He was once a man of Rohan, but over time he would come under the service
of Saruman. During his years, he would manipulate King Theoden,
meet wizards and Nazgul, and assist in the overthrow of the Shire.
Today, on Nerd of the Rings, we cover the life of Grima Wormtongue.
Grima was born in Rohan at an unknown time in the late Third Age. The only thing we
know of his early life is that his father’s name was Gálmód. Grima would come into the
role of advisor of King Theoden. At some point, however, he would come into the service of the
wizard Saruman. The fallen maia promises Grima Eowyn in return for acting as his spy in Rohan.
Early in the year 3014 TA, when Theoden is 66 years old, his health begins to
fail. Since Rohirrim typically lived to their 80s, this could have been seen
as due to natural causes. However, it is believed Theoden’s decline was
either induced or increased thanks to subtle poisons administered by Grima. These poisons
are administered under the guise of being remedies for easing the effects of old age.
While we will later see a bit of Grima’s cunning during the War of the Ring,
we learn of some of his early strategy in Unfinished Tales. We find that in addition
to poisoning the king, Grima would also seek to poison his mind - specifically
seeking to discredit Grima’s chief opponents. If possible, he would get rid of them entirely. One
such relationship he attempted to poison is that of Theodred and Eomer. However,
these two had been raised as brothers by Theoden, and they both had great love for the king.
Unable to set the cousins against one another,
Grima attempts to play the two against each other in Theoden’s mind. He portrays Theodred
as a soft-hearted heir and Eomer as power-hungry and prone to acting without consulting the King.
By the time of the War of the Ring, Grima’s and by extension Saruman’s,
hold on Theoden was quite strong. Theoden would seldom leave his own house and nearly all of the
king’s orders - whether to Hama, Elfhelm, or the Marshals of the Mark - came from Grima.
Gandalf would later speak of Saruman’s treachery and Grima’s influence on the King:
Speaking of Gandalf, he would come to Edoras long before his reunion with the
Three Hunters. He escapes his imprisonment upon the pinnacle of Orthanc with the help
of Gwaihir the wind lord, who bears him to Rohan. Theoden bids Gandalf to take a
horse and be gone and Gandalf in turn takes Shadowfax, who bears him away to the Shire.
Wormtongue in turn would make for Isengard, seeking to inform Saruman of Gandalf’s
arrival in Rohan. We later learn that Gandalf’s warning to Theoden of Saruman’s treachery is the
first tear in the mask placed upon Theoden. Unfortunately for both Grima and Saruman,
Wormtongue would meet other visitors on the road to Isengard - the Nazgul.
In that hour the Wormtongue came near to death by terror; but being inured to treachery he
would have told all that he knew under less threat.
Thus Saruman’s treachery toward both Theoden and Sauron is known to each.
The Witch-king would indeed spare Wormtongue’s life - but not out of
pity. He knew that so great a terror was on Grima that he would never speak a word of
this encounter to Saruman or any other. And the Witch-king rode on to seek the Shire,
not bothering to revisit Isengard, for Sauron’s vengeance toward Saruman could wait.
Contrary to Grima’s lies about the Prince, Theodred was anything but soft-hearted. And
it is he who goes without orders to combat the threat of Saruman as the
wizard seeks to invade Rohan. He takes a large group of riders to the Westfold to
resist the invasion early the following year. Unfortunately, Theodred’s bravery and loyalty
to Rohan worked to Saruman’s benefit. The wizard sends out forces from Isengard on February 25th,
meeting the Rohirrim in the First Battle of the Fords of Isen. This attack was not to win
the crossing or begin his invasion. Its sole purpose was to kill Theodred at all costs.
In the end, several hundred Rohirrim perished, hundreds more Orcs and Dunlendings are slain,
and as Saruman wished, Theodred is killed. As Gandalf later explains, after Theodred’s death,
Wormtongue played dangerously, seeking to delay Theoden’s efforts and prevent
Rohan’s full strength being gathered. He aims to send as many men as possible on a wildgoose
chase north and convinces Theoden to forbid Eomer pursuing the orcs raiding across Rohan.
If Éomer had not defied Wormtongue’s voice speaking with your mouth,
those Orcs would have reached Isengard by now,
bearing a great prize. Not indeed that prize which Saruman desires above all else,
Though his actions would save Merry and Pippin and thereby shape the fortunes of the very war,
Éomer is imprisoned in Edoras for disobeying the king’s orders. All would change, however,
with the arrival of Gandalf the White and the three hunters on March 2,
3019 - one week after Theodred’s death. After turning over their weapons,
they are permitted entry into the Golden Hall of Meduseld, where they meet a decrepit King Theoden…
Slowly the old man rose to his feet,
leaning heavily upon a short black staff with a handle of white bone....
Slowly he sat down again in his chair.
'You speak justly, lord,' said the pale man sitting upon the steps of the dais. 'It is
[Suddenly Gandalf] changed. Casting his tattered cloak aside, he stood up and leaned no longer
on his staff; and he spoke in a clear cold voice. 'The wise speak only of what they know,
Gríma son of Gálmód. A witless worm have you become. Therefore be silent, and keep your forked
tongue behind your teeth. I have not passed through fire and death to bandy crooked words
The sunlight was blotted out from the eastern windows; the whole hall became suddenly dark as
night.... Only Gandalf could be seen, standing white and tall before the blackened hearth.
