Changes: Gríma

Revision as of 19:08, 1 October 2020

"Late is the hour in which this conjurer chooses to appear. Lathspell I name him. Ill news is an ill guest."

—Gríma Wormtongue to Gandalf, in The Two Towers

Gríma Wormtongue was the chief advisor to King Théoden of Rohan before being exposed as an agent and spy of Saruman. He ends up being the killer of Saruman, in the last climactic chapter of The Return of the King.

Biography

Little is known of Gríma before he became counselor of Théoden in Edoras. His childhood is a mystery. What is known is that Gríma, son of Gálmód, and a native of Rohan, joined the service of Saruman in secret and worked as a spy to weaken Théoden and his kingdom, using his voice to keep the spell intact while Saruman is inside the King.

Grima and Eowyn - Two Towers — Gríma with Éowyn

It is likely that Saruman had promised him Éowyn, the king's niece, as a reward for his services; in the novel, Wormtongue is accused of "watching her under his lids and haunting her steps" and in the film, he makes clumsy romantic overtures to her as she weeps for her dead cousin Théodred. He also exiles Éowyn's brother Éomer and his army from Rohan, only saying that he sees "too much" after Éomer says, "Too long have you watched my sister, too long have you haunted her steps". It is also possible that he has Dunlending ancestry, since he is darker-haired and physically smaller than the other Rohirrim.

Grima and King Theoden - Two Towers — Gríma and King Théoden as Saruman in his spell as Gandalf enters Meduseld

After Gandalf usurps Gríma's control of Théoden and releases the King, "many things which men had missed" were found locked in his trunk, including Herugrim, the blade of Théoden. With his betrayal revealed, Théoden presents Gríma with a choice: either ride into battle for the King or be exiled. Choosing the latter, he went to dwell with Saruman at Orthanc. In the book, Gríma arrived at Orthanc after the battle of the Ents, but in the movie, he was there before the battle began. There, Gríma gave Saruman important information about Théoden's plans to leave Edoras with his people suspecting an attack would come, and that they would flee to Helm's Deep, the main fortress of Rohan, where the Battle of the Hornburg would be fought. Later, Saruman had cause to regret Gríma's dwelling in Orthanc when, following the confrontation between Saruman and Gandalf, he foolishly threw a "heavy rock"— which was actually the Palantír of Orthanc at either Gandalf or Saruman (it is stated that "he couldn't decide which he hated most"), an act for which Saruman seems to have punished him severely (Pippin picked up the Palantír). Saruman was also said to have scalped Gríma and beaten him over time.^[1]

Gríma then accompanied Saruman to the Shire, where the two sought revenge in petty tyranny over the hobbits (though Saruman had already been exerting control from afar by sending evil Men to the Shire). During this time, Gríma became increasingly degraded until he was a crawling wretch, a beggar, almost resembling Gollum, and Saruman shortened his nickname to "Worm". Gríma killed Lotho Sackville-Baggins and may have eaten him, which he claims to have done in the book under Saruman's orders.

Spurred by the words of Frodo that he did not have to follow Saruman, and having been pushed over the edge when Saruman scorned him, Gríma used a hidden knife to slit Saruman's throat, killing him (only in the book). He then tried to make his escape, but was quickly killed by several arrows fired from the hobbits present, ending his short and unhappy life.^[2]

Unfinished Tales

Gríma actually played a major role in the story of The Lord of the Rings prior to his first appearance in The Two Towers. In Unfinished Tales, Tolkien writes that on the 20th of September in 3018 Gríma was captured by the Nazgûl in the fields of Rohan, while on his way to Isengard to inform Saruman of Gandalf's arrival at Edoras. He was interrogated and divulged what he knew of Saruman's plans to the Nazgûl, specifically his interest in the Shire, and its location. Previously, the location of the Shire had been unknown to the Nazgûl, but they knew it to be the home of 'Baggins', whom they thought still had the Ring.

