Warner Bros. has released the first trailer for The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, a prequel to the feature film. The film, which takes place 200 years before The Lord of the Rings, tells the untold story of Helm Hammer (Brian Cox), the former ruler of Rohan.

The plot

The trailer shows that the film’s plot is centred on the bloody conflict between Rohan and the Dunlendings. It all starts with the breakdown of an arranged marriage between Helm’s daughter Hera (Gaia Wise) and Dunland’s Prince Wolf (Luke Pasqualino). This leads to the death of Wulf’s father Freka (Sean Dooley) and, as a result, Wulf goes to war with Rohan. Helm must unite his kingdom to face this threat. Only his daughter Hera may be Rohan’s only hope for survival.

The animated film will released on 13 December.

Features of The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

Like most films in the franchise, The War of the Rohirrim is based on the original text by J.R.R. Tolkien. The filmmakers used the backstories and characters that the writer created to enrich the world of Middle-earth. However, they introduced a new female character who became the central figure in the conflict.

In one of her interviews, Philippa Boyens said that Tolkien’s works have many colourful male characters. However, there is one female character whose name not mentioned anywhere. This attracted the attention of screenwriter Phoebe Gittins. She knew from the novels that Helm had a daughter and that she was the main figure in the conflict. The directors were interested in who she was and how she lived. So they named her Hera and made her the protagonist of the upcoming film.