Théoden

Théoden is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel, The Lord of the Rings. The King and Lord of the Mark of Rohan, he appears as a major supporting character in The Two Towers and The Return of the King. When first introduced, Théoden is weak with age and sorrow and the machinations of his top advisor, Gríma Wormtongue, and he does nothing as his kingdom is crumbling. Once roused by Gandalf, however, he becomes an instrumental ally in the war against Saruman and Sauron.

Théoden
Tolkien character
In-universe information
AliasesTûrac (actual Rohirric name), Ednew
Lord of the Mark, King of Rohan
RaceMen of Rohan
Book(s)The Two Towers,
The Return of the King,
Unfinished Tales

Literature

Appearances

Théoden is introduced in The Two Towers, the second volume of The Lord of the Rings, as the King of Rohan. By this point Théoden had grown weak with age, and was largely controlled by his chief advisor Gríma Wormtongue, who was secretly in the employ of the corrupt wizard Saruman. In Unfinished Tales, it is implied that the failure of the king's health was "...induced or increased by subtle poisons, administered by Gríma".[T 1] As Théoden sat powerless, Rohan was troubled by Orcs and Dunlendings, who operated under the will of Saruman, ruling from Isengard.

When Gandalf the White and Aragorn, along with Legolas and Gimli, appeared before him in The Two Towers, Théoden initially rebuffed the wizard's advice to oppose Saruman. When Gandalf revealed Wormtongue for what he was, however, Théoden returned to his senses. He restored his nephew, took up his sword Herugrim, and in spite of his age, led the Riders of Rohan into the Battle of the Hornburg.

At that sound the bent shape of [King Théoden] sprang suddenly erect. Tall and proud he seemed again; and rising in his stirrups he cried in a loud voice, more clear than any there had ever heard a mortal man achieve before: “Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden! Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter! spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered, a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!”

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King

In The Return of the King, Théoden led the Rohirrim to the aid of Gondor at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. In that battle, he routed the Harad cavalry, personally killing their chieftain. He challenged the Witch-king of Angmar, the leader of the Nazgûl, but was mortally wounded when his horse Snowmane fell upon him. He was avenged by his niece Éowyn and the hobbit Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck, who had ridden to war in secret; together, they destroyed the Witch-king. In his last moments, he bade farewell to Merry and Éomer.

Théoden's body lay in Minas Tirith until it was buried in Rohan after the defeat of Sauron. He was the last of the Second Line of the kings, judging from direct descent from Eorl the Young.

Names and titles
"þeoden," an Old English word for "prince," "leader," "king"

In the etymology of Middle-earth, the name Théoden is supposedly a translation of Rohirric Tûrac, an old word for King. In reality, the name is transliterated directly from the Old English þēoden, "king, prince", in turn from þeod, "a people, a nation".[1][2][3] As with other descriptive names in his legendarium, Tolkien uses this name to create the impression that the text is "'historical', 'real' or 'archaic'". Tolkien had chosen to represent the Westron or Common Speech as modern English; the ancestral language of the Rohirrim could therefore be fitted neatly into his system of invented languages by adopting Old English.[4]

Concept and creation
Elizabeth Solopova's comparison of Théoden and Theodoric[5]
SituationThéodenTheodoric
Final battleBattle of the Pelennor FieldsBattle of the Catalaunian Fields
Combatants "West"
versus "East"		Rohan, Gondor
vs Mordor, Easterlings		Romans, Visigoths
vs Huns
Cause of deathThrown by horse,
which falls on him		Thrown by horse,
trampled by own men,
charging enemy
LamentCarried from battlefield by his knights, singing and weeping