Gríma was set free, but only because the Lord of the Nazgûl saw that he would not dare tell anyone of their meeting and might do harm to Saruman in the future. The Nazgûl set out immediately for the Shire. Had the Ringwraiths not captured Gríma, they would instead have pursued Gandalf into Rohan, and possibly not have found the Shire until much later, giving the Hobbits and then the Fellowship a considerable head start.^[3]

Portrayal in adaptations

Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings film

In Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated film of The Lord of the Rings, Gríma Wormtongue was voiced by Michael Deacon (and his name is pronounced as "Gree-ma"). Here he is much smaller than is implied in the book. Paul Brooke played Gríma in BBC Radio's 1981 serialisation.

Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy

In Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films, Gríma was played by Brad Dourif. Here, he is depicted as dark-haired, emaciated and eyebrowless, wearing black robes with dark fur, as well as being extremely pale and gaunt (the only detail coming from the book). According to Dourif, Jackson encouraged him to shave off his eyebrows so that the audience would immediately have a subliminal reaction of unease to the character.

The "Scouring of the Shire" episode does not appear in the film version, so the deaths of Saruman and Gríma have been moved to an earlier scene, "The Voice of Saruman". This scene was cut from the theatrical releases of the films, but can be found on the Extended Edition DVD of The Return of the King.

SarumanPinnacleofOrthanc — Saruman falling to his death from Orthanc

In this scene, the assembled leaders of the West ride to Ent-occupied Isengard to confront Saruman. Théoden offers to forgive Gríma for his treachery, pointing out that he was not always a villain, as he was manipulated by Saruman (as Théoden himself was). Gríma goes to accept the offer, attempting to escape Saruman's cruelty, but Saruman interferes, claiming that Gríma belongs to him forever. When Gríma objects, Saruman slaps him violently to the ground. Enraged at being constantly ill-treated by his enslaver, Gríma rises and stabs Saruman twice in the back with a dagger. Saruman's body then falls from the tower and is impaled on a spiked wheel, a remnant of his war machines, and the Palantír slips out of his cloak. Gríma himself is shot with an arrow fired by Legolas, who had hoped to prevent him from killing Saruman (who was in the process of revealing vital information). He dies of his wound.

Other than the location, the manner of the characters' deaths is very much the same. As in the book, Gríma kills Saruman, not by stabbing him in the back, but slitting his throat (probably because this would have been too graphic for a PG-13 movie), and then shot with an arrow by Legolas (in the book, a hobbit). This scene was to have included a line where Saruman blamed Gríma for killing Théodred; replacing Lotho in the context of that scene, but the line was cut out. However, the line is included in a scene in the The Lord of the Rings: Gameboy Advance version of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers after the player defeats Saruman in the Tower of Orthanc.

Voice Dubbing actors

Foreign Language	Voice dubbing artist
Spanish (Latin America)	Jesse Conde
Spanish (Spain)	Pep Anton Muñoz
Portuguese (Brazil) (Television/DVD)	Leonardo Camilo
German	Udo Schenk
French (France)	Jean-François Vlerick
Czech (Czech Republic)	Tomáš Juřička
Italian (Italy)	Gianluca Tusco
Turkish	Ahmet Eres
Hungarian	Ákos Kőszegi

Videogames

Gríma appears in The Lord of the Rings Online, and in the Battle for Middle-earth games as a hero for the Isengard faction, also The Lord of the Rings: Conquest.

