The Rohirrim War Timeline, Explained

Key points

  • The story behind
    The Lord of the Rings: The Rohirrim War
    can be found in JRR Tolkien's appendices to
    The Lord of the Rings.
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Rohirrim War
    takes place after Amazon
    The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
    and before Peter Jackson
    The Lord of the Rings
    film trilogy.
  • Helm Hammerhand is an important king of Rohan in
    The Lord of the Rings: The Rohirrim War
    and is mentioned in
    The Lord of the Rings
    Helm's Deep film trilogy.



With the latest trailer released of the highly anticipated The Lord of the Rings: The Rohirrim War, audiences have finally gotten a closer look at images from the upcoming animated film. Warner Bros. describes the film as a “groundbreaking journey back to Middle-earth through the eyes of legendary director Kenji Kamiyama.” Known for his work on series such as Blade Runner: The Black Lotus AND Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex, Kamiyama joins executive producer Peter Jackson in bringing this lesser-known tale from the works of author JRR Tolkien to life. Miranda Otto, who played Éowyn in Jackson's film The Lord of the Rings trilogy, also returns to give voice to her character in the English dubbing. Talents such as Phillippa Boyens, screenwriter of The Lord of the Rings AND The Hobbit film, they also returned with producer and story credits.


The Lord of the Rings The fan base is large and varied across demographics, from enthusiasts who have read Tolkien's complete works to those who have only watched, played, or listened to media adapted from his works. So, not everyone is eager to Rohirrim War will know exactly where it fits into the larger Middle-earth timeline. While the trailer claims it's an “older tale” from about 200 years before the War of the Ring, the exact timeline of events is a little more complex.


The Lord of the Rings: The Rohirrim War has its roots in JRR Tolkien's Appendices


King of the Brand – Front Line

King of the Brand – Second Line

Year (Third Age)

Name

Year (Third Age)

Name

2485-2545

Eorl the Young

2726-2798

Frealeaf Hildeson

2152-70

Brego

2752-2842

Brytta

2544-2645

Aldor the Old

2780-2851

Valda

2570-2659

Frea

2804-64

Crowd

2594-2680

Freawine

2830-2903

Folklore Wine

2619-99

Golden wine

2870-2953

Fengel

2644-2718

Decoration

2905-80

Then the angel

2668-2741

Gram

2948-3019

Theoden

2691-2759

Hammer Hand Helmet


Following the text The Return of the King in most copies of Tolkien The Lord of the Rings, Readers can find the author's appendices. These indexes further expand Tolkien's lore and offer explanations of places, names, and peoples of Middle-earth. Appendix A, II: The House of Eorl outlines a detailed chronology of The Kings of the Mark and provides a brief introduction to the founding of the Kingdom of Rohan. Tolkien describes the settlers of Rohan as people who “loved the plains best, and delighted in horses and all horsemanly exploits” who began to seek land when the shadow of Sauron began to lengthen over the lands of Middle-earth. As a reward for aiding the Kingdom of Gondor in battle, Eorl the Young was given a land to settle on which his people called the “Mark of the Riders”, but the Men of Gondor called it “Rohan” and its inhabitants the “Rohirrim” (the Lords of Horses).


Rohirrim War The most recent trailer, released by Warner Bros. on August 22, 2024, shows the events leading up to a great battle between the Rohirrim and the Dunlendings. The Dunlendings, also known as the Wildmen of Duneland, were a race of men seen only briefly in Jackson's films who swore fealty to Saruman the White. The disagreement depicted between the King of Rohan (Helm Hammerhand) and the Dunlendings (Freca) in the trailer aligns closely with Tolkien's text. Tolkien wrote how Freca “claimed descent from King Fréawine” – a predecessor of Helm – and “asked for the hand of Helm's daughter for his son Wulf.” What follows is a fight between the two men, which ends with Helm “dealing Freca with such a blow with his fist that he fell back stunned and died shortly after.”


After his fateful skirmish with Freca, Helm proclaims Wulf and his kinsman the enemies of Rohan. The trailer then shows a series of scenes of the escalating conflict between the two kingdoms. And while Helm’s daughter doesn’t have a name in Tolkien lore, the filmmakers have named her Hèra and seem to have expanded her role in the war itself. She appears to be the main character to confront Wulf head-on. In Tolkien’s writings, it is Fréaleaf, Helm’s grandson, who ultimately kills Wulf. It remains to be seen whether the film will stick to Tolkien’s outline of events or give that particular victory to Hèra.


