Middle-Earth Tours

Tour 1: The People of Middle-Earth

Wormtongue
'You speak justly, lord,' said the pale man sitting upon the steps of the dais. 'It is not yet five days since the bitter tidings came that Théodred your son was slain upon the West Marches: your right-hand, second Marshall of the Mark. In Éomer there is little trust. Few men would be left to guard your walls, if he had been allowed to rule. And even now we learn from Gondor that the Dark Lord is stirring in the East. Such is the hour in which this wanderer chooses to return. Why indeed should we welcome you, Mister Stormcrow? Lathspell I name you, Ill-news; and ill news is an ill guest they say.' He laughed grimly, as he lifted his heavy lids for a moment and gazed on the strangers with dark eyes....
    [T]hen 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 Gálmod. A witless worm you have become. Therefore be silent, and keep your forked tongue behind your teeth. I have not passed through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a serving-man till the lightning falls.' --TTT, "The King of the Golden Hall"
In the Golden Hall of the Rohirrim,
by Luca Michelucci

In the movies, Wormtongue is played by Brad Dourif(and Théoden, incidentally, is played by Bernard Hill).
At that moment Háma again from the hall. Behind him cringing between two other men, came Gríma the Wormtongue. His face was very white. His eyes blinked in the sunlight. Háma knelt and presented to Théoden a long sword in a scabbard clasped with gold and set with green gems.
    'Here, lord, is Herugrim, your ancient blade,' he said. 'It was found in his chest. Loth was he to render up the keys. Many other things are there which men have missed.'--TTT, "The King of the Golden Hall"
image from theonering.net

image from a Decipher trading card
image from the TTT visual companion, courtesy of New Line

image from the
official movie site		 Treebeard looked at him in his long slow way for several minutes, till the wretched man was squirming on the floor. Then at last he said: "Ha, hm, I was expecting you, Master Wormtongue." The man started at that name. "Gandalf got here first. So I know as much about you as I need, and I know what to do with you. Put all the rats in one trap, said Gandalf; and I will. I am the master of Isengard now, but Saruman is locked in his tower; and you can go there and give him all the messages that you can think of."--TTT, "Flotsam and Jetsam"
Saruman turned. 'No evil?' he cackled. 'Oh no! Even when he sneaks out at night it is only to look at the stars. But did I hear someone ask where poor Lotho is hiding? You know, don't you, Worm? Will you tell them?'
    Wormtongue cowered down and whimpered, 'No, no!'
    'Then I will,' said Saruman. '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 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. --RotK, "The Scouring of the Shire"
detail of Wormtongue, by
Inger Edelfeldt


For more on Théoden, visit the Rohan section
Full-size versions of these pictures are on display at Rolozo Tolkien, the official LotR movie site, and theonering.net.