Translations

Foreign Language	Translated name
Arabic	همست لسان قاتمة
Armenian	Օձալեզու Գրիմա
Bengali	গ্রিমা ওয়ার্মটাং
Chinese (Hong Kong)	葛力瑪·巧言
Czech	Gríma Červivec
Danish	Grima Ormetunge
Dutch	Gríma Slangtong
Finnish	Grima Kärmekieli
French	Grima Langue de Serpent
German	Gríma Schlangenzunge
Greek	Γκρίμα ο Φιδόγλωσσος
Hebrew	גרימא לשון כחש
Hungarian	Kígyónyelvű Gríma
Italian	Gríma Vermilinguo
Kazakh	Грима Червеуст (Cyrillic) Grïma Çervewst (Latin)
Polish	Grima Żmijowy Język
Portuguese	Grima Língua de Verme (Portugal) Gríma Língua de Cobra (Brazil)
Romanian	Gríma Limbă de Vierme
Russian	Грима Червеуст
Serbian	Гриме Црвјезика (Cyrillic) Grime Crvjezika (Latin)
Slovak	Gríma Úlis
Spanish (Spain and Latin America)	Gríma Lengua de Serpiente
Swedish	Gríma Ormstunga
Ukrainian Cyrillic	Гріма Солодкоязикий

References

↑ The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers
↑ The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Six, Chapter VIII: "The Scouring of the Shire"
↑ Unfinished Tales, Introduction, Part Three, IV: "The Hunt for the Ring"

[1] The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers

[2] The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Six, Chapter VIII: "The Scouring of the Shire"

[3] Unfinished Tales, Introduction, Part Three, IV: "The Hunt for the Ring"

[1]

[2]

