Hegemol Ogrim, better known by his title "Dung Defender" was once one of the Five Great Knights of Hallownest - the kingdom that Hollow Knight takes place in. Ogrim has managed to avoid the infection that has taken over the rest of Hallownest and has secluded himself to the sewers underneath the great City of Tears. There he spends his days, vigorously guarding the waterways against any trespassers that would dare to enter his domain.

The original theme for Dung Defender features a very heroic and fun instrumentation. The string section provides a driving rhythmic pulse while various winds play an epic melody over top and percussion provide just the right amount of the ambiance that is typical of Hollow Knight. This piece is a personal favorite of mine from the entire soundtrack, so it was the logical choice for one of my projects in my Arranging class that I took in Spring 2019.

This arrangement has seen several revisions and the instruction of two of the best Handbell composers - Alex and Christian Guebert. I am very grateful to them for their help on this piece and I think it turned out quite well! I have not been able to get a recording of an ensemble yet but I would love to do so one day!

Fun fact, I had originally written this piece in alternating 7/8 and 9/8 because that's where the accents fall, but after the first read-through of that version, it quickly became apparent that sight-reading something like that is rather difficult. As you can see, I do keep that notation down the line, but it is much more justified in that case and would be difficult to read in a 4/4 notation.