is a bit more subtle than the explosive nature of the Fire or Orthanc.
Now to the same scene in the forthcoming movie. People on other sites like TORN, Herr der ringe and Elfenomeno have been speculating on what exactly is being used. From the images taken from the recent trailer it seems clear it is a bomb of some type. So the movie makers have opted less metaphysical explanation than some have argued in the past.
Above you can see one of the stills from the movie trailer which someone has kindly highlighted. The Uruk-hai are seen to carry a large smoking object towards the walls. Clearly this is the explosive device devised by Saruman's cunning mind. Orthanc indeed!
Still not much detail and hard to make out what is going on. So moving on to Games Workshop's follow-up game. Below is pictured some Uruk-hai siege troops. The actual caption is:
"The Uruk-Hai Siege Troops boxed set contains everything you'll need to storm the walls of Helm's Deep - from ladder and demolition charges to the Uruk-Hai sappers themselves!"
.
Finally, and this one really gives it away, is an amazing image from Fantasy Planet. It shows the explosive device in great detail. A static shot of the prop itself.
For all the world it looks like a pomegranate! But you can see the handles and the sectioned construction. Devilry indeed!
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