[3]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Infobox Person Servants of Evil
-|image=Wormtongue.jpeg
+|image=Grima.jpg
 |caption=[[Brad Dourif]] portrays Gríma in [[Peter Jackson]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings film trilogy|The Lord of the Rings]]'' films.
 |name=Gríma Wormtongue
@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 |culture=[[Rohirrim]] (Men of Rohan)
 |gender=Male
-|birth=[[Third Age]]
+|birth=[[TA 2974]]
 |hair=Black
 |eyes=Pale blue (film)
@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 |weapon=Dagger, [[Dark sorcery|witchcraft]]
 |actor=[[Brad Dourif]]
-|voice = [[wikipedia:Michael Deacon|Michael Deacon]]}}
+|voice = [[wikipedia:Michael Deacon|Michael Deacon]]
+}}
 {{Quote|Late is the hour in which this conjurer chooses to appear. Lathspell I name him. Ill news is an ill guest.|Gríma Wormtongue to Gandalf, in ''The Two Towers''}}
-'''Gríma Wormtongue''' was the chief advisor to [[King of Rohan|King]] [[Théoden]] of [[Rohan]] before being exposed as an agent and spy of [[Saruman]].
+'''Gríma Wormtongue''' was the chief advisor to [[King of Rohan|King]] [[Théoden]] of [[Rohan]] before being exposed as an agent and spy of [[Saruman]]. He ends up being the killer of Saruman, in the [[The Scouring of the Shire|last climactic chapter]] of ''The Return of the King''.
-==Biography==
+== Biography ==
 Little is known of Gríma before he became counselor of [[Théoden]] in [[Edoras]]. His childhood is a mystery. What is known is that Gríma, son of [[Gálmód]], and a native of [[Rohan]], joined the service of [[Saruman]] in secret and worked as a spy to weaken Théoden and his kingdom, using his voice to keep the spell intact while Saruman is inside the King.
@@ Line 28: / Line 28: @@
 It is likely that Saruman had promised him [[Éowyn]], the king's niece, as a reward for his services; in the novel, Wormtongue is accused of "watching her under his lids and haunting her steps" and in the film, he makes clumsy romantic overtures to her as she weeps for her dead cousin [[Théodred]]. He also exiles Éowyn's brother [[Éomer]] and his army from Rohan, only saying that he sees "too much" after Éomer says, "Too long have you watched my sister, too long have you haunted her steps". It is also possible that he has [[Dunlendings|Dunlending]] ancestry, since he is darker-haired and physically smaller than the other [[Rohirrim]].
-[[File:Grima_and_King_Theoden_-_Two_Towers.png|thumb|260px|Gríma and King Théoden as Gandalf enters Meduseld]]
+[[File:Grima_and_King_Theoden_-_Two_Towers.png|thumb|260px|Gríma and King Théoden as Saruman in his spell as Gandalf enters Meduseld]]
 After [[Gandalf]] usurps Gríma's control of Théoden and releases the King, "many things which men had missed" were found locked in his trunk, including [[Herugrim]], the blade of Théoden. With his betrayal revealed, Théoden presents Gríma with a choice: either ride into battle for the King or be exiled. Choosing the latter, he went to dwell with Saruman at [[Orthanc]]. In the book, Gríma arrived at Orthanc after the battle of the Ents, but in the movie, he was there before the battle began. There, Gríma gave Saruman important information about Théoden's plans to leave Edoras with his people suspecting an attack would come, and that they would flee to [[Helm's Deep]], the main fortress of Rohan, where the [[Battle of the Hornburg]] would be fought. Later, Saruman had cause to regret Gríma's dwelling in [[Orthanc]] when, following the confrontation between Saruman and Gandalf, he foolishly threw a "heavy rock"— which was actually the ''[[Palantír]]'' of Orthanc at either Gandalf or Saruman (it is stated that "he couldn't decide which he hated most"), an act for which Saruman seems to have punished him severely ([[Pippin]] picked up the Palantír). Saruman was also said to have scalped Gríma and beaten him over time.<ref>''[[The Lord of the Rings]], [[The Two Towers (novel)|The Two Towers]]''</ref>
@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
 Spurred by the words of [[Frodo Baggins|Frodo]] that he did not have to follow Saruman, and having been pushed over the edge when Saruman scorned him, Gríma used a hidden knife to slit Saruman's throat, killing him (only in the book). He then tried to make his escape, but was quickly killed by several [[arrow]]s fired from the hobbits present, ending his short and unhappy life.<ref>''[[The Lord of the Rings]], [[The Return of the King (novel)|The Return of the King]],'' Book Six, Chapter VIII: "[[The Scouring of the Shire]]"</ref>
-==Unfinished Tales==
