One last post about Rings of Power. Last defense post anyway. Any other posts about it will just be normal posts from someone enjoying a tv show. Well, this post really isn’t about Rings of Power. It goes beyond that. I never ever intended on being one of those people who paste their opinions all over the internet just because I have them. My first post about RoP was just because I don't know anyone else who is even interested in a Tolkien show, so I just wanted to say something here on my humble Tolkien tumblr to people who would know, maybe have a little dialogue with people who love Tolkien. But geez, the messages are stupid. And oh my word, I should never have scrolled through the Rings of Power tag that one time. People are losing their minds over something that is happening with every other show they watch and love. Look, Amazon isn't MAKING Rings of Power. They are FUNDING Rings of Power.

This is how the entertainment world works, since so many people don't seem to have a clue: A person or people have an idea and would love to make a show or movie. They are usually not the people with the money, and since they need this money to create their project, they approach studios with their pitch as to why this project is a good investment. If all goes well, the studios agree that yes, this is a project people will be interested in and will, therefore, make us a lot of money. If the creators are fortunate and multiple studios are interested in the project, they get to pick the offer they prefer. The studio then gives the creators the money, and the creators take it and make their idea a reality.

That is why every studio invests in every project ever. Period. Because they can make money from it. Amazon is just doing what every other tv or movie production company does. They put in the money but aren't working on the project. The actual people behind the show are doing it because they love Tolkien. Yes, people can quibble about this all they want, but if you want to make a movie or tv show of a book you're not actually legally allowed to use, then you'll find that you have to change some things that you probably don't even really want to change. I am impressed with what they've been able to do NOT being able to use any of Tolkien's books besides LotR and The Hobbit. It's pretty creative. I’ve worked on screenplays for projects I would love to see made purely to the book, and I was shocked at how much harder it was than I thought it would be, even without the limitations of copyrights or the difficulties of stories that span thousands of years.

My first thought when I heard that Amazon was funding this project was, 'Hey, they'll have the budget to hopefully do justice to it.' And who on earth could refuse such a budget when they have the dream to bring Tolkien’s big, rich, lush world to life on the screen? Yeah, they're doing a great job. No, it's not always perfect, but again, there are usually compromises somewhere. Every project has its weak spots, but there are a lot of strengths so far. Off the top of my head, that scene where Míriel has the dream about the destruction of Númenor was awesome. Just incredibly beautiful. Númenor itself is just beautiful. Among other beauties. And I'm looking forward to what is to come. 

Yes, Jeff Bezos is evil. Yes, he is a crazy narcissist completely out of touch with reality. Yes, all of the criticisms about Amazon are real and valid, and I agree. But Amazon isn't doing anything that just about every other company does, even the ones who charge $3000 for a freaking pair of shoes. And Amazon only recently started actually selling their own brand. All these years they’ve simply been a platform where other companies could sell things. All these years the other companies you have shopped from have used these evil production/selling methods while those of us protesting were thrown in the corner as loonies. No, none of these injustices should happen in any society EVER, but it does, and unless all of you 'activists’ are making the huge massive effort and financial investment it would take for an American to NOT rely on companies who exploit workers and destroy the environment and all that really crappy evil stuff (hint: it’s all of them who sell you anything you want unless you’re making your own {but then where do you get your supplies?} or only buy locally-made products {but then where do they get their supplies?} or from small companies who still have ethics. but can you buy locally-made cars or tvs or computers or smartphones or name-brand clothes? no. and do all the companies you buy your stuff from make efforts to have a much more environmentally-friendly fleet of transport vehicles? no.), then you can criticize Amazon all you want, but you're just being a hypocrite sitting there in your name-brand clothes and mainstream personal grooming products with your fancy new cars and electronics watching all the other shows and movies that come out from all the other studios while you eat genetically-modified foods thinking up your next ‘activist’ tumblr post just because Amazon is funding a Tolkien project. Yes, you’re right about Amazon to a point, but follow your arguments all the way to their ends and you’ll realize we’re all part of the bigger problem no matter how much noise you make about one part of it. 

