Q: How Did Gandalf Unmask Wormtongue?
ANSWER: I received this question in September 2023:
How did Gandalf unmask Wormtongue?
I’ve always thought this was a weak point in the story, perhaps one of the flaws that Tolkien himself spotted after publication (as he mentions in the Foreword) but never got around to fixing. Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas turn up at Edoras and gain access to Theoden, but almost at once Gandalf and Wormtongue come into conflict. This ends with Gandalf exposing Wormtongue as a traitor (without producing any evidence or giving any details of how he knows). My best guess is that he spotted Wormtongue at Isengard when he was imprisoned there (I think there is something in UT to this effect, but I haven’t a copy to hand), but there is nothing in LOTR itself to back up Gandalf’s revelation – Theoden goes from trusting Wormtongue and distrusting Gandalf to the opposite in very short order. Any thoughts on this?
Well, on that last point I wouldn’t say “there is nothing in LOTR itself to back up Gandalf’s revelation.” There are some hints. Here’s an example from the end of Gandalf’s conversation with Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli in Fangorn Forest:
He turned. ‘Come, Aragorn son of Arathorn!’ he said. ‘Do not regret your choice in the valley of the Emyn Muil, nor call it a vain pursuit. You chose amid doubts the path that seemed right: the choice was just, and it has been rewarded. For so we have met in time, who otherwise might have met too late. But the quest of your companions is over. Your next journey is marked by your given word. You must go to Edoras and seek out Théoden in his hall. For you are needed. The light of Andúril must now be uncovered in the battle for which it has so long waited. There is war in Rohan, and worse evil: it goes ill with Théoden.’
And then a little later on when they arrive at Edoras and talk with one of the guards at the gate:
‘We are no phantoms,’ said Aragorn, ‘nor do your eyes cheat you. For indeed these are your own horses that we ride, as you knew well ere you asked, I guess. But seldom does thief ride home to the stable. Here are Hasufel and Arod, that Éomer, the Third Marshal of the Mark, lent to us, only two days ago. We bring them back now, even as we promised him. Has not Éomer then returned and given warning of our coming?’
A troubled look came into the guard’s eyes. ‘Of Éomer I have naught to say,’ he answered. ‘If what you tell me is truth, then doubtless Théoden will have heard of it. Maybe your coming was not wholly unlooked-for. It is but two nights ago that Wormtongue came to us and said that by the will of Théoden no stranger should pass these gates.’
‘Wormtongue?’ said Gandalf, looking sharply at the guard. ‘Say no more! My errand is not to Wormtongue, but to the Lord of the Mark himself. I am in haste. Will you not go or send to say that we are come?’ His eyes glinted under his deep brows as he bent his gaze upon the man.
In the first conversation Gandalf hints that something more than war is amiss in Edoras when he says “There is war in Rohan, and worse evil: it goes ill with Théoden.” Of course, that doesn’t suggest [directly] that he is referring to Wormtongue, but he appears to be aware that something is wrong with Théoden.
The haggling over Gandalf’s staff may be another bit of foreshadowing, although I’m not quite convinced of that. It seems a trivial thing that Gandalf is warned they’ll have to set aside all their weapons – including a staff – when they go before Théoden. But Gandalf reacts calmly when Hama literally asks for the staff, insisting that it’s only a support for him in his old age. He doesn’t name it as a symbol of his authority and seems to imply it’s not a weapon (which is a point of contention between me and many other Tolkien fans who believe wizards need their staves, even though Gandalf was able to fight the Balrog of Moria without a staff for many days).
When Wormtongue makes his first comment to Gandalf, Gandalf replies:
‘You are held wise, my friend Wormtongue, and are doubtless a great support to your master,’ answered Gandalf in a soft voice. ‘Yet in two ways may a man come with evil tidings. He may be a worker of evil; or he may be such as leaves well alone, and comes only to bring aid in time of need.’
I think here he is hinting that he already knows what Wormtongue is up to. But this isn’t the first reference to “lies” from Gandalf. At the Council of Elrond, when he told his story of being captured by Saruman and subsequently freed by Gwaihir, Gandalf said:
He set me down in the land of Rohan ere dawn; and now I have lengthened my tale over long. The rest must be more brief. In Rohan I found evil already at work: the lies of Saruman; and the king of the land would not listen to my warnings. He bade me take a horse and be gone; and I chose one much to my liking. but little to his. I took the best horse in his land, and I have never seen the like of him.’
That’s pretty vague foreshadowing, but I think it matches the style of other foreshadowing Tolkien used early in the story. He gives the reader the barest hint of something to be more fully revealed later (as when Frodo asks him why he didn’t return the Shire, and Gandalf only says “I was delayed.”
Conclusion
I’m not sure there is much else to point to. I glanced through the texts in Unfinished Tales and I think they only elaborate on the details provided in The Lord of the Rings. Gandalf seems to have been aware of Wormtongue’s influence well before returning to Rohan. But Tolkien didn’t provide much detail about his dealings with the Rohirrim until Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli arrived at Edoras.
I think that was a conscious decision on the author’s part. He didn’t want to reveal too much too soon, as that would have weakened the drama.
