The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim writers Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou, alongside Héra star Gaia Wise, explain how the movie’s new characters drew inspiration from Sam and Éowyn. The upcoming War of the Rohirrim movie tells the story of Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox) and his defense of Rohan against the Dunlendings, later becoming the namesake to the kingdom’s Helm’s Deep stronghold. The movie also introduces original characters to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, including Wise’s Héra, Olwyn (Lorraine Ashbourne), and Lief (Bilal Hasna) as some of the more prominent newcomers.

Speaking with Screen Rant, Gittins and Papageorgiou explained the inspiration behind The War of the Rohirrim‘s original characters, discussing how some elements were pulled from established heroes. This includes much of Héra’s inspiration coming from Éowyn, while Lief was inspired by Samwise Gamgee. The writers touch on other original characters like Olwyn and Old Pennicruik as having key connections to other characters. Wise also discussed her character’s connection to Éowyn, alongside her vulnerability in contrast to the main antagonist, Wulf (Luke Pasqualino). Check out what the writers and star had to say below:

Screen Rant: Incredible. Now, can you talk about creating new characters and expanding on existing ones to serve as relatable guides for new audiences and loyal fans of Middle Earth?

Phoebe Gittins: Our central character is unnamed but is in the text. It was very exciting for us coming to the project, and to bring that character to life, especially given that it would be a young woman. I was super excited about that. So there is Héra…

Arty Papageorgiou: So you start looking at other characters in the world, and so for her, you could lean into Éowyn?

Phoebe Gittins: Oh yeah, absolutely. Drawing inspiration from Éowyn, we knew that straight off the bat, we would be looking at who paved the way for Éowyn to exist. That was a brilliant roadmap to follow. And then there was the question of Héra’ss Mother, so we decided amongst all the collaborators that she would’ve passed on, and then we wanted to bring in Olwyn. That was a character we created to strengthen this shield maiden storyline that we had going on. So that was the reasoning behind Olwyn’s decision. There are a few others that are new. There’s Old Pennicruik. She was sort of a fun one to blend anime and talking together. We thought we loved the design that Kamiyama did for her. She was really fun to write dialogue for this old gossip rattling around the Hornberg.

Arty Papageorgiou: And for me, in Lief, there’s a lot of Sam, if you’re looking at making characters or extending characters, you look around at what other characters are in Tolkien’s work and using them as blueprints, I think.

Phoebe Gittins: Yeah, leaning on the history.

Screen Rant: Now, Gaia, when you first read the script for this film, what elements made you feel emotionally connected to the story and your character, Héra?

Gaia Wise: It’s such a rich story. The script is so beautiful. It was very much that a woman’s voice or a young girl’s voice that is silenced at the beginning of the film is finally heard, and that’s when things start to turn around. It, to me, very much mirrored Éowyn mirrored the I Am No Man Moment in the Return of the King.

My favorite moment, my favorite moment. She’s such a three-dimensional character. There’s so much going on there. What I loved most about her was that she was allowed to be vulnerable. Her vulnerability is a source of her strength because it allows her to remain compassionate and true to her morals and values and not be overtaken by anger and fear like Wulf.

What War Of The Rohirrim’s Lord Of The Rings Inspiration Means For The Movie

Some Characters Will Feel Very Familiar

The War of the Rohirrim reviews have praised the mixture of established characters and new faces, fleshing out Tolkien’s history of the war with a newfound interpretation. Based on Gittins and Papageorgiou’s statements, this will pull inspiration from main characters in his most well-known story, but with enough differences to help them stand out. This story will also be recited by Éowyn, with Miranda Otto reprising her role from Peter Jackson’s trilogy, further tying the story together within the larger context of Middle-earth.

Wise’s praise is also a good sign for how Héra is written, pulling inspiration from another strong female character, but not outright copying her personality. Based on The War of the Rohirrim‘s trailers, her active role throughout the story will provide a unique perspective on the war, with her primary personality a jumping-off point for deeper exploration throughout the film. The same can likely be said for Lief as well, whose inspiration from Sam could serve as a basis, while he becomes uniquely his own by movie’s end.

Our Take On War Of The Rohirrim’s Lord Of The Rings Inspiration

Easing Into A New Era With Familiar Archetypes

By pulling inspiration from older characters in the franchise, Gittins and Papageorgiou help ease their newfound characters into Middle-earth with more familiarity than if they’d appeared with totally new personalities. Since some characters, like Héra, did technically appear in Tolkien’s writing, there’s an even stronger layer of relevant storytelling when incorporating new faces into the fold. With War of the Rohirrim coming out later this week, it won’t be long until the inspiration pulled from Sam and Éowyn is on full display.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is directed by Kenji Kamiyama, whose other recent projects include the Star Wars: Visions episode “The Ninth Jedi,” and Blade Runner: Black Lotus .