Homage to Shakespeare?
 

The scene from TTT (not in the book) with Eowyn and Wormtongue speaking near Theodred's death bed could have been conceived as a homage (or reference) to Richard III.

Remember the scene, at the beginning of the play where Richard is trying to get Anne to marry him, at the funeral of her husband? He is cunningly trying to seduce her, she starts off by being justifiably angry, then, gradually, as he persists, she gives in. Eowyn too does look for a moment like she's about to to give in in that scene, don't you think?

Heh, now whenever I read Richard III I shall think of Gloucester as Grima.

The Two Towers scene may well have been a subtle nod to Richard III, since no such scene between Eowyn and Wormtongue exists in the Lord of the Rings books. I don't notice too many similarities other than the general situation in both scenes, but when Anne says "Never hung poison on a fouler toad./Out of my sight! Thou dost infect mine eyes," it reminds me of Eowyn's, "Your words are poison."

In all bluntness, both book and movie versions of LotR were Shakespeare reminiscent. The 'This Day We Fight" speech by Aragorn is, of course, comparable to Henry V's St. Crispen's Day Speech. There are almost countless character parallels if you look closely. One could say (not necessarily my opinion) that movie Theoden was oddly like King Lear, snivelling Grima Wormtongue like Richard III, Aragorn/Elessar like Henry V, jovial ol' Tom Bombadil like Falstaff, and so forth, despite the absence of Bombadil in the movies. There are both references and the use of Shakespeare's numerous character rubrics...

For some interesting parallels between the books and the works of Shakespeare, try this thread:

Glamis? Cawdor? A bookworm's musings

The first time I watched TTT, I was wondering what the scene between Grima and Eowyn was reminding me of.

So it's either Richard III or a horrible flashback from my past.

The former, hopefully.

And of course there is the whole Entish Macbeth parallel that the above link refers to.

I am reading the Iliad (the story of Troy by Homer) right now and I see some similarities also. One of them is the way the story is writen. ( I am reading the translated version, not the poem version) I can't remember what names exactly but there are names in the Iliad that are very similar to those in LOTR. Shakespeare must have been inspired by it too for there is a Laretes in both Hamlet and in the Illiad.

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