Good point, Scott. Now you have made me hesitate... Well, it truly seems (I had to re-read the part once more [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] ) that the drums were a sign of some greater evil than the orcs; the sound appears as a starting shot for them. First the drums then the charge of orcs.
When the drums are first mentioned in the Book of Mazarbul (that's my translation, don't know if the term is right) Balin is already dead and there are only remnants of his force left. So, maybe the few dwarves left only heard those "drums in the deep" without ever facing the source of the sound. Yep, that's just maybe. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]
Oh, I just found a passage where Gimli asks Gandalf did he face the drummer (while Gandalf was left behind to hold back the attack). This once again seems to indicate that there was A drummer and not a bunch of orcs drumming. So thank you for making me take a closer look on this, Scott! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]
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