According to the scholar Elizabeth Solopova, the character of Théoden was inspired by the concept of courage in Norse mythology, particularly in the Beowulf epos: the protagonist of a story shows perseverance while knowing that he is going to be defeated and killed. This is reflected in Théoden's decision to ride against Sauron's far superior army in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.[6] There are also repeated references by Tolkien to a historic account of the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields by the 6th century historian Jordanes. Both battles take place between civilizations of the "East" (Huns) and "West" (Romans and their allies, Visigoths), and like Jordanes, Tolkien describes his battle as one of legendary fame that lasted for several generations. Another apparent similarity is the death of King Theodoric I of the Visigoths on the Catalaunian Fields and that of Théoden on the Pelennor. Jordanes reports that Theodoric was thrown off by his horse and trampled to death by his own men who charged forward. Théoden also rallies his men shortly before he falls and is crushed by his horse. And like Theodoric, Théoden is carried from the battlefield with his knights weeping and singing for him while the battle still goes on.[5]

The Tolkien scholar Jane Chance contrasts Théoden with another "Germanic king", Denethor, the last Ruling Steward of Gondor. In Chance's view, Théoden represents good, Denethor evil; she notes that their names are almost anagrams, and that where Theoden welcomes the hobbit Merry Brandybuck into his service with loving friendship, Denethor accepts Merry's friend, Pippin Took with a harsh contract of fealty.[7]

Numerous scholars have admired Tolkien's simile of Théoden riding into his final battle "like a god of old, even as Oromë the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young". Among them, Steve Walker calls it "almost epic in its amplitude", inviting the reader's imagination by alluding "to unseen complexity", a whole mythology of Middle-earth under the visible text.[8] Fleming Rutledge calls it imitative of the language of myth and saga, and an echo of the messianic prophecy in Malachi 4:1-3.[9] Jason Fisher compares the passage, which links the blowing of all the horns of the host of Rohan, Oromë, dawn, and the Rohirrim, with Beowulf's pairing of aer daege ("before day", i.e. "dawn") and Hygelaces horn ond byman ("Hygelac's horn and trumpet") in lines 2941-2944.[10][lower-alpha 1] Peter Kreeft writes that "it is hard not to feel your heart leap with joy at Théoden's transformation into a warrior", however difficult people find the old Roman view that it is sweet to die for your country, dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.[11]

In film

Ralph Bakshi
Théoden in Ralph Bakshi's animated version of The Lord of the Rings

In Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated version of The Lord of the Rings, the voice of Théoden was provided by Philip Stone. Théoden also appears in Rankin/Bass's attempt to complete the story left unfinished by Bakshi in their television adaptation of The Return of the King, though he speaks little, and is voiced by Don Messick. His death is narrated by Gandalf (voiced by John Huston).

In the 1981 BBC Radio 4 version of The Lord of the Rings, Théoden's death is described in song rather than dramatized conventionally. In this adaptation he is voiced by Jack May.

Peter Jackson
Bernard Hill as King Théoden in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Théoden is an important character in Peter Jackson's film adaptation of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. As in the books, the character (played by Bernard Hill) first makes an appearance in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002).[12] However, unlike in the books, the Lord of the Mark is actually possessed and prematurely aged by Saruman (Christopher Lee). Gandalf (Ian McKellen) releases him from the spell, instantly restoring him to his true age, after which Théoden banishes Gríma Wormtongue (Brad Dourif) from Edoras.

Though the character performs most of the same actions in the films as in the books, Jackson presents Théoden as a leader who is often unsure of himself and fears that he will never live up to the reputation of his forefathers. In the extended edition of The Return of the King (2003), Saruman derisively calls him "a lesser son of greater sires" after he refuses to side with the fallen wizard after the battle at Helm's Deep. In Tolkien's original novel, the phrase was uttered sarcastically by Théoden himself in dismissal of Saruman's flattering attempts to regain his loyalty. In the movie, it is a pointed insult that hits its mark.

Théoden's decisions leading up to the battle at Helm's Deep are also portrayed in a different light than in the novels. His decision to take his people to the relative safety of the mountain stronghold rather than confront Saruman's army in open battle is presented as a grave strategic misjudgement that is only rectified when Gandalf arrives with Éomer's army and the Huorns to save the day. In the books, Théoden rides forth intending to meet the army of Saruman on the plains of Rohan but reluctantly reroutes to Helm's Deep at the urging of Gandalf after receiving reports that the approaching foes were a vastly superior force. When the fortress seems on the verge of falling after a night of overwhelming attacks, Théoden is near despair in the film until Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) convinces him to mount his horse and lead a charge out of the Hornburg at sunrise. In the book, this recklessly valiant counter-attack is made at Théoden's initiative.