In the gloom they heard the hiss of Wormtongue's voice:
There was a flash as if lightning had cloven the roof.... Wormtongue sprawled on his face.
He lifted his staff and pointed to a high window. There the darkness seemed to clear,
and through the opening could be seen, high and far, a patch of shining sky.
As Theoden is restored anew, Eomer is freed from his imprisonment. Upon his command,
guards go to search Grima’s quarters for Theoden’s sword Herugrim. They find the
sword along with “many things which men had missed.” When Grima pleads with Theoden to
send him not from his side, Theoden gives him that exact option. He may
stay by the king’s side - and ride with him into battle against the forces of Isengard,
or he may choose exile. Grima opts for exile, and he makes his way from Edoras to Orthanc.
Grima arrives the morning of March 5th, to find Isengard sacked by the Ents. While
Saruman’s army had been sent out earlier and would meet the Rohirrim at Helm’s Deep,
his much smaller force left to defend Isengard is completely destroyed. Grima attempts to convince
Treebeard he is a messenger from Theoden, but Treebeard had already met with Gandalf
and knew of his treachery. Grima is allowed to join his master in the tower of Orthanc.
Later that same day, Gandalf, Theoden, and their victorious party arrive at
Orthanc to parley with Saruman. Following the confrontation between Gandalf and Saruman,
during which the latter’s staff is broken, Grima throws a heavy rock out of an upper
window of Orthanc. Aragorn tells Gandalf that perhaps Grima’s aim was poor because
he couldn’t decide who he hated more - Gandalf or Saruman. Saruman would punish
Grima severely for this act - for it was not a mere heavy rock he had thrown, but the palantir.
Saruman and Grima would be held captive in the tower of Orthanc for the next five months. During
this time, Grima would become weak and thin as he is mistreated by Saruman. Feeling pity for living
creatures held in captivity, Treebeard allows them to leave on August 15,
3019. The pair head northwest on foot, and as they are on their journey, they’re overtaken on
the road by Gandalf, Celeborn, Galadriel, Elrond, and the Hobbits on August 28.
Saruman and Grima have been reduced at this point to traveling beggars,
and during their conversation with our heroes, he kicks Grima and threatens to
not give him any scraps for dinner. When Grima murmurs how much he hates Saruman
and wishes to be free of him, Gandalf urges him to do just that. However,
Grima instead hides behind Saruman, and they part ways with the company, heading toward the Shire.
Unbeknownst to the hobbits, Saruman had long been seizing control of the Shire from afar. He used
his ruffians, and orchestrated the rise to power of Lotho Sackville-Baggins as his puppet. Saruman
himself would come to control the Shire, becoming known as “Sharkey”. Over the coming two months,
Grima would become even more decrepit and miserable. He’s almost beast-like, reduced to
a crawling wretch. Saruman even shortens his name to “Worm” in derision of his disgraced servant.
Sometime during this two month span, Wormtongue murders Lotho Sackville-Baggins - for Saruman
no longer needed his puppet ruler of the Shire. Saruman’s reign over both the Shire and Wormtongue
would come to an end on November 3, 3019 as Merry, Pippin, Frodo, and Sam finally return
to the Shire. After Saruman is revealed and told to leave the Shire forever, Frodo tells Wormtongue
he may stay, have food and rest, then be on his way free of Saruman. But Saruman replies…
‘Worm killed your Chief, poor little fellow, your nice little Boss. Didn’t you,
Worm? Stabbed him in his sleep, I believe. Buried him, I hope; though Worm has been very
hungry lately. No, Worm is not really nice. You had better leave him to me.’
A look of wild hatred came into Wormtongue’s red eyes. ‘You told me to;
you made me do it,’ he hissed. Saruman laughed.
‘You do what Sharkey says, always, don’t you, Worm? Well, now he says: follow!’ He kicked
Wormtongue in the face as he grovelled, and turned and made off. But at that something snapped:
suddenly Wormtongue rose up, drawing a hidden knife, and then with a snarl like a dog he sprang
on Saruman’s back, jerked his head back, cut his throat, and with a yell ran off down the lane.
Before Frodo could recover or speak a word, three hobbit-bows twanged and Wormtongue fell dead.
Thus the unhappy life of Grima Wormtongue ends in the Shire alongside his ill-chosen
and abusive master. Grima would be remembered for his folly, for so long being unable to
throw off the control of Saruman, and for being the final casualty of the War of the Ring.
as always I want to say a huge thank you to my patreon supporters who make this channel
possible Tom to bombadil19 listen me the Cinda kelle brimbor the mighty MIM team weasel Rabbi
Rob Thomas Charles Leisure Toby mobs music CCDC red team nerd sichman any timer pelkey sports
cards mokey the brown Christopher carbaugh Joe Tepper Sky carcass slide belts Dane ragnarson
salimerman zetrock bertelberg Grand strategy nerd Graham derekot the dark-haired one Wyland
Michael Wu Grant McGregor and Debbie if you enjoyed the artwork in this video check out
the artists in the description and purchase prints of their great work for yourself
thanks so much for watching and subscribing and we'll see you next time on nerd of the Rings