A. B. Schwartzkopf

Lord of the Rings fans were delighted to return to an action-packed Middle Earth with Peter Jackson and Kenji Kamiyama’s The War of Rohirrim, but many fans were left confused as to how the movie connects to the main story. 

The War of Rohirrim takes place 183 years before the story of the War of the Ring, in the time of Helm Hammerhand, the last of the first line of Kings in the Mark. This story tells of the war ignited between Rohirrim and the rebellious Dunlendings, how the Rohirrim initially lost, how “Helm’s Deep” came to be named, and finally the end of war and who rose to power to reclaim the throne. All the while told through the eyes of Helm’s daughter, Hèra.

But if fans tried looking for her name in the books, it can’t be found. Hèra is the unnamed daughter of Helm Hammerhand, mentioned only in one sentence of Appendix A of The Lord of the Rings. In fact, the whole movie is based on only thirteen paragraphs of Appendix A. 

It’s only at the end of this screenplay that more direct connections between The Lord of the Rings and The War of Rohirrim can be seen. The first is with the orcs collecting rings for their Master– a nice, little introduction for fans to Sauron’s quest for the Ring of Power. The next connection is Saruman taking residence in Isengard and receiving the keys to the Orthanc, and at the very end of the movie when Gandalf’s name was mentioned by Hèra. 

So while The War of Rohirrim isn’t directly involved in the main story of Frodo and the Ring, it helps to introduce more characters and aspects of Middle Earth’s history that otherwise go unnoticed by the main movies. And by portraying this story through Hèra’s eyes, The War of Rohirrim is able to enhance creative freedom while also inviting fans to explore the integrity of film adaptations through details that connect Middle Earth stories together in Tolkien’s grand narrative. 

Could this mean that more stories from Tolkien’s extensive world will be welcomed into the The Lord of Rings movie franchise? Peter Jackson is already confirmed by Warner Bros. to be working on another film set for release in 2026, but there are countless stories to choose from the Lord of the Rings Appendices, The Silmarillion, and The Unfinished Tales.¹ Fans will just have to wait and see!

1. Alex Weprin, Peter Jackson Working on New ‘Lord of the Rings’ Films for Warner Bros., Targeting 2026 Debut (The Hollywood Reporter, Penske Media Corporation: 2024), https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/new-lord-of-the-rings-movies-2026-peter-jackson-1235894513/  ↩︎