I do subscribe to Amazon. It took me a while to do it, but I finally had to because I had to move to a small town in Texas due to health issues that hit my life like a nuclear bomb, and being an organic vegan who only uses 100% natural (truly 100%, not the marketing crap so many pull), cruelty-free, sustainable products and has to do it on a tiny budget, it is now almost impossible for me to support companies with an ethos I believe in unless I buy online. And because my budget is so small while I rebuild my life, the free shipping without having to spend $50 or more per order to qualify for it helps me massively and saves me enough money to be able to feed a good-quality food to a TNR colony of 40 homeless cats that was starving and reproducing until I stepped in.

I also would prefer to buy, for example, from a company that pays women in disadvantaged countries fair-trade prices to beautifully craft sustainable wooden knitting needles so that they don't have to succumb to prostitution to feed their families rather than go to the only store I have here in town that sells them, Walmart, and buy crap plastic ones that benefit no one. So until the day I can afford options that aren’t evils, I'll weigh all the info and pick the lesser of the evils for my situation and order my knitting needles or whatever from ethical sellers who sell on Amazon. And if I ever find a less evil option that tics all of the boxes I have at the moment, I’ll jump right on it. I live by a mantra from Maya Angelou: ‘I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.’ Many times in my case I have to change it to ‘I did then what I could afford to do. Now that I can afford better, I do better.’ And I will continue to know better and do better and hopefully afford better until the day I die.

Here is an E.M. Forster quote that sums up my take on it as someone who can’t afford to live 100% according to her ideals at the moment: ‘We cast a shadow on something wherever we stand, and it is no good moving from place to place to save things because the shadow always follows. Choose a place where you won't do harm - yes, choose a place where you won't do very much harm, and stand in it for all you are worth facing the sunshine.’

So again, why all of this has to be said in a post about a tv show is insane. All of the big studios are backed by deep pockets who are evil and corrupt and don't care about you and are invested in companies that would surprise you. If this is your gripe with Rings of Power, you had better cancel your Netflix, Hulu, Disney, etc. subscriptions too! Bezos just has the disgusting arrogance to do it openly and publicly.

Guys, today I found this article from back in February where the creators of Rings of Power are discussing production decisions. It turns out they can’t do the actual stories from The Silmarillion because they don’t have the rights. (I’m way behind since I intentionally didn’t read anything at all online about RoP until after I started watching it. I didn’t want anyone else’s opinions intruding on my experience.) 

Quote: “We have the rights solely to The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King, the appendices, and The Hobbit,” Payne says. “And that is it. We do not have the rights to The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The History of Middle-earth, or any of those other books.” That takes a huge chunk of lore off the table and has left Tolkien fans wondering how this duo plans to tell a Second Age story without access to those materials. “There’s a version of everything we need for the Second Age in the books we have the rights to,” McKay says. “As long as we’re painting within those lines and not egregiously contradicting something we don’t have the rights to, there’s a lot of leeway and room to dramatize and tell some of the best stories that [Tolkien] ever came up with.”

“We took all these little clues and thought of them as stars in the sky that we then connected to write the novel that Tolkien never wrote about the Second Age,” Payne says. The duo cites songs like “The Fall of Gil-galad” (you can hear actor Bill Nighy sing it here from a 1981 BBC Radio adaptation) or “The Song of Eärendil” or Fellowship chapters like “The Council of Elrond” and “The Shadow of the Past” or the “Concerning Hobbits” section of the prologue as sources for significant lore dumps. Beyond the premiere, there aren’t, however, any significant time jumps or, thus far, episode-long journeys to the past. The rights to the First Age material from The Silmarillion are still owned by the Tolkien estate.

“We worked in conjunction with world-renowned Tolkien scholars and the Tolkien estate to make sure that the ways we connected the dots were Tolkienian and gelled with the experts’ and the estate’s understanding of the material,” Payne says.” End quote.

And then at the end of the article: “In his letter to Milton Waldman, it’s letter 131 [actual letter here],” Payne says, “[Tolkien] said he wanted to create an interconnected mythology that still would leave room for ‘other minds and hands wielding paint and music and drama.’” 

