The upcoming 2024 animated Lord of the Rings movie, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, is borrowing a classic storytelling trick from Peter Jackson’s original live-action trilogy. Set 261 years before Jackson’s trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim follows Helm Hammerhand, a legendary King of Rohan and namesake of Helm’s Deep, who has to defend his land against an army of Dunlendings. Although Jackson isn’t involved, the animated film is set in the same timeline as his trilogy.
After being delayed from its initial April release date due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is set to arrive in theaters on December 13. The movie is directed by Blade Runner: Black Lotus’ Kenji Kamiyama. Miranda Otto is reprising her role as Éowyn from Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies, and the way she’s incorporated into the new film seems to be repeating a franchise trend that goes back to the original trilogy.
Éowyn’s War Of The Rohirrim Narration Mirrors Galadriel From Fellowship
Éowyn will be the narrator of The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, telling the story from far in the future as a shieldmaiden of Rohan, looking back on one of the kingdom’s toughest historical conflicts. Otto first played the character in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, which saw another epic battle taking place at Helm’s Deep. Éowyn will offer an interesting perspective from which to tell the story of Rohan’s king of yore.
Éowyn’s role as the narrator of the new movie is similar to how Galadriel, the elf played by Cate Blanchett who ruled Lothlórien in partnership with her husband Celeborn, narrated the first chapter in Jackson’s trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. The Elf-queen’s voiceover narration was crucial to setting the scene and explaining the lore in the original trilogy. By having Éowyn narrate The War of the Rohirrim, the new movie can get through its exposition just as succinctly and dive right into the story.
Galadriel Could Prove How War Of The Rohirrim Will Use Éowyn
The way that Galadriel was used in the narration of The Fellowship of the Ring offers a glimpse at how The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim will use Éowyn as the narrator. It seems like she won’t be an active participant in the flashbacks, but rather an omniscient narrator. Like Galadriel, Éowyn won’t be recounting the flashbacks from a subjective first-person perspective; she’ll simply tell the story like an objective historical account.