The earlier assistance of the Eorlings (as the Rohirrim called themselves) to Gondor cemented a long-standing alliance between the kingdoms that proved useful. After Wulf's death, aid came from Gondor at least: this became the final push to drive the Dunlendings from Rohan. The dissolution of their alliance at the time of the War of the Ring was an addition by Jackson in The Two Towers. King Théoden's grudge against Gondor for its lack of assistance “when the Westfold fell” created further intrigue for a second film in a trilogy that needed more to complicate its story. This also made the timing of the Riders of Rohan appearing at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields in The Return of the King much more impactful and cinematic.

The Rohirrim War takes place after The Rings of Power and before The Lord of the Rings

  • by Amazon The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power It is set during the Second Age of Middle-earth.
  • In JRR Tolkien's text, the events of The Lord of the Rings: The Rohirrim War takes place 243 years earlier The Lord of the Rings.


The creators of Amazon The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power explained that the series is meant to be an extended version of Jackson's prologue in The Fellowship of the Ring. Showrunners and first-time TV writers Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne said their goal was, “To tell the first five minutes of Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring, the prologue narrated by Galadriel that told the story of the rings of power, over the course of five seasons.” The main goal was to showcase “Tolkien's much lesser-known Second Age.” The Second Age is primarily discussed in Tolkien's appendices and other, often unfinished, works such as The Silmarillion. Both Payne and McKay were interested in tackling largely uncharted territory in the film adaptation of Middle-earth material.


On the contrary, Jackson The Lord of the Rings was adapted from Tolkien's refined and completed saga of the same name that fell in the Third Age of Middle-earth. Although Jackson narrows the timeline in his films for the sake of storytelling, it tends to have garnered less criticism, much less criticism than Rings of Power by the fan community for its alterations. The Third Age began after Sauron's initial defeat in SA 3341 when the One Ring was lost for over 2,000 years. It is at Bilbo's birthday party in TA 3001 that Gandalf begins to suspect that Bilbo's old ring may be Sauron's legendary ring of power. The War of the Ring would begin in 3018, according to the chronology in Tolkien's books, and last until 3019.


Tolkien specifies the exact year in which the events of took place Rohirrim War take place in its appendices. Freca's meeting with Helm Hammerhand and subsequent death take place four years before his son Wulf's assault on Rohan. Tolkien writes that “great trouble came to Rohan” in TA 2758. This would place Freca and Helm's meeting in TA 2754. Thus, Rohirrim War takes place almost 3,000 years later Rings of Power and 243 before The Lord of the Rings — It is possible that Warner Bros. has specified the Rohirrim War set “183 years before the events of the original film trilogy” is yet another cinematic timeline shift.

Helm Hammerhand is mentioned in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Lord of the Rings Helm Hammerhand Statue

  • A statue of Helm Hammerhand can be seen in Helm's Deep in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.


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Anyone who has only watched Jackson's trilogy would not be entirely unfamiliar with the name Helm Hammerhand. In The Two Towers, is referenced both in dialogue and visually. In scenes at Helm's Deep, viewers can see a statue of the former monarch holding a hammer in one hand and his horn in the other. The fortress was originally called the Hornburg, but after it became the stronghold of the Rohirrim during the war with the Dunlendings, it was renamed in honor of their fallen king. It is at Helm's Deep that King Théoden declares before riding out to meet Saruman's Uruk-hai army, “Helm Hammerhand's horn shall sound in the deep.”


Although Tolkien wrote about Helm's death, there have been alternative versions of his story. In the video game, Middle-earth: Shadow of War, Helm received a ring from Sauron and became a Nazgûl. In the game, he also accidentally kills his own daughter. This is another case where Tolkien's timeline was altered, as Shadow of War places these events at the end of the Second Age. According to Tolkien, Helm terrorizes the Denlanders until his death in 2759, freezing in the winter cold while hunting his enemies.

With the highly anticipated release of Rohirrim WarFan theories are likely to abound regarding the rest of the film. It will be interesting to see how much further the filmmakers will deviate from Tolkien's text and whether it will be well received by Tolkien fans. Either way, it looks like it will be an aesthetically pleasing and refreshing take on a much-loved author's world and vision.


The Lord of the Rings: The Rohirrim Wars is scheduled for release in theaters on December 13, 2024.

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