Story

Set 183 years before Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, and based on its characters, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim tells the story of King Helm of Rohan (voice of Brian Cox) and his legacy.

Helm’s daughter Héra (Gaia Wise) is a fiercely independent young woman who loves nothing more than riding her horse. Freca (Shaun Dooley), a Dunlending Lord, arrives at King Helm’s hall with his son Wulf (Luca Pasquelino), to ask for Héra’s hand in marriage to Wulf. Although Héra and Wulf were childhood friends, she’s not interested in marriage and a fight breaks out between Helm and Freca. Freca is killed and Wulf is banished from the kingdom.

In his isolation, Wulf plots revenge for his father’s death. He amasses a huge army and is determined to destroy Helm, his family and all of Rohan. Héra, together with her loyal maid Olwyn (Lorraine Ashbourne) have to gather the Rohirrim and protect them from the coming invaders. They seek refuge in what becomes known as ‘Helm’s Deep’. There they are surrounded by Wulf and his army who lay siege to the citadel. Héra must call on all of her strength to defend her people and the Kingdom of Rohan.

Themes

War; fantasy; anime fantasy

Violence

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim has a lot of violence. For example:

  • A lot of fighting between soldiers, with many soldiers killed by swords, axes, bows and arrows, and knives.
  • The death of several main characters.
  • Freca punches King Helm hard. Helm responds and kills Freca with one blow.
  • Wulf attacks the King with his sword. Helm lifts him up by the throat and throws him to the ground.
  • Héra and Wulf practise sword fighting as children. Héra injures Wulf with her sword.
  • Héra’s brother Hama, is chased by a huge mammoth. He falls off his horse and the mammoth chases after him on foot. The mammoth then chases after Héra who leads it to a lake. There, a huge octopus-type creature comes out of the water and wraps its tentacles around the mammoth. The octopus eats the mammoth.
  • Soldiers capture Héra in the forest. They throw a hood over her head and carry her off.
  • Wulf grabs Héra and pushes her against a wall. He threatens her with a sword and lightly cuts her face with it, leaving a scar.
  • Olwyn bursts in and attacks Wulf with her sword.
  • Wulf’s army attacks Rohan, setting fire to the houses.
  • Hama escapes on his horse but the horse runs out of energy. Hama is captured and, in a particularly disturbing scene, Wulf holds a knife across Hama’s throat. Wulf pulls the knife but this is shown from behind and so not actually seen.
  • Héra is attacked by a huge monster. King Helm attacks the beast and they fight. The king kills the beast, smashing it several times with a stone.
  • A final battle between Héra and Wulf is shown in slow motion.

Sexual references

There are no sexual references in The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

There’s no substance use in The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.

Nudity and sexual activity

There’s no nudity and sexual activity in The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.

Product placement

There’s no product placement in The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.

Coarse language

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim has some coarse language. For example, ‘damned’.

Ideas to discuss with your children

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is an animated epic fantasy movie based on Tolkien’s original characters and is a prequel to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. There is lots of animated violence in the movie, including the death of several main characters, as well as large, scary creatures. These make the movie unsuitable for children under 13 years, and best suited to teenagers and adults.

The main messages from The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim are never give up, and be open to change and new ideas.

Values in The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim that you could reinforce with your children include, bravery, courage, self-determination, loyalty and resourcefulness.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim could also give you the chance to talk with your children about issues like these:

  • The cost of revenge and whether revenge makes things right or better.
  • The opportunities available for girls and women, now and in the past.

Supported By

Raising Children Network is supported by the Australian Government. Member organisations are the Parenting Research Centre and the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute with The Royal Children’s Hospital Centre for Community Child Health.

Member Organisations

Follow us on social media

Aboriginal flag (c) WAM Clothing
Torres Strait Islands flag
At raisingchildren.net.au we acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we live, gather and work. We recognise their continuing connection to land, water and community. We pay respect to Elders past and present.

© 2006-2025 Raising Children Network (Australia) Limited. All rights reserved.

Warning: This website and the information it contains is not intended as a substitute for professional consultation with a qualified practitioner.