‘The Rings of Power’ and Its Tolkien Terminology Explained

There is a cause of us who research JRR Tolkien’s works are also known as students. Watching The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit is the tip of an enormous iceberg. That is why lots of people who loved the movies are a bit confused about what’s taking place within the Amazon collection The Rings of Energy. 

However do not panic! You needn’t learn an epic tome or watch 20 hours of Prolonged Editions to understand this new collection. Armed with no matter you bear in mind from the final time you watched The Lord of the Rings and this fast terminology information, you may be ready to get pleasure from this collection with out feeling terribly misplaced at these phrases you have by no means heard used within the films earlier than.

The Second Age

The Rings of Energy takes place earlier than what you have seen in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, however not like 10 years again such as you would possibly see in a number of different prequel tales. The Rings of Energy takes place 1000’s of years earlier than the occasions of The Hobbit, throughout a time period known as the Second Age. On this world, massive segments of time are separated by main international occasions. For instance, the scene on the finish of The Lord of the Rings the place everybody will get on these boats and sails away marks the tip of The Third Age.

One of many cool issues about The Rings of Energy telling a narrative within the Second Age is that we’ll get to see characters we have solely beforehand skilled by legend and flashback, in addition to historic characters from the films once they had been younger. Elves dwell impossibly lengthy lives except they’re murdered, so on this collection there might be character names we have heard earlier than like Galadriel and Elrond and Isildur however a lot, a lot youthful variations of the folks we have already met. 

Harfoots (pronounced har-foots)

You could have observed in all the trailers for The Rings of Energy there are not any Hobbits, at the very least not as you’d acknowledge them from the films. There’s an excellent cause for this: Hobbits do not exist but! The place Elves, Dwarves, and even Males of The Second Age dwell lengthy lives and attain nice deeds, the ancestors of Hobbits have lifespans a lot nearer to a mean human right here in the actual world. Which means their evolution occurs a lot quicker than the opposite races of Center-earth, and what we’ll see in The Rings of Energy are one of many ancestors of Third Age Hobbits, recognized on this time as Harfoots. 

In contrast to the Stoors and Fallohides, that are different races that ultimately come along with Harfoots to change into Hobbits, the little people we’ll see in Rings of Energy are nomadic gatherers. They dwell off the land, with a extra earthy and pure look to their clothes and conduct. A couple of of those Harfoots have been noticed within the trailers already, full with the tell-tale furry ft and shorter stature. In contrast to Third Age Hobbits, Tolkien described many Harfoots as being darker skinned and are on common smaller than the characters you already know. 

Anticipate Harfoots to play a pivotal function on this collection, even when they do not get as a lot display time because the movies’ Hobbits.

Silvan Elves (pronounced sil-vn)

One of many coolest costumes seen in trailers for The Rings of Energy to this point belongs to the character Arondir, who shouldn’t be talked about in any of JRR Tolkien’s works. Arondir was created as a brand new character out of necessity; the race he represents is talked about a number of instances throughout Tolkien’s works however by no means given the identical type of consideration as lots of the different races in Center-earth. 

Arondir is a Silvan Elf, and in accordance with Tolkien these elves are separated from the others and scattered throughout a number of worlds. Those that made it to Center-earth have a deep connection to nature, which is why you see Arondir in a picket breastplate with a tree spirit or Inexperienced Man carved into it. What survives of Silvan Elves within the Second Age change into a part of Lorien, the realm of Center-earth we see Galadriel as ruler of in The Lord of the Rings. 

Outdoors of trying very cool, Arondir and different Silvan Elves we see might be distinctive and stand out fairly a bit from the Elves of this time.

Valinor (pronounced vali-nor)

The Elves you’ve gotten seen throughout all of Tolkien’s films — and shortly this TV collection — dwell in Center-earth, however they aren’t from Center-earth. The Elves as we see them migrated to Center-earth from a spot referred to as Valinor, an enormous land with a number of cities and its personal separate constructs of time and life. The best way Elves and different creatures of Valinor lived whereas there’s wildly totally different from the way in which they dwell in Center-earth. 

Elves left Valinor and got here to Center-earth as a result of that they had no selection: The 2 timber that allowed life to exist in Valinor had been destroyed by a large spider referred to as Ungoliant and one other being referred to as Morgoth. Ungoliant would later give start to the enormous spider Shelob, who almost kills Bilbo and Frodo of their respective tales. Morgoth passes his darkness to his pupil Sauron, who modifications his title to Annatar when he went into hiding from these chasing the remnants of Morgoths military.

Valinor would ultimately change into a spot Elves want to return to, which you see on the finish of The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. The ships Bilbo, Frodo and different board on the finish of the film are touring again to Valinor. Being allowed to return house earlier than that time was thought of a fantastic honor, so when it is talked about you’ll normally hear it in a grand context.

Númenor (pronounced noo-menor)

We have seen the huge white metropolis of Gondor and the far-reaching lands of the horse lords referred to as Rohan, however there was one other Kingdom of Males the place Aragorn’s ancestors got here from referred to as Númenor. This huge star-shaped island was house to Males who lived for much longer than most of their contemporaries and will construct lasting relationships with Elves and Dwarves. Like Aragorn, lots of the folks from this island had been gifted fighters and nice leaders.

The Males of Númenor aren’t fairly like the boys of the remainder of Center-Earth. They dwell fairly a bit longer because of their ancestry, which regularly results in them being handled as one thing totally different from somebody you’d meet in Center-earth correct. Most Males of this period have by no means been to Númenor, not to mention acknowledge it as someway ruling all Males of the period. 

Since that is the most important kingdom of Males within the Second Age, there is a good likelihood a big quantity of this present will happen in Númenor. 