I mean, that shuts down all sorts of criticisms! But not having the rights completely explains why the storylines are changed. Because after the last episode or two even I was wondering why things were going the directions they were. I wasn’t mad about it or anything, but I was wondering, like what? But it makes perfect sense if they can’t use anything from The Silmarillion that isn’t referenced in material that they are allowed to use. It also explains why they have so many new main characters not from Tolkien. They had to fill in gaps left by characters they couldn’t use. And kudos to them for making a world that feels so accurate even when they can’t use such huge chunks of the stories from the Second Age!

Here is the article: Vanity Fair: 10 Burning Questions About Amazon’s The Rings of Power. It is very worth reading with great insights into characters and Tolkien’s work and his approach to his work. I loved the take on Galadriel and the quotes about her from Tolkien.

Note: On Vanity Fair’s site, you can only read one article one time before you have to subscribe, so if you want to read it later or use it for any reason, copy and paste the text to save it. I’m not really interested in subscribing to Vanity Fair, but they have several articles about RoP if someone was.

I stumbled across this post the other day, and even though it’s really neat, I noticed a couple errors in the math and the image is way too small to read. So I completely remade it because I’m a giant nerd (and the OP’s blog has been deleted so I have no way of getting in touch with them). I mean, normally I wouldn’t care enough to do something like this, but bloodlines are very important in Tolkienverse which makes me, in turn, very interested in the exact breakdowns.

Also because—ever since I read Silm—I’ve wanted to know exactly how ‘elven’ Elrond actually is because I knew for sure it wasn’t literally half. It turns out Elrond is 56.25% elf, 37.5% human, and 6.25% maiar. The more you know.

Wow, I’m getting a lot of aggressive messages about my opinion of Rings of Power. I knew there would be some push-back from our lovely modern internet society, but this is stupid. I never said the show was perfect, but I enjoy it, and I hate this snobby nit-picking. Why our society has come to believe that this sort of tiny-minded critical attitude shows how intelligent and sophisticated you are, I don’t know, but it’s frankly stupid. It just shows you up for being ignorant and lacking in grace. Especially since right at the beginning of the show it says ‘based on The Lord of the Rings and Appendices by J.R.R. Tolkien’ right on the screen in the intro. Based on means not 100% faithful. In any project. And the complaints I’m getting about changes to the story show that people haven’t actually paid attention to the original lore anyway, and all but two of the complaints are about things that actually are accurate. They just seem to be riding the seemingly ‘cool’ wave of hate for the show that started long before there ever even was a preview released. Some people made up their minds when it was announced that it was going to be bad, and they seem to be controlling the narrative about it, which is a shame, and people who have such a need to be ‘cool’ follow along without their own opinions as usual. But I think the show so far is strong enough to overcome such narrow bigots and stand firm in its own merits and be loved by people for time to come, and if some people want to watch it and be angry and miserable, that’s their loss. I do know some people are actually not going to like it, and hey, that’s okay too. Just give it a fair shake before you actually decide you don’t like it.

Yes, there are a few issues with Galadriel so far. They are changing her story and timeline, but that isn’t a deal breaker for me. I don't mind her taking a more active role in the wars, just like I've said before that Arwen riding Frodo to the Fords, while not at all accurate, is still one of my favourite scenes in the movies, and they had more scenes filmed with her along those lines that didn’t make it to the films. As a woman who loves Tolkien, I understand that he definitely wasn’t the misogynist he’s often accused of being. He wrote many beautifully strong women and wrote several who expressed dissatisfaction with the ‘traditional’ notion of womanhood, Éowyn being the most famous. And of course, Lúthien, based so lovingly on his wife, was anything but traditional. Another favourite of mine is this quote and conversation between Erendis and her daughter in Númenor. I like that these projects are portraying strong women, even if it isn’t in the exact same places where Tolkien did. Galadriel fighting isn’t far-fetched to how her character was written. Tolkien even had her mother-name (one of three names elves are given) mean man-maiden because she was such a tomboyish elf, always riding and hunting and doing it all better than most of the men (and also because she was taller than most women and had a deeper voice). So far she is somewhat tactless, grumpy, and hasty, but I think it’s simply a case of early-episode overcompensation. I’ve seen it over and over in shows where they come out of the gate really hard with a character’s attitude for the first few episodes to firmly establish a character in viewers’ minds, and then they begin to mellow or soften their approach. It isn’t my favourite approach, but it is commonly used in the industry. I am hoping they give her more grace soon. And it isn’t Morfydd Clark’s fault. I think she’s doing an amazing job with what they’re writing for her and how they’re directing her. The only things about her that aren’t exact for the role is that she isn’t tall or deep-voiced, but she can’t change those... Otherwise, perfect.