In the movie version The Return of the King, Théoden initially refuses to aid Gondor because they did not send help to Helm's Deep. (The film does not mention the Oath of Eorl, an ancient defensive pact between Rohan and Gondor.) Only after Gondor's emergency beacons are lit and Aragorn urges Théoden to act does he change his mind. In the book, Théoden does not hesitate to help Gondor, only pausing to gather as large a force as possible from across Rohan.

In both the book and film, Théoden leads the Rohirrim to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields and arrives as Minas Tirith is already under siege. Their surprise flank attack on Sauron's army buys time for Aragorn to arrive and turn the tide of battle, but Théoden's heroic and crucial charge ends in his fatal encounter with the Witch King. However, in the film, he speaks to Éowyn (Miranda Otto) in his last moments, whereas in the book he says his farewell to Merry and does not know that Éowyn had secretly joined the riders as well. Some of Théoden's film lines before and during his final battle (the rallying cry "To death!" and portions of his dying conversation with Éowyn) were spoken by Éomer in the book in response to Théoden's death.

Notes
  1. Fisher writes that Oromë found the Elves in the far East of Middle-earth, so is linked with sunrise in the East, heralding a new beginning, and the Rohirrim's name for Oromë was Bema ("horn, trumpet"), the Old Mercian form of the Old English Byma used in the Beowulf passage.[10]

References

Primary
This list identifies each item's location in Tolkien's writings.
  1. Tolkien, J.R.R. (1982). Unfinished Tales. London, England: George Allen & Unwin. p. 355. ISBN 978-0048231796.

Secondary
  1. Wynne, Patrick H. (2006). "Theoden". In Drout, Michael D. C. (ed.). J.R.R. Tolkien encyclopedia: scholarship and critical assessment (first ed.). Routledge. p. 643. ISBN 978-0-415-96942-0. 'the chief of a :þeod (a nation, people)'... His name as King, Theoden "Ednew," comes from the Old English ed-niowe, 'To recover, renew.'
  2. Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote. "þeóden". An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (Online). Prague: Charles University. - (also spelled ðeoden), cognate to the Old Norse word þjóðann
  3. Solopova 2009, p. 21. "Théoden ('Lord' in Old English)".
  4. Solopova 2009, p. 22.
  5. Solopova 2009, pp. 70-73.
  6. Solopova 2009, pp. 28-29.
  7. Nitzsche 1980, pp. 119-122.
  8. Walker, Steve C. (2009). The Power of Tolkien's Prose: Middle-Earth's Magical Style. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 10. ISBN 978-0230101661.
  9. Rutledge, Fleming (2004). The Battle for Middle-earth: Tolkien's Divine Design in The Lord of the Rings. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 287. ISBN 978-0-8028-2497-4.
  10. Fisher, Jason (2010). Bradford Lee Eden (ed.). Horns of Dawn: The Tradition of Alliterative Verse in Rohan. Middle-earth Minstrel: Essays on Music in Tolkien. McFarland. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-7864-5660-4.
  11. Kreeft, Peter (2009). The Philosophy of Tolkien: The Worldview Behind "The Lord of the Rings". Ignatius Press. p. 132. ISBN 978-1-68149-531-6.
  12. "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Retrieved 26 January 2020.

Sources
  • Nitzsche, Jane Chance (1980) [1979]. Tolkien's Art. Papermac. ISBN 0-333-29034-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Solopova, Elizabeth (2009), Languages, Myths and History: An Introduction to the Linguistic and Literary Background of J.R.R. Tolkien's Fiction, New York City: North Landing Books, ISBN 0-9816607-1-1
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