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Originally Posted by Keeper of Dol Guldur
Also, as a scrawny, weaker man growing up among tough, militaristic, athletic lads like Theodred and Eomer, Wormtongue probably was a bit of an outcast in youth, that would explain why he felt like he should turn on his own people ... it's likely Theodred and Eomer weren't especially kind to him, even in youth ... and he was getting a little payback.
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My thoughts exactly. I used to hate Wormtongue worse than sin, until I realised, at length, that Grima could so easily have been me. Physically weak and no warrior, very likely seeking solace in that most un-Rohirric form of entertainment, reading. Surrounded by adonises, golden haired and brawny, heroes, leaders of men, who must have sneered at this dark-haired, softly spoken fellow, and suspected him as he rose in the King's counsel, at first, one imagines, through genuine ability.
I expect his love for Eowyn was at first genuine, and had he remained true, could even have ended happily. Eowyn ends up with a man who, although he may be a great fighter, far prefers reading and scholarship; an enlightened prince and not a mere hero of battle. Heresy though this may be, you can't deny that, but for Grima's dreadful faults of character and cowardice, he and Faramir might have quite a few similarities.
Embittered and suspected by the King's tanists, Grima would have sought the company of the White Wizard. Saruman would have been sympathetic...would know everything at once...and Grima would be lost in his wise counsel.