The Lord of the Rings screenwriter Philippa Boyens revealed some of her motivations for choosing the War of the Rohirrim story rather than other Tolkien stories for the upcoming anime-style film.
Sauron in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Speaking with Deadline, Boyens first revealed the rights that Warner Bros. has acquired for their various film projects including the recently announced The Hunt for Gollum. She said, “We have the right to the Lord of the Rings and the appendices, and that’s it.”
However, she added, “I would love to see that expand if there was the opportunity to do so, but there is so much that is in those three books. I know that especially hardcore fans of Professor Tolkien, they always get nervous that there’s only so much story. But look at War of the Rohirrim. It’s a page and a half at first glance in the books. But there are lots of threads throughout the book.”
Gandalf leads the Rohirrim at the Battle of the Hornburg in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), Warner Bros. Pictures
Next, Boyens went on to explain why she chose the story, “War of the Rohirrim sits 200 years before the events of the ring, and it really is a standalone story. t was one of the reasons that I came to that story when we were looking to do something that would fit with anime. We wanted to do something that really had nothing to do with rings of power or Sauron or the Dark Tower or wizards, even.”
She elaborated, “It’s a story about a people who are tearing themselves apart. So that felt like a really good fit, not only for anime, but to go into a new art form which anime is, and try and tell a story based in Middle-earth without touching really upon the live action films, if that makes sense.”
A still from The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024), Warner Bros. Pictures
Boyens then detailed, “What it did do for us though was re-ignite that passion for the world and for the work of Professor Tolkien. It absolutely has done that, and I think it surprised us. We fell back into the world really easily and it just felt like a natural fit. It also showed us, it certainly showed me, how deep that mythology runs and how much story is left to be told.”
“This is something that Professor Tolkien did himself and it is what worked so well,” she added. “He drew upon existing mythologies to create this world.”
J.R.R. Tolkien via Sidh Aniron YouTube
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While Boyens claims the War of the Rohirrim was chosen to avoid what Amazon is doing with their Rings of Power show and to not touch on director Peter Jackson’s previous live-action films, Boyens and the War of the Rohirrim team might be following in The Rings of Power’s footsteps when it comes to disregarding Tolkien’s work.
It was reported by Slashfilm back in June 2023 that the film would not focus on Helm Hammerhand, but would instead feature his unnamed daughter, whom the film is calling Hèra, as the movie’s main protagonist. Boyens defended this decision saying, “Everyone else dies! And before you start complaining, this is already in the text, and also the story takes place centuries before the movies.”
A still from The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024), Warner Bros. Pictures
Slashfilm also reported that a scene in the film “shows the politics at play in Edoras, with a lord of Rohan wanting to erase the history of a group of female warriors and banner women to the king, a prelude of things to come.”
The main political confrontation in the story that Tolkien wrote was between Hammerhand and a man named Freca claiming to be a descendant of King Fréawine. Freca asks for Hammerhand’s daughter to be married to his son Wulf. Hammerhand rejects him by calling him fat. Freca responds saying, “Old kings that refuse a proffered staff may fall on their knees.” The two then participate in a king’s council. However, after it is concluded Hammerhand confronts Freca, rebukes him for his words of rebellion, and kills him with a single punch. He then declares Freca’s son, Wulf, and his men enemies of the king.
Four years after this confrontation Rohan was invaded by Dunlendings led by Wulf. They were joined “by enemies of Gondor that landed in the mouths of Lefnui and Isen.”
Helm Hammerhand as depicted in Middle-earth: Shadow of War (2017), Monolith Productions
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A subsequent report about the film from TheOneRing.net also claimed that the film would show the destruction of Edoras. The outlet reported, “Edoras is destroyed at the end of act 1 — we saw some beautiful art of a burned Meduseld — and the rest of the movie as about ‘the wreckage of war’.”
This is not in the text and is in fact contrary to it. In Tolkien’s story, Rohan loses to the forces of the Dunlendings and their allies led by Wulf in a battle at the Crossings of Isen. After being defeated, Helm Hammerhand flees to the safety of the Hornburg, where the invading forces set up a siege.
The invading forces also split with Wulf leading a portion of the army to Edoras to take the city. Tolkien wrote, “Wulf took Edoras and sat in Meduseld and called himself king. There Haleth Helm’s son fell, last of all, defending the doors.”
The Horn of Helm Hammerhand as depicted in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), Warner Bros. Pictures
The city was not destroyed. In fact, Tolkien later details that the city would be retaken by Helm’s nephew Fréaláf.
Tolkien wrote, “Then Fréaláf, son of Hild, Helm’s sister came down out of Dunharrow, to which many had fled; and with a small company of desperate men he surprised Wulf in Meduseld and slew him, and regained Edoras.”
A statue of Helm Hammerhand as seen in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), Warner Bros. Pictures
What do you make of Boyens’ comments about why she chose to adapt the story of Helm Hammerhand for the War of the Rohirrim?
“Evil cannot create anything new, they can only corrupt and ruin what good forces have invented or made”― JRR Tolkien
Let’s face it, if the LOTR movies were made today by the very same people, they would not be nearly as good.