+== Unfinished Tales ==
-[[File:Grima.jpg|thumb|200px|Gríma Wormtongue, Agent of Saruman.]]
 Gríma actually played a major role in the story of The Lord of the Rings prior to his first appearance in The Two Towers. In [[Unfinished Tales]], Tolkien writes that on the 20th of September in [[TA 3018|3018]] Gríma was captured by the [[Nazgûl]] in the fields of Rohan, while on his way to Isengard to inform Saruman of Gandalf's arrival at Edoras. He was interrogated and divulged what he knew of Saruman's plans to the Nazgûl, specifically his interest in the Shire, and its location. Previously, the location of the Shire had been unknown to the Nazgûl, but they knew it to be the home of 'Baggins', whom they thought still had the Ring.
-Gríma was set free, but only because the Lord of the Nazgûl saw that he would not dare tell anyone of their meeting and might do harm to Saruman in the future. The Nazgûl set out immediately for the Shire. Had the [[Ringwraith]]s not captured Gríma, they would instead have pursued Gandalf into Rohan, and possibly not find the Shire until much later, giving the Hobbits and then the Fellowship a considerable head start.<ref>''[[Unfinished Tales]],'' Introduction, Part Three, IV: "The Hunt for the Ring"</ref>
+Gríma was set free, but only because the Lord of the Nazgûl saw that he would not dare tell anyone of their meeting and might do harm to Saruman in the future. The Nazgûl set out immediately for the Shire. Had the [[Ringwraith]]s not captured Gríma, they would instead have pursued Gandalf into Rohan, and possibly not have found the Shire until much later, giving the Hobbits and then the Fellowship a considerable head start.<ref>''[[Unfinished Tales]],'' Introduction, Part Three, IV: "The Hunt for the Ring"</ref>
-==Portrayal in adaptations==
+== Portrayal in adaptations ==
-===Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings film===
+=== Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings film ===
 In [[Ralph Bakshi]]'s [[The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)|1978 animated film of]] The Lord of the Rings, Gríma Wormtongue was voiced by Michael Deacon (and his name is pronounced as "Gree-ma"). Here he is much smaller than is implied in the book. [[Paul Brooke]] played Gríma in BBC Radio's 1981 serialisation.
-===Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy===
+=== Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy ===
-[[File:Gríma_Wormtongue.jpg|thumb|right|Gríma Wormtongue from [[The Lord of the Rings Online]].]]
+[[File:Gríma_Wormtongue.jpg|thumb|right|Gríma Wormtongue from ''[[The Lord of the Rings Online]]''.]]
 In [[Peter Jackson]]'s [[The Lord of the Rings trilogy|Lord of the Rings films]], Gríma was played by [[Brad Dourif]].  Here, he is depicted as dark-haired, emaciated and eyebrowless, wearing black robes with dark fur, as well as being extremely pale and gaunt (the only detail coming from the book). According to Dourif, Jackson encouraged him to shave off his eyebrows so that the audience would immediately have a subliminal reaction of unease to the character.
 The "[[Scouring of the Shire]]" episode does not appear in the film version, so the deaths of Saruman and Gríma have been moved to an earlier scene, "[[The Voice of Saruman (scene)|The Voice of Saruman]]". This scene was cut from the theatrical releases of the films, but can be found on the Extended Edition DVD of ''[[The Return of the King (film)|The Return of the King]]''.
+[[File:SarumanPinnacleofOrthanc.jpg|thumb|left|220px|Saruman falling to his death from Orthanc]]
 [[File:GrimaWormtongue.png|thumb|left|350px|Dying Gríma]]
@@ Line 61: / Line 61: @@
 In this scene, the assembled leaders of the West ride to [[Ent]]-occupied Isengard to confront Saruman. Théoden offers to forgive Gríma for his treachery, pointing out that he was not always a villain, as he was manipulated by Saruman (as Théoden himself was). Gríma goes to accept the offer, attempting to escape Saruman's cruelty, but Saruman interferes, claiming that Gríma belongs to him forever. When Gríma objects, Saruman slaps him violently to the ground. Enraged at being constantly ill-treated by his enslaver, Gríma rises and stabs Saruman twice in the back with a dagger. Saruman's body then falls from the tower and is impaled on a spiked wheel, a remnant of his war machines, and the Palantír slips out of his cloak. Gríma himself is shot with an arrow fired by [[Legolas]], who had hoped to prevent him from killing Saruman (who was in the process of revealing vital information). He dies of his wound.
