The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim explores the history of a group of characters that were barely in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings films. The upcoming animated film is a prequel to the previous cinematic adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy epic. The film delves into a conflict that erupted between Rohan and a rival group of humans long before the Fellowship made their journey across Middle-Earth.

It’s an exciting expansion of the Rohirrim, who played a vital role in the conflict against Sauron in Lord of the Rings. However, the film isn’t just showing off Rohan. The antagonists of the film are a minor community in other versions of the franchise, who so far have lacked much direct characterization. That’s set to change with the film, which is an exciting development for the franchise. The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim‘s story highlights the potential other directions the franchise should look to going forward.

The War Of The Rohirrim Brings The Dunlendings Into The Spotlight

The Dunlendings Have Never Gotten This Much Focus Before

For the first time, Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is set to bring the Dunlendings to the forefront of the franchise. Dunlendings are a minor community of Men in Middle-earth whose history can be traced back to the Second Age (the era that serves as a key focus of Prime Video’s Rings of Power). In contrast to Gondor and Rohan, the Dunlendings have typically been established as a more wild and villainous faction. The War of the Rohirrim teases the conflict between the Rohan citizenry under King Helm Hammerhand and a large contingent of the Dunlendings.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim Official Trailer

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Set almost two centuries before the events of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The War of the Rohirrim focuses on the conflict between the Rohirrim and the Dunlendings after the unexpected death of their ruler, Freca. The war is escalated by Freca’s son vengeful Wulf, his former bond with the Rohirrim Princess Hèra adding a layer of tragedy to the whole affair. This character-driven central conflict is a great showcase for Dunlendings’ corner of the world. It’s a lot of focus for the Dunlendings, who have typically only been background players in Middle-earth epics.

How The Dunlendings Factored Into Peter Jackson’s LOTR Trilogy

The Dunlendings Are Briefly In Peter Jackson’s Two Towers

The Dunlendings do appear in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy but in a very minor way. A brief scene shows a tribe of Dunlendings being recruited by Saruman in The Two Towers. Swearing loyalty to the corrupted wizard and Sauron, the Dunlendings carry out a series of raids against Rohan. Although there’s a little more focus on them in the extended editions, the Dunelendings only really serve as a minor foe that besieged Rohan early in the film. The Dunlendings were one-note raiders, used to push the heroes into action and move along the Rohan plot of The Two Towers.

The Dunelendings played a similar role in the original novels as well, expanding the forces of the villains during conflicts like the siege of Helm’s Deep. This was one of the many changes Jackson made to that battle from the original books, which did flesh out Sarumans manipulations of the Dunlendings to trick them into fighting for his side. Like much of Middle-earth, J.R.R. Tolkien’s additional writings fleshed out the world and the various other communities, which is where the inspiration for The War of the Rohirrim comes from.

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The War Of The Rohirrim’s Dunlendings Highlights The Potential For More LOTR Spin-Offs

The Dunlendings Getting Focus Proves Middle-Earth Is Still Full Of Stories To Mine For Adaptation

While there is a connection to the machinations of Sauron’s forces in the backstory that inspired The War of the Rohirrim, the film seems to be leaning hard into a more morally complex conflict between the Rohirrim and the Dunelendings. This is a good reminder of the sheer scope of Tolkien’s world, which can justify plenty of other stories within that creative sandbox. That’s one of the most exciting aspects of The War of the Rohirrim, which showcases a completely different approach to the source material like the Dunlendings than what’s been attempted before.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim Characters
Cast

Helm Hammerhand
Brian Cox

Hèra Hammerhand
Gaia Wise

Wulf
Luke Pasqualino

Freca
Shaun Dooley

Éowyn
Miranda Otto

The War of the Rohirrim is exciting because it’s doing something interesting with underutilized corners of the setting. Instead of repeating the established story, War of the Rohirrim‘s Dunlendings proves the franchise can shift focus cinematically to explore new adventures. This even carries over to the format, with an animation style more familiar to fans of Kenji Kamiyama and Sola Entertainment that still feels connected to Jackson’s films. The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim proves the franchise is more than just stories connected to the One Ring.

It’s an exciting expansion of the Rohirrim, who played a vital role in the conflict against Sauron in Lord of the Rings. However, the film isn’t just showing off Rohan. The antagonists of the film are a minor community in other versions of the franchise, who so far have lacked much direct characterization. That’s set to change with the film, which is an exciting development for the franchise. The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim‘s story highlights the potential other directions the franchise should look to going forward.