King Théoden and the Reawakening of Rohan

As the saying goes; weak men create hard times, but hard times create strong men, and strong men go on to create good times. Out of the deepest fires of crisis and despair, like a phoenix, can arise men of noble integrity and undaunted courage.

Frank Bernard Dicksee: La Belle Dame sans Merci, 1901

One such parable of note is JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of The Rings and his example of the Kingdom of Rohan. A kingdom paralysed by an obvious lack of decisive leadership and which has recently fallen into despondent stagnation, on the verging of succumbing to the advancing hordes of evil that besiege it.

Piloting the ship of state in this grave hour is king Théoden and whispering counsel into his ear is his duplicitous advisor Gríma Wormtongue.

Grima Wormtongue and King Theoden by Alan Lee

Wormtongue, who is a nataive of Rohan, betrays his homeland to the plotting of wizard Saruman. It is Wormtongue who is the puppet master pulling the strings behind the enfeebled King, deformed by the magical possession of the Saruman. Sitting at the king’s side, he whispers a constant stream of lies to the passive monarch even as roaming bands of wild-men and Uruk-hai (brutish orcs) lay waste to the once mighty kingdom, raping and pillaging as they please.

Tolkien points to a reality that some in today's world would like us all to forget. Namely, that many men are more than happy to embrace the convenient comfort of their slavery and are more than happy to sell away their principles for immediate personal advantage.

The first step in breaking this bondage of passive toleration of evil, and thus making Rohan great again, is spiritual warfare. It is worthwhile contemplating the immobilising power of vice and the empowering liberation that comes with the embracing of virtue.

Fragment of “The Sleeping Beauty” by John Collier (1921)

Gríma would rather rule over a pile of ashes than see his Rohan free and prosperous. His motivations are clear, power and lust. He wants to be admired amongst men and pursue a perverse one-sided corrupting obsession with Éowyn, niece of Théoden. Éowyn, a name of Anglo-Saxon etymology meaning "horse lover", is a paragon of noble self-sacrificial love. She rebukes his scheming advances retorting; “Your words are poison”.

To achieve this, after the death of the king’s son Théodred, Gríma arranges the exile of Éomer, brother of Éowyn, the last remaining rallying point for those seeking to proactively defend their homeland.

Éomer, leads the warriors of Rohan, the Rohirrim, into exile. Despite having their own crown turn their back on them, these men choose, with great magnanimity, to stand and fight, leading a series of successful hit and run cavalry ambushes on the advancing orcish invaders.

It is thus that when Gandalf and the remnant of the fellowship of the ring arrive in Edoras, they find Gríma in total control, with no open opposition to challenge his de facto rule.

Tolkien makes it clear for us the reader that spiritual warfare proceeds material warfare. Only when the wise wizard Gandalf comes to the halls of Edoras, the capital of Rohan, can the dark influence over Théoden be broken and Rohan awoken from her slumber.

Lady of Rohan at the Battle of Pleandor Fields by Evan K Art (2017)

Wormtongue is not oblivious to this threat to his newfound influence. He has Gandalf and his company disarmed before entering the kings court. However Gandalf, wielding a staff like the crosier of a bishop proceeds to rebuke Gríma Wormtongue and perform what can only be described as an exorcism over the possessed king.

The etymology of the name Wormtongue here is critical to understanding the message Tolkien’s wishes to convey to us the reader. Worm in old Germanic English translates to dragon or serpent. It is thus with profound significance that Gandalf admonishes Wormtongue, saying; “be silent, keep your forked tongue behind your teeth”. It is the Serpent, master manipulator and agent of darkness, that is the hereditary enemy of Mankind.

Consequently, in the logic of exorcism, Gandalf the Grey has no jurisdiction to drive out the influence of Saruman, himself a white wizard, and it is only with the transformation (or transfiguration) of Gandalf into Gandalf the White that he can banish the corruption plaguing Théoden, king of Rohan. This acknowledging of a hierarchy of Spiritual powers is a deliberate and conscious decision of Tolkien as outlined in a 1954 letter to jesuit priest Fr. Robert Murray.

Gandalf’s words are clear; “too long have you sat in the shadows. I release you from the spell” and after his liberation Gandalf proclaims; “breath the free air again my friend” and then “your fingers would remember their old strength better if they grasped your sword”.

Only once the King has returned to his senses does he realise the perilous predicament of his kingdom. He mourns the death of his son Théodred in a manner not dissimilar to Herodotus speaking of the Greco-Persian war who stated; “No man is so foolish as to desire war more than peace: for in peace sons bury their fathers, but in war fathers bury their sons.”

Then turning his attention to Wormtongue, the king, recently restored to grace, chastises his former advisor; “Your witchcraft would have me crawling on all fours like a beast.” The king here points out the bestial nature of sin, and the power of vice to deform man to the level of a mere animal.

Now the king set himself to righting recent wrongs and soon the heavy burden of kingship becomes manifest. He chooses to abandon his capital and make for the mountain fortress of Helm’s Deep where his people can seek shelter. It is there that the fate of his kingdom will be decided.

The Siege of Helm’s Deep by John Howe (2005)

Not long after arriving at the fortress, the armies of Isengard arrive at night to attempt to storm the defences and it is the king who personally leads his armies in the repelling of the orcish siege.

After being driven back into the keep of his mountain fortress, Théoden begins to falter. Up until this point he successfully maintained a stoic facade to keep the morale of his men alive.

In Peter Jackson’s 2002 film adaptation Théoden asks himself; “So much death, what can men do against such reckless hate”, wondering why “alas that these evil days should be mine”. It is at this pivotal moment that Aragorn, the exiled rightful king of neighbouring Gondor, responds; “Ride out with me. Ride out and meet them”.

Upon riding out in an epic death charge, the night siege shifts to a splendid sunrise, the light of Rohan does battle to the darkness of brutish orcism. It is at this moment that, Éomer, as the embodiment of the true spirit of Rohan, even in exile ever faithful to his king, arrives to smite down the orcish hordes at the gates of Helms Deep. The cosmological significance of the east sun rising, heralding in a new dawn, is impossible to ignore.

The bright light of heroic virtue, never hesitant to wage spiritual and material battle, blinds the pitiful forces the evil, the unity of the Kingdom is restored and the victory is secured.

Niall Buckley,

January 2022.