Twenty-three years ago, the first installment of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy debuted in theatres, setting off a cultural phenomenon that still resonates to this day. In a country still reeling from the September 11 attacks, Americans fell in love with J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantasy realm of Middle-earth with its noble human heroes, ethereal elves, stalwart dwarves, and down-to-earth hobbits. People related to the epic struggle of good versus evil and found comfort in the story’s message of enduring hope and strength against adversity.
The vast lands of Middle-earth have returned to the big screen this December, with the debut of The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (PG-13). Set over 260 years before the events of Lord of the Rings, this animated feature focuses upon a dark and turbulent time during the history of the kingdom of Rohan. Helm, the King of Rohan, is approached by Lord Freca, a powerful lord who desires a marriage between his son, Wulf, and Helm’s daughter, Hera. Both Helm and Hera refuse this proposal, and Helm gets into a fistfight with Freca, whom he accidentally kills with a single blow of his mighty fist. Desiring vengeance for his father’s death, Wulf travels to the neighboring country of Dunland, where he musters his forces and launches an assault upon Rohan. The war that ensues is long and brutal, taking place during one of the worst winters in the history of Middle-earth.
I found War of the Rohirrim to be an engaging film which explores the lore of one of my favorite Middle-earth kingdoms – the land of Rohan. Unlike the more ancient and mystical realm of Gondor, the Rohirrim feel more like an early medieval kingdom from our universe. They have a horse culture, possess no magic, and relate their history through tales and songs. They also have a tradition of shieldmaidens – women who wield sword and shield to defend their homes during times of great need.
Hera is a shieldmaiden with a love of adventure and an affinity towards animals. In the beginning of the movie, she is shown attempting to befriend one of the Great Eagles – an effort which will pay off later in the film. In flashbacks, it is revealed that she and Wulf had been childhood friends, and there possibly could have been a romance between them had not time and tensions between their families caused them to drift apart over the years. What remained of their relationship is irreparably broken after Helm kills Wulf’s father, and Wulf declares war upon Hera’s people in his quest for vengeance.
War of the Rohirrim was directed by Kenji Kamiyama, a Japanese anime director, and produced and co-written by Phillipa Boyens, who also co-wrote the Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Fans of Lord of the Rings will recognize the same architecture and landscapes from the film trilogy, with the city of Edoras and the Golden Hall being rendered beautifully upon the screen. Miranda Otto reprised her role of Éowyn for the film, acting as the narrator of the story.
This is not the first time Middle-earth has been presented in an animated medium. Many children who grew up in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s were first exposed to Tolkien’s world through the Rankin/Bass version of The Hobbit, Ralph Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings, and the Rankin/Bass Return of the King. In fact, some of the animation in War of the Rohirrim appears to be inspired by the rotoscoping effects utilized in 1978’s animated Lord of the Rings. While I do enjoy anime, I will say that I do have some qualms with the art in War of the Rohirrim. Some of the characters, such as Helm and his son Haleth, are drawn quite well, while other characters, such as Lord Throne, look like they were a tracing of a real person. I also thought Hera’s facial features were somewhat plain and generic looking – which would be acceptable for a background character, but not the heroine of the story. Hera’s other brother, Hama, also suffers from the same generic appearance.
While War of the Rohirrim is an animated feature, I feel that it is more geared towards teens and adults than children. At two hours and 14 minutes, this film might not hold the interest of younger children. Since the story is about a war, there is also a good degree of violence to be expected, although the battle scenes are not overly graphic.
Those who consider Middle-earth as the realm of escapist fantasy and happy endings might also be disappointed with War of the Rohirrim. Many people’s first introduction to Tolkien’s writing is through Lord of the Rings, a story which, upon first appearance, is about noble heroes going on a noble quest to save the world. However, there is also a dark side to Tolkien, which often surprises fans who prefer lighter fare. War of the Rohirrim is about a particularly brutal conflict, in which the leaders of both factions (Helm and Wulf) are driven to madness and desperation.
How does War of the Rohirrim stack up to the books? The story is inspired by a two-page account from Appendix A, the history section found at the back of Return of the King, the final book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. However, the accounts in the Appendixes are summaries of events which took place in Middle-earth’s past, and are written like brief entries which might be found in a history book. Without artistic license and a lot of filler material, the story of King Helm, the war with Wulf, and the Long Winter would make for a very short film indeed!
Helm’s daughter is never named in the Appendixes, and she has no part in the story other than being the recipient of an unwanted marriage proposal. Helm is also more of a jerk than he was in the film; in the books, he instigates the quarrel with Freca by calling him fat. There are also other deviations from the source material, such as the addition of giant elephants being used against the forces of Rohan during this particular conflict. (When considering the geography of Middle-earth, the presence of the giant elephants is rather silly, as the region where they come from is several hundred miles away. It’s also separated from Rohan by the friendly kingdom of Gondor; for there to be giant elephants in Rohan, Gondor would have to be completely overrun by enemies.) Wulf’s ultimate fate in the books is also quite different than in the film, though to say more would reveal major spoilers.
I do wish that War of the Rohirrim had provided an explanation for the enmity between Rohan and Dunland. In Tolkien’s writings, these were not merely two neighboring countries that had a history of strained relations. The ancestors of the Dunlendings were indigenous tribesmen who migrated into the region which would later become the western part of the kingdom of Rohan. This territory, which was called Calenardhon, was claimed by the kingdom of Gondor as part of an enormous realm that encompassed most of western Middle-earth. As the centuries passed, Gondor began to decline, slowly losing control of many of the territories it once held. The land of Calenardhon was ceded to the Northmen of Rhovanion – allies of Gondor who hailed from the northern regions of Middle-earth. The Northmen migrated south to Calenardhon, founding the kingdom of Rohan. However, the Dunlendings also claimed the western part of this territory, leading to years of strife between the Rohirrim and the Dunlendings. Perhaps if Gondor had worked out some agreement with the Dunlendings before ceding all of Calenardhon to the Rohirrim, conflict could have been avoided. Or perhaps not…
Middle-earth has been enjoying a revival in recent years. In 2022, Amazon Prime released the first season of Rings of Power – a series set almost 5,000 years before the events of Lord of the Rings (the series plays fast and loose with Tolkien’s chronology, greatly compressing the timeline and consolidating various important events in the story). Reviews for the series are mixed, although the second season, which debuted this August, was received more positively by fans.
Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim was released on December 13. I would recommend this film for fans of fantasy, action, and animation. Of course, it goes without saying that War of the Rohirrim was made for fans of Tolkien, though I think that even those unfamiliar with Middle-earth could appreciate this film, as the story is pretty self-explanatory and easy to follow. I have always felt that anime would be a wonderful medium to tell Tolkien’s tales of Middle-earth, perhaps even better than live action films, as art can convey so much more than actors. While many people associate Lord of the Rings with the live action trilogy directed by Peter Jackson, War of the Rohirrim is a return to the animated roots of the very first productions set in Middle-earth. I hope that more animated Tolkien films will follow in the wake of War of the Rohirrim.