-Other than the location, the manner of the characters' deaths is very much the same. As in the book, Gríma kills Saruman, not by stabbing him in the back, but slitting his throat (probably because this would have been too graphic for a PG-13 movie), and then shot with an arrow by Legolas (in the book, a hobbit). This scene was to have included a line where Saruman blamed Gríma for killing [[Théodred]]; replacing Lotho in the context of that scene, but the line was cut out. However, the line is included in a scene in the [[The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (video game)|The Lord of the Rings: Gameboy Advance version of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King]] after the player defeats Saruman in the Tower of Orthanc.
+Other than the location, the manner of the characters' deaths is very much the same. As in the book, Gríma kills Saruman, not by stabbing him in the back, but slitting his throat (probably because this would have been too graphic for a PG-13 movie), and then shot with an arrow by Legolas (in the book, a hobbit). This scene was to have included a line where Saruman blamed Gríma for killing [[Théodred]]; replacing Lotho in the context of that scene, but the line was cut out. However, the line is included in a scene in the [[The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (video game)|The Lord of the Rings: Gameboy Advance version of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers]] after the player defeats Saruman in the Tower of Orthanc.
-===Voice Dubbing actors===
+=== Voice Dubbing actors ===
 {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
@@ Line 97: / Line 97: @@
 |}
-===Translations around the World===
+=== Videogames ===
+Gríma appears in ''[[The Lord of the Rings Online]]'', ''and in the ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II|Battle for Middle-earth]] ''games as a hero for the [[Isengard]] faction, also ''[[The Lord of the Rings: Conquest]]''.''
-{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
-!Foreign Language
+==Translations==
-!Translated name
+<div style="overflow:auto; height:300px; width:500px; float:left">
+<!--<div style="overflow:auto; height:200px;">-->
+{| class="itemtable" style="color:#6f3d0b; border:2px solid #FFF; border-top: 0; text-align:left; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft:8px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright:8px; -webkit-border-bottom-left-radius:8px; -webkit-border-bottom-right-radius:8px;" bgcolor="#edeeff"
+| width="300" |'''Foreign Language'''
+| width="300" |'''Translated name'''
 |-
+|Arabic
-|Portuguese (Brazil)
+|همست لسان قاتمة
-|Gríma Língua de Cobra
 |-
+|Armenian
-|Portuguese (Portugal)
+|Օձալեզու Գրիմա
-|Grima Língua de Verme
 |-
+|Bengali
-|Spanish (Spain and Latin America)
+|গ্রিমা ওয়ার্মটাং
-|Gríma Lengua de Serpiente
 |-
+|Chinese (Hong Kong)
-|Italian
+|葛力瑪·巧言
-|Gríma Vermilinguo
+|-
+|Czech
+|Gríma Červivec
+|-
+|Danish
+|Grima Ormetunge
+|-
+|Dutch
+|Gríma Slangtong
+|-
+|Finnish
+|Grima Kärmekieli
 |-
 |French
@@ Line 120: / Line 137: @@
 |German
 |Gríma Schlangenzunge
+|-
+|Greek
+|Γκρίμα ο Φιδόγλωσσος
+|-
+|Hebrew
+|גרימא לשון כחש
 |-
 |Hungarian
 |Kígyónyelvű Gríma
 |-
+|Italian
-|Chinese (Hong Kong)
+|Gríma Vermilinguo
-|葛力瑪·巧言
+|-
+|Kazakh
+|Грима Червеуст (Cyrillic) Grïma Çervewst (Latin)
+|-
+|Polish
+|Grima Żmijowy Język
+|-
+|Portuguese
+|Grima Língua de Verme (Portugal)
+Gríma Língua de Cobra (Brazil)
+|-
+|Romanian
+|Gríma Limbă de Vierme
+|-
+|Russian
+|Грима Червеуст
+|-
+|Serbian
+|Гриме Црвјезика (Cyrillic) Grime Crvjezika (Latin)
+|-
+|Slovak
+|Gríma Úlis
+|-
+|Spanish (Spain and Latin America)
+|Gríma Lengua de Serpiente
+|-
+|Swedish
+|Gríma Ormstunga
+|-
+|Ukrainian Cyrillic
+|Гріма Солодкоязикий
 |}
+</div>
-===Videogames===
+{{Clear}}
+== References ==
-Gríma appears in The Lord of the Rings Online.
-==References==
 <references/>
-==External link==
-*{{TGlink|Gríma Wormtongue}}
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wormtongue, Gríma}}
@@ Line 144: / Line 192: @@
 [[es:Gríma]]
 [[fr:Gríma]]
-[[it:Grima Vermilinguo]]
+[[it:Gríma Vermilinguo]]
-[[pl:Grima Gadzi Język]]
+[[pl:Gríma]]
 [[ru:Грима Червеуст]]
 [[Category:Rohirrim]]
@@ Line 152: / Line 200: @@
 [[Category:The Lord of the Rings Characters]]
 [[Category:Major characters (The Lord of the Rings)]]
+[[Category:Characters in Unfinished Tales]]
 [[Category:The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (film) Characters]]
 [[Category:The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (film) Characters]]
+[[Category:Servants of Sauron]]
+[[Category:Evil]]