On the other hand, as I recall (though it’s been many years since then), when I first read that chapter (as a teenager) I didn’t catch all the subtle details of Gandalf’s foreshadowing. Honestly, I wasn’t very good at noticing details and connecting dots like that. I’m aware of these things now because I’ve read the book hundreds of times.
Still, these hints are so subtle that maybe the exchange is indeed a weak bit of writing for a story that is long and detailed. It wasn’t critical to the main plot, although Wormtongue’s journey doesn’t end in Edoras. He remains true to character until the very end.
See also
Do Wizards Need Their Staffs in Middle-earth?
Ferthu Theoden Hal! (Classic Essay)
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While you have quoted from, ‘The White Rider,’ the chapter that immediately precedes ‘The King of the Golden Hall,’ I think that chapter provides more than “vague foreshadowing.” It seems to serve just two purposes; to explain Gandalf’s return and transformation, and to set expectations for his actions to come. While conditions at Edoras are barely mentioned, Gandalf makes it clear he is very aware of what’s happening around Middle-earth thanks to Gwaihir, Galadriel, and his own enhanced powers. Fresh from that chapter, I’ve never had reason to wonder about Gandalf’s knowledge and actions in the subsequent chapter.
It’s pretty clear Gandalf was not the only one suspicious of Wormtongue. Eomer seemed to have guessed Wormtongue’s true aims. It’s clear other people distrusted Grima as well. If Gandalf tried to give Theoden any warning about Saruman the last time he passed through when he was rebuffed, that would give him the impetus to poke around.
I haven’t seen it in years, but I remember a subtle touch in the Bakshi film from the ’70s. When Gandalf is meeting with Saruman, just before Saruman declares himself as “Saruman of Many Colors” and unleashes a blast of power to capture him, a small figure comes up from behind, I believe bearing Saruman’s staff. That small figure looked a lot like Wormtongue! So there’s some visual foreshadowing in that film adaptation.
You’re right! Wormtongue (or possibly a hobbit) gave Saruman (Aruman) his staff in that scene.
Latet in the film, Gandalf tells Wormtongue that he saw him at Isenguard. Now I’m trying to remember if this was made up y Bakshi for the film or was it in the book too.
The fact that that even the guard calls him “Wormtongue” says to me that no one trusts Grima.
The way I read it, it’s not too surprising the Gandalf would quickly come to suspect Wormtongue. Wormtongue’s style seems to have been to sow fear and mistrust. Maybe he wanted people to suspect him so he could use their suspicion against them in the eyes of Theoden. Gandalf probably had his number ever since Gwaihir took him to Edoras after his escape from Saruman.
When Gandalf returned to Edoras with Aragorn and co., it looks like he relied on magic and possibly his own Maiaric authority. He waited for Wormtongue to say something offensive (a slur against Galadriel), and then he cowed him by creating darkness and lightning (and of course, chewed him out as only Gandalf could). Then he took Theoden outside and showed him a panorama of Rohan where storms gave way to sunshine and shimmering rain. I doubt Gandalf conjured the weather himself, but maybe he had a “wizard moment” where he intuitively understood that this was a good time to take Theoden outside. But the weather alone wouldn’t have been enough to heal Theoden. So maybe there was something about that moment, standing outside with Gandalf the White, where Theoden felt the presence of the Lords of the West.
Thank you very much, Michael, and the others who have responded.
I suppose my question was prompted by the fact that the healing of Theoden and the exposure of Grima Wormtongue’s treachery are such key moments in the plot. Without the exposure – a terrible shock to Theoden, if not to others – Theoden would continue to deteriorate, and the Rohirrim would be at Saruman’s mercy, and neutralised as Gondor’s allies.
However, the speed with which Théoden moves from trusting Wormtongue and doubting Gandalf to the reverse is breathtaking. I too assumed that Gandalf was using his emergency powers, but that seems clumsy and out of keeping with his usual dealings with humans. Given that at other times Gandalf is quite ready to explain what has happened, it jars that he couldn’t take time out to say something like “I had my suspicions about Grima last time I was here. I saw him at Isengard, and heard Saruman promising to bewitch Eowyn so that she would fall for his charms – a promise unlikely to be kept, knowing Saruman”. A minor creak, though, in an overall well oiled narrative.
“I too assumed that Gandalf was using his emergency powers, but that seems clumsy and out of keeping with his usual dealings with humans.” True, but we’re talking about Gandalf the White with newly revised marching orders, no longer The Grey Pilgrim who had to cloak his power. And at those other junctures, Gandalf’s explanations (either to The Council of Elrond or to one or more members of the Fellowship) serve to close gaps in the narrative that occurred out of the others’ (our) view. When witnessed directly (Theoden’s revival, the battle with the Nazgûl outside the gates of Minas Tirith), there’s no need for further explanation.
Did Theoden’s revival move at breathtaking speed? Yep, but the entire narrative also shifts into high gear; armies are already moving. If you review The Tale of Years, you see a dramatic uptick starting in January 3019: 8 entries in January, 10 in February, and daily entries (each daily entry encompassing multiple events) from March 1 until the Downfall of Barad-dûr on March 25.