But you have to understand that Galadriel was a rebel. She was a rebel and a leader in the rebellion of the Ñoldor when they left Valinor because she strongly desired to rule her own kingdom. She was full of pride and ambition, and that was her driving force for many many years, which was why she was still tempted by the Ring in the Third Age and had to resist to be allowed to sail back into the West. No, she never would have sailed for Valinor (which I think was included to portray her rebellion against the Valar), and yes, she should have met Celeborn by this time, but again, this show has five seasons planned. It’s only been three episodes. Give it time. Yeesh. And I myself am not sorry that we potentially get to watch her love story happen. But she wasn’t a ruling elf from the beginning. Eventually for a time she and Celeborn ruled a small group of elves sort of like a fiefdom under Gil-Galad before moving into what becomes Lothlórien, so her being a commander under Gil-Galad isn’t ridiculously far-fetched.

When it comes to Elrond, the theme in the messages I’m getting is that he isn’t being treated right because he’s a lord and not a politician, like he’s being treated like a nobody. Again, people need to read more of Tolkien than Lord of the Rings to talk about these very aged characters. Lord of the Rings was the very end of Elrond’s life in Middle-Earth. Rings of Power has his earlier role spot on so far. He wasn't Ñoldorin, who were the ruling elves at this point, or even a High Elf since he was never in Valinor. And he wasn’t full elf. He had some human and Maia. (I’ll post a cool breakdown of Elrond’s genealogy that 5ummit created after this.) He wouldn't have naturally had a high position with the Ñoldorin at this point, but it goes a long way to showing how he was valued that he was Gil-Galad's herald and a captain, which is lore accurate. He wasn't the heir of all major houses as such. He wasn't even a prince while Galadriel was a princess in both the Ñoldor and the Teleri. Elrond’s line was respected and loved since he was Lúthien’s great-grandson, but it wasn’t a ruling line (ringofsecrets is right; he was royal through Lúthien, but they no longer had a kingdom). It was just that after the first war with Sauron, he was one of only two elf commanders who survived, Cirdan being the other, and so Elrond became a ruling elf because he was loved and wise. He was offered the title High-King, having been connected with Gil-Galad, but he turned it down since he wasn't of the bloodline of the High-Kings through a male ancestor (even though he was through a female ancestor) and because so few of the Ñoldorin were left that it didn’t matter. And actually, Galadriel had a far closer claim to that title herself, being niece or great-niece or something close like that of the first High-King. (I get all the F names in her family confused when I haven’t read The Silmarillion in a while.) But I don't think anyone wanted the title. The four Ñoldorin kings all came to bloody ends... I do like that they made Elrond and Galadriel friends since eventually Elrond marries Galadriel’s daughter.

And then there was the comment on the post about the hobbits and their age, but it was worded oddly, so I’m not sure exactly what you’re saying? I think you mean the culture is portrayed as too old, like hobbits didn’t exist for another 2300 years? But again, there’s nothing objectionable here. In Tolkien’s lore the hobbits came from more primitive ancestors, the same ones Gollum came from, and if you remember, Gollum had found the ring over 500 years before ‘The Hobbit’ happened, and he was in an established group in the east where Isildur would have dropped the ring when he died. It was in the same region that Beorn lived, east of the Misty Mountains near what became Mirkwood. There were three breeds: Harfoots, Stoors, and Fallohides. The Harfoots and Fallohides were the first who over time travelled north and west to finally settle in the Shire because of various unrest and dangers, especially those caused by Sauron moving into and settling in what became Mirkwood. The Stoors, the breed Gollum was, moved around in the east a lot longer and interacted with the Dunlendings some before finally moving west into the Shire. These hobbits aren’t early. They’re simply living primitively in the east, just like Tolkien said the three different breeds who were the hobbits’ ancestors did before they came to the Shire and intermingled until they were one people. And unlike every other race in Middle-Earth, Tolkien didn’t once write an origin story for hobbits. He never described their creation. The first record of interaction with the ‘Big Folk’ was with the Éothéod, the ancestors of the Rohirrim, in far-away times and in the east, so no one knows when and where they originated.

