Summary
The heroine inThe Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrimwill celebrate one of the best parts of the originalLord of the Ringsstory.TheWar of the Rohirrimmoviewill follow a story that author J.R.R. Tolkien outlined in the appendices toThe Lord of the Rings. However,the lead character only had a minor role in the book.
The War of the Rohirrimwill occupy a place inThe Lord of the Ringstimelinethat has not yet been extensively explored on screen, and certainly never as an anime. It will be set in Rohan in the Third Age of Middle-earth, 132 years before the birth of Bilbo, the main character ofThe Hobbitmovies and book. It will take for a focal character the daughter of Helm Hammerhand, the king that Tolkien centered in his book.Though unnamed in the source material, Hèra will assume the role of Hammerhand’s daughterand will be voiced by Gaia Wise in the movie.
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War Of The Rohirrim’s Hèra Continues Éowyn’s Lord Of The Rings Legacy
Hèra And Éowyn Are Both Female Warriors In A Man’s Battlefield
Éowyn was perhaps the most prominent female warrior in Tolkien’s world, although Galadriel was another contender, andWar of the Rohirrimwill build on this by placing a woman soldier front and center. Haleth and Lúthien were other women who fought and won in Middle-earth, but Éowyn’s heroinism had a unique pride of place in Tolkien’s masterwork,The Lord of the Rings. Miranda Otto was excellent as Éowyn in Peter Jackson’s trilogy, so it’s little wonder that Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema will follow her example with their protagonist for the nextLord of the Ringsfilm.
The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrimwill be released on July 25, 2025.
As a protagonist,Hèra could be compared to Galadriel inRings of Powerseason 1, whose warrior elements were highlighted above the magical aspects that Peter Jackson brought out in his films. Galadriel’s character was incredibly complicated throughout Tolkien’s legendarium, making her hard to adapt, and indeed the show faced criticism for its writing of the character.Hèra shouldn’t present this difficulty - with only one line in the text to suggest her identity, she will give the movie a blank slatethat can celebrate the tradition of Éowyn, whose presence will also be felt in her narration of the movie.
Éowyn Was A Boundary-Breaking Character When Lord Of The Rings Was Published
Éowyn Was Far From Typical For A 1950s Female Character
Female characters in the 1950s often carried a “feminine mystique” whereby they were fulfilled by their roles as housewives, mothers, and sexual partners, but Éowyn was one example of a character that broke this mold. Second-wave feminist Betty Friedan coined this term and defined the issue of many women actually being unfulfilled despite motherhood and housewifery.Éowyn had no “feminine mystique”- she was just as dissatisfied as the real women interviewed by Friedan in her work.
Éowyn and Faramir fell in love and lived a peaceful life together, but this wasn’t symptomatic of Tolkien condemning Éowyn to domesticity after all, this was the victory of peace over war.
In this way,J.R.R. Tolkien was ahead of his time. He clearly supported Éowyn in her endeavors, as her going to war was rewarded in the narrative by her triumph over the Witch-king of Angmar. By the end of the books and movies,Éowyn and Faramir fell in loveand lived a peaceful life together, but this wasn’t symptomatic of Tolkien condemning Éowyn to domesticity after all; this was the victory of peace over war, and the victory of life over death in two seriously wounded characters. Tolkien characters finding peace after going through war had become a theme inLord of the Rings.
How Hèra Is Different From Lord Of The Rings' Éowyn
Gaia Wise Has Her Own Inspirations For Éowyn
Speaking toEntertainment Weekly,Gaia Wise said that her character “bears a stronger resemblance to the heroines of Hayao Miyazaki films like Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind than to classic Lord of the Rings heroineslike Arwen and Éowyn.” As Hèra’s voice actress, Gaia Wise is uniquely placed to inform her character. Although Hèra will honor Éowyn’s legacy in certain ways, it’s good to see thatWar of the Rohirrimwill be moving the dialogue on and marrying the depth of Tolkien’s world with an equally rich tradition - anime and specifically, the seminal influence of Hayao Miyazaki.
Miyazaki’s heroines had a wilderness all of their own - perhaps even further removed from Friedan’s “feminine mystique” than those situated in a medieval romance could be. They were sometimes rebels who were also savages, supernatural beings, or mere teens, who couldn’t even remotely adhere to the norms of nobility. And yet, there is much in common between Éowyn, Lúthien, Nausicaä, and other Miyazaki heroines like princess Mononoke.Miyazaki’s heroines went further in their leadership than defending humanity and often fought on the side of nature, andLord of the Ringsis one big defense of nature.
It will be interesting to see if the thread of environmentalism that runs through Miyazaki’s work is present inWar of the Rohirrim.Wise described Hèra as “fierce… complex,” and “rebellious,” detailing Éowyn as more “fully formed,“so it seems there will be some character development over the course of Hèra’s journey. This may present another Miyazaki influence, as he mastered this in many heroines, likeSpirited Away’sChihiro.The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrimcan do Éowyn justiceand also explore a new kind of protagonist forLord of the Rings,without breaking Tolkien’s canon.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
Cast
Set before the events of the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is an animated action-adventure fantasy film that follows a King of Rohan named Helm Hammerhand. When his home comes under siege by Dunlendings, Hammerhand prepares himself and his allies to fight back against them, with the war leading to the eventual establishment of Helm’s Deep.
