 Tolkien further suggests that Gríma may have given Théoden "subtle poisons" that caused him to age at an accelerated pace.To the psychologists Deborah and Mark Parker, Wormtongue serves as an archetypal sycophant, flatterer, liar, and manipulator.Tolkien scholars have noted that Wormtongue's interaction with Gandalf in Meduseld has an Old English counterpart in the epic poem "Beowulf"