Khazad-dûm (pronounced okay’hah-zahd-doom)

Most folk solely know the dominion of the Dwarves as a tomb and residential to an indignant Balrog who loses a combat with Gandalf. In The Lord of the Rings, we all know this huge underground metropolis as Moria, however within the Second Age it was often known as Khazad-dûm. 

In contrast to the scattered, separated model of the Dwarves we see in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, we will see Dwarves of their prime all through The Rings of Energy. That is earlier than the Arkenstone and the incident with Smaug, and earlier than the Balrog is woke up in Moria. (All of that occurs within the Third Age.) As an alternative, we will see Durin and his kin as grasp crafters with political company and hopefully a will to work with the opposite peoples of Center-earth. 

And, sadly, we’ll in all probability additionally see no matter leads these proud folks to retreat totally into their mountain. 

Lindon (pronounced lin-don)

Center-earth is a giant place, and at this level on this planet’s historical past there are plenty of Elvish territories that at the moment do not seem like the ethereal land Galadriel guidelines or the civilized kingdom Elrond presides over within the films. Earlier than Lothlorien and Rivendell there was Lindon, dominated by Excessive King Gil-galad. Throughout many of the Second Age, Elrond truly works for Gil-galad as his herald as a result of he isn’t but thought of a high-ranking Elf.

Lindon is, for many Elves, the harbor used to journey to both Númenor or Valinor relying in your goal. It is a protected harbor and in some ways the house used for the military Gil-galad sends to combat Morgoth. For the aim of this collection, it is possible Lindon might be thought of the political seat of energy for the Elves. And since it is an Elven metropolis, you possibly can anticipate it to be staggeringly lovely.

Eregion (pronounced eh-reh-gee-on)

Whereas Lindon is the seat of political energy for the Elves, it is not the place the motion will possible happen throughout The Rings of Energy. That honor will nearly assuredly go to the Elf-controlled area within the western a part of Center-earth referred to as Eregion presently. Eregion is situated a brief distance from each Khazad-dûm and what’s going to later be generally known as Mordor, which implies it is near our cool Dwarven characters and properly situated for battle scenes towards Sauron’s military of orcs. 

Whereas Gil-galad is Excessive King of all Elves, Eregion is led by Celebrimbor. As a descendant of Feanor, creator of the Silmarils (we’ll get into these subsequent), Celebrimbor has an unceasing need to create one thing of actual worth for the peoples of Center-earth. Within the books, Celebrimbor and the opposite artists of his realm are guided by Annatar to make The Nice Rings for all of the kingdoms of Center-earth. 

As you in all probability know, that does not go tremendous properly for everybody and takes just a few thousand years plus a few Hobbits to completely cope with.

Aulë’s Beard

When Elrond is begrudgingly invited into Durin and Disa’s house underneath the mountain, you hear an exclamation a number of instances which hasn’t actually been part of Tolkien’s works previously. Nevertheless it’s truly a reasonably important factor to exclaim, particularly within the context of the Second Age. 

The place most sentient beings we come throughout in Tolkien’s works have a single creation deity in Ilúvatar, Dwarves of Center-earth are an vital exception. Earlier than the creation of Elves, the deity Aule determined to create his personal offspring to cross his information to. Of the various god-like beings on this world, Aule is called The Smith as a result of it was his process to create every part from highly effective instruments to complete land lots. It was vital to him to have beings whose goal was to understand the world and use the weather of the world to create new issues. 

As a result of Aulë didn’t have entry to The Flame Imperishable within the creation of the Dwarves, they aren’t immortal like Elves. So on this Second Age, the Dwarves are nonetheless fairly near their creation story as it has been simply over 1,000 years that Dwarves have existed at this level.

Silmarils (pronounced sil-mar-ils)

A standard misunderstanding about The Rings of Energy is that it is going to be primarily based on tales advised in The Silmarillion. As Amazon was unable to safe the rights to make use of The Silmarillion to craft the tales in The Rings of Energy, the precise supply materials getting used will as a substitute be the Appendices in The Lord of The Rings. It is value noting these pages include a ton of the timeline elaborated upon in The Silmarillion, together with three jewels referred to as the Silmarils. These are highly effective magic stones created from the ability inside the two timber that saved Valinor alive. As an alternative of utilizing these stones to revive the timber that Ungoliant and Morgoth destroyed, the stones had been stolen by Morgoth and embedded in his crown to make him extra highly effective. 

When Morgoth is ultimately defeated throughout The First Age, the Silmarils remained behind whereas the Elves traveled to Center-earth as a result of they had been too highly effective to carry and drove in any other case affordable folks to lust for energy. You’ll be able to see a nod to the three Silmarils on Galadriel’s decorative dagger, and it’ll possible be a serious level of dialogue earlier than Annatar turns into Sauron and forges the rings of energy to present to all of the leaders of Center-earth.

Whereas the creation of the rings will clearly be the main focus of this collection, the Silmarils which got here earlier than them are more likely to be talked about fairly a bit on this collection. 

The Unseen World

As Galadriel and her firm make their method by a frozen former fort, a number of Elves come throughout a workshop the place a useless Orc is plastered towards the wall in a reasonably ugly scene. Galadriel remarks that Orcs will need to have been experimenting with previous energy to entry The Unseen World. This will seem to be a brand new factor, however in case you’ve watched The Lord of the Rings you have truly seen this place earlier than. 

This scene is basically exhibiting how Sauron was experimenting with energy that will enable somebody to securely enter and depart The Unseen World, which we see totally realized within the movies. 

The Unseen World refers to a type of parallel magic place, and beings from that place will be invisible to those that should not magic. When Frodo places on The One Ring, he disappears and is instantly seen in The Unseen World. Beings of this place can see Frodo extra clearly and work together with him. It is why Sauron and the Ringwraiths may all the time see Frodo when he put the One Ring on.