I never said I thought Rings of Power is 100% accurate to the books. That never happens in any project, especially one that says ‘based on’. But I love that it seems so far like they're staying true to more than people think. Really, so far they’ve just changed some of the timelines or minor events. The actors have interviews explaining some of the thinking behind decisions made, and the creators themselves said that some of it would be different to the commonly held versions of Tolkien's works because Tolkien was ALWAYS changing things. I mean, he worked on this world for decades, so he was always fiddling with timelines and lineages and so on. Even some of the main characters and events in the Silmarillion changed quite a few times after the Silmarillion was written, including Galadriel and her whole family of Finarfin and Fëanor and such, who were changed enough times that it's still not clear who Gildor Inglorien is. That's why the creators of Rings of Power consulted Tolkien's grandson Simon. They wanted his knowledge of some of the more obscure information since Tolkien was changing things until he died. I think that's cool. It feels like they're honoring Tolkien's whole approach to his world instead of just saying 'this is what it was period end of.'

No matter what they do, there will always be people who want to gripe and complain, and then there will be people who legitimately don’t like it, and that’s totally okay. I mean, I hate Game of Thrones, but I don’t go around the internet taking it out on people who like it. Let them enjoy what they enjoy. I’ve learned to just let people be themselves and enjoy the cool things that can come out of that, even if it’s not necessarily what I would do. That doesn’t mean it’s wrong, and if this is how the creators want to honor Tolkien, they’re the ones who had the courage to approach studios and say, ‘Hey, we know we’ve never made a tv show before, but we love Tolkien and have this great idea.’ And then they put in the hours and hours and hours of work. Don’t tear down the people that do things if you’re too scared, lazy, unmotivated, or unable to try yourself. I know I wouldn’t be interested in doing it. I think they’re doing a beautiful job with cosmetics and graphics and just creating a beautiful world for these characters to live in, and I’m going to enjoy my journey through it, along with the other people who choose to live with gratitude and enjoyment and sent lovely messages and comments. :)

Friends, I’m going to say something that might not be popular right now, but I think it has to be said. I love Rings of Power so far. I am frustrated hearing people say already that it’s no good. And my most annoying reason for them saying that so far is that there are too many questions, that things aren’t explained yet. I mean, today is just the third episode. This is a story arc that is planned for five seasons. Do they think everything is going to be explained and all characters introduced in the first two episodes of the first season? If so, they’ve never read Tolkien. Sorry. They’re having to tie in so many races and characters and cultures. It’s going to take some setup.

My second most annoying reason I’ve heard is that there are characters added in. I mean, yeah. It’s a huge world. It’s a huge story. And Tolkien really only included the very main characters. Of course there are going to have to be some to fill things out. But Tolkien’s main characters are there so far, and they are so well done! They are staying much truer to Tolkien’s personalities than Peter Jackson ever did. I mean, Aragorn scared to be king? Pfft, that was his whole motivation in the books! I’m not saying he was arrogant or entitled about it, but he was very determined and enthusiastic. He had to defeat Sauron, become king, and reunite the northern and southern kingdoms for Elrond to allow him to marry Arwen. ‘Break up’ with her? Never. Faramir beating Gollum and taking the ring? Never. Tolkien was probably spinning in his grave. He said Faramir was the character closest to himself, and he loved him. 

