All tagged LOTRROP
The very existence of The Rings of Power as a series feels like evidence that Tolkien truly succeeded in his creation of a Myth for England and for our ‘primary world’ as he would call it. A story may die with its author, but the Great Tales live on well beyond their lifetime and with that comes the inevitability of change as they are passed down from generation to generation.
As The Rings of Power premiere is only one month away, I wanted to share my thoughts on the show so far: my hopes, my concerns, my overall state of mind in regards to the series thus far. In the end, we’ll have to see for ourselves on September second, but here’s what I’ve been processing over the last few months.
Last week, I was invited to London by Prime Studios to join a handful of other Tolkien scholars and creatives for a sneak peek of their forthcoming series, “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”.
The passion that these folks have for faithfully bringing the Second Age to life was really touching and was evident in the way they spoke about Middle-earth and Tolkien himself. I was actually very impressed by their knowledge of the Legendarium and Tolkien’s letters particularly.
As I watched the footage, I began to feel immersed in Middle-earth in a way that I hadn’t when watching the teaser trailer released earlier this year. There were moments of breathtaking high beauty, exhilarating heroism, and beautifully captured humanity which evoked many of the same feelings I experienced when reading Tolkien for the first time. One shot in particular completely took my breath away and I’m tearing up over again thinking about it as I type this.
Despite many of the darkest events of Middle-earth’s history occurring in the Second Age, I believe that the show will approach these events with the same life-affirming and hopeful tone that Tolkien himself wrote with. (Or at least, I believe the writers have this explicit goal in mind.)
