The main thing that strikes me about this passage is the total disregard for
life (of warriors or beasts) that characterizes the enemy. They care
nothing for their own warriors being trampled. I'm reminded of Gorbag and
Shagrat's amusement at their colleague being left hanging for Shelob. If
one were to catapult orc heads into Minas Morgul they'd probably think it's
funny. I see this as Tolkien's way of emphasizing their totally evil
nature.
Agree with others about the spells (WK is definitely involved) and the
historical emphasis in the
name.
