Return to Rohan in First Trailer for Animated The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

Still from LOTR: The War of the Rohirrim
Credit: WB Pictures; fair use for news and promotional purposes

Still from LOTR: The War of the Rohirrim
Credit: WB Pictures; fair use for news and promotional purposes

Every Middle-earth fan may have their eyes set on the premiere of The Rings of Power Season 2 later this month, but Warner Bros. has just dropped a look at another highly anticipated project—The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.

The film is set to release later this year during the Christmas season, and this first trailer gives us a look at the Land of the Horse Lords hundreds of years before the events of the LOTR trilogy.

Official Trailer for LOTR: The War of the Rohirrim

Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson is also attached as a producer for the movie, and at the helm is Kenji Kamiyama, known for his work on Ghost in the Shell, Eden of the East, and Akira. Here’s the official trailer:

The official synopsis for the movie reads:
“Set 183 years before the events chronicled in the original trilogy of films, “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” tells the fate of the House of Helm Hammerhand, the legendary King of Rohan. A sudden attack by Wulf, a clever and ruthless Dunlending lord seeking vengeance for the death of his father, forces Helm and his people to make a daring last stand in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg— a mighty fortress that will later come to be known as Helm’s Deep.”

Finding herself in an increasingly desperate situation, Héra, the daughter of Helm, must summon the will to lead the resistance against a deadly enemy intent on their total destruction.”

The movie boasts a star-studded cast which includes Brian Cox (Succession) as the voice of Helm Hammerhand and Gaia Wise (A Walk in the Woods) as Helm’s daughter Hera. The movie has also brought back original trilogy cast member Miranda Otto to reprise her role as Eowyn, who will be narrating the entire film.

Still from LOTR: The Two Towers
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Credit: New Line Cinema; fair use for news and promotional purposes

Who are the Rohirrim?

In The Lord of the Rings, the Rohirrim simply refers to the people of Rohan, or the ‘Horse-lords’. Though fans get to see Eomer refer to his army as the Rohirrim, this is actually a term used by outsiders for the people of Rohan.

The name that the Rohirrim give themselves locally is ‘Eorlingas’ after the king Eorl the Young who had brought their people to Rohan. That’s why in Theoden’s final march, he shouts “Forth Eorlingas” as a rally to have his army push forward.

While the men of Gondor tend to be at the center of the whole conflict in Lord of the Rings, the Rohirrim have their own sub-culture and place when it comes to the lore of Middle-earth.

With the events of the film taking place around a more vague area of the established timeline, it’s not yet clear if War of the Rohirrim is going to lead to a sequel. At least fans are happy that someone is doing something with the Lord of the Rings IP years after the Hobbit trilogy ended.

Watch out for The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim when it comes out in cinemas on Dec. 12 this holiday season.