Gríma, called (the) Wormtongue, is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He serves as a secondary antagonist there; his role is expanded in Unfinished Tales. He is introduced in The Two Towers as the chief advisor to King Théoden of Rohan and henchman of Saruman.
Gríma, as portrayed in Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings
Wormtongue (left, played by Brad Dourif) with King Theoden in Peter Jackson's The Two Towers as "a snivelling sidekick urging his master on to acts of increasing depravity"
A palantír is one of several indestructible crystal balls from J. R. R. Tolkien's epic-fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. The word comes from Quenya palan 'far', and tir 'watch over'. The palantírs were used for communication and to see events in other parts of Arda, or in the past.
Joseph Pearce compared Sauron's use of Palantírs to spread despair to wartime use of radio for propaganda. Screenshot from Frank Capra's wartime Why We Fight
In Peter Jackson's The Two Towers, Saruman uses the Orthanc Palantír, the camera giving an overview as shown, and then zooming in, like a Palantír itself, providing the viewer with an omniscient picture of the whole of Middle-earth.