‘The War of the Rohirrim’ Is Officially Set 183 Years Before the ‘Lord of the Rings’ Trilogy
Image via Warner Bros.
According to Warner's official description, The War of the Rohirrim is set 183 years before the events of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. This doesn't answer much, however, since the trilogy takes place over more than two decades in Middle-earth's Third Age, but there are two scenes that are usually accepted as starting points. The opening sequence, depicting Bilbo Baggins' (Ian Holm) 111th birthday, takes place in T.A. 3001, but it's only in T.A. 3018 that Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) leaves the Shire with the One Ring.
According to these dates, The War of the Rohirrim should be set either in T.A. 2818 or in T.A. 2835, using simple mathematics. The thing is, they don't align with Tolkien's own established timeline. According to his writings in the appendixes of the Lord of the Rings books, Helm Hammerhand dies in T.A. 2759, meaning The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring should take place in T.A. 2942. But this is actually the year when Bilbo (Martin Freeman) returns to the Shire from his adventure with the Company of Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), as seen in The Hobbit. There are famously around 60 years between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, meaning there is no place for The War of the Rohirrim there.
The Arrival of the Wizards Poses Yet Another Timeline Problem
To further complicate things in terms of chronology, The War of the Rohirrim introduces none other than the White Wizard himself, Saruman (Christopher Lee), at the end of the movie. This happens just as Héra is about to leave Edoras after Fréaláf (Laurence Ubong Williams) is crowned the new king. She is being summoned by everyone's favorite wizard, Gandalf (Ian McKellen), to report on the events of the war, especially since there were Mumakill and Variag mercenaries involved.
The way these scenes take place, it's implied that the Istari have just arrived in Middle-earth, which, according to Tolkien's timeline, happens around the year T.A. 1000. The War of the Rohirrimeven shows that Isengard is abandoned, seemingly reinforcing that it takes place around the same time as the Istari's arrival. Even this is confusing, however, because the last scenes in the movie actually do make sense according to the timeline. They are not set when the Istari arrive in Middle-earth, but when Saruman moves into Isengard, which happens in T.A. 2759.
Related
This is the year of Helm Hammerhand's demise, coinciding with the catastrophic events of the Long Winter, which takes place over two years, beginning in T.A. 2758. So the events of The War of the Rohirrim may even take place over not one, but actually two years, starting in T.A. 2758 and ending in T.A. 2759. Yes, it's a lot — still following along?
Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth Never Seemed To Adapt to Tolkien’s Own Chronology
The War of the Rohirrim is officially part of Peter Jackson's Middle-earth universe, which can be attested by the fact that Eowyn (Miranda Otto), a character from Jackson's movies, is the narrator. In practical terms regarding the timeline, it means that it isn't really bound to Tolkien's timeline from the books but, instead, to the movies themselves, and there are many things that Jackson adapted in terms of timeline.
The most famous of Jackson's timeline adaptations is precisely one of the references we use as the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring. While Tolkien writes that there are 17 years between Bilbo's 111th birthday and Frodo leaving the Shire, in the movies it feels like not much time passes at all, and there may be even less than a year between those two events. Considering this, they happen either in T.A. 3001 or T.A. 3018, meaning The War of the Rohirrim really takes place either in T.A. 2818 or in T.A. 2835. All of this, of course, only in Peter Jackson's Middle-earth.
The untold story behind Helm's Deep, hundreds of years before the fateful war, telling the life and bloodsoaked times of its founder, Helm Hammerhand, the King of Rohan.
Release Date December 13, 2024
Director Kenji Kamiyama
Runtime 134 Minutes
Main Genre Fantasy
The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim is playing in theaters across the U.S.
Image via Warner Bros.
English (US) ·