The best JRR Tolkien adaptations tend to resemble long walks in miserable weather. (To be clear, this is a good thing.) But this weird yet watchable animated foray into Middle-earth history – fast-tracked so that New Line Cinema could hang onto the film rights to Tolkien’s work – feels more like ice skating on a well-tended rink.

The War of the Rohirrim is based on a short section of Tolkien's appendices, in which Héra is but an unnamed daughter. However, in fleshing her out, the film is able to add new depth to the story, all while making sure Héra is the kind of person Éowyn would actually be telling a story about.