Gosh, don’t get me started. I still love the LotR movies. I will not go into how much I hated the Hobbit movies, despite so many of my favourite actors being in them. Anyway, back to the point. Galadriel is well done, I think; her pride and determination are very well portrayed. To me the new characters don’t feel jarring. They fit right in with what’s going on in Middle-Earth and what we know is coming. And the scenery and costumes and music! That scene in the third episode (no spoilers!) of Galadriel riding on the beach was just gorgeous, and I think the fact that they included her joy in the moment was absolutely beautiful. I’ve been really looking forward to that scene after the glimpse in the previews. That dress in the wind! That horse! They have captured Tolkien’s love and gentleness so far! I love love love the fact that they are doing real cosmetics instead of CGI where at all possible. It has the real feeling of the LotR movies, and they throw in so many little things to tie the show to the movies, like words the orcs use or lines Galadriel uses.

But I think what has struck me the most has been how unflinchingly they have portrayed the evilness of the orcs without an ounce of gratuitous violence or ugliness. Yes, orcs would be ugly and scary, and I think they have a perfect balance on necessary vs. gratuitous, which is where the fantasy genre always fails for me but where Tolkien excels. 

After watching the first two episodes last week I started doing a little bit of googling, and I think this show is in the right hands. Their love and respect for Tolkien shines in every second so far. I’m just going to withhold judgment and enjoy the ride with this show. Even if I didn’t care for it, it’s a gorgeous way to spend an hour in Tolkien’s world again without having to rewatch the movies for the 3,764th time. But being able to enjoy it is great!

For someone that wants to get into the lore of LoTR (like the silmarilian ) but doesn’t know where to start, are there any readings you suggest? Like is there an order I should go in? I feel like the stories have been around long enough that there’s a primer out there somewhere maybe? Thanks for your answer!!

This is not an uncommon question when it comes to Tolkien. It is such a complex world. Tolkien Gateway has a good post about the different reading order plans with tips and lists in chronological order here.

I went the more usual route myself. The first Tolkien I ever read was The Hobbit in junior high, and I HATED it. And to be honest, it’s still my least favourite of his books. Other than Beorn, who is my dream man. lol I am not a fantasy lover at all. So I never had any desire to read Lord of the Rings or watch the movies. But about twelve years ago I guess it was when my health issues started and I couldn't be as active as I had been, I was introduced to the Lord of the Rings Online, the online MMO game, and I kept playing because it was so pretty, and as I progressed through the story questline, I was like, I really like this; I think I'm going to try the books. I fell in love. I read Lord of the Rings and then the Silmarillion, which starts at the very beginning: the creation of the world. I've never been able to read any of his other works in depth, just in bits and pieces, because one of my brain injuries made it so I couldn't read more than a couple of minutes at a time, and while I'm getting much better in that regard, I still can't just sit and read a book yet.

I think if I had tried to read The Silmarillion first, it would have been discouraging being so complicated. You’ll most likely never remember the details and be able to connect all of the dots to LotR. Reading it after LotR made it awesome because you are learning the background of a world and characters you already love, and you pick up on more of the connections.

What I love about Tolkien is that he wasn't just writing a fluff fantasy story. It's all symbolic of bigger things he was dealing with in his world at Oxford. Writing LotR was his outlet for his frustration at what was going on with the powerful people of this world and his inability to change it. His symbology is so perfectly consistent from a world politic view, from a psychology view, even from a personality type view, and I love deep stories that have a consistent background. When he was asked to publish it, he resisted, saying, 'No one is going to know what I'm talking about.' And it's true, no one really does unless they read his letters and personal writings, but the story has such beauty in it that it still speaks to people even if they don't see the undercurrents.

I hope you enjoy your journey through his world, no matter what order you take it in!

Travel Middle Earth print set by LastStudio

Trees of Middle Earth by JD Cox

Road to Mount Doom by Donato Arts

The Riders of Rohan by Ted Nasmith

The Aid of the Wild-men by Ted Nasmith

Ghân-Buri-Ghân by Greg and Tim Hildebrandt

Lady Éowyn and the Nazgûl by Greg and Tim Hildebrandt

Éowyn vs the Witch-King of Angmar by Jeff Porter