How The Rings Of Power Created A “More Accessible” Middle-Earth
J. R. R. Tolkien created a world that shaped modern fantasy. While he was undoubtedly influenced by far older mythologies, from Arthurian tales, to the epic saga of Beowulf, to extinct languages, The Lord of the Rings redefined the fantasy genre, and to an extent redefined fiction itself.
Millions have been sucked into the tales of Frodo et al., whether by the books themselves, the film trilogy from the early ‘00s, or the video games – the latter is how The Rings of Power’s Halbrand got into Tolkien. His stories of Hobbits, Elves, and Dwarves are unmistakably human at their heart – in the sense that they’re stories about people, whatever race, more than about epic wars or generation-spanning revenge sagas – but at the core of them all is a sense of community. What else is the eponymous Fellowship if not nine people coming together from different races and backgrounds for a common cause? They have their differences, sure, but they overcome them and cement themselves as firm friends – none moreso than Legolas and Gimli overcoming generations of hate to become BFFs for life.
Related: The Rings of Power Review: Morfydd Clark Shines In A Spectacular Tolkien Adaptation
The Rings of Power has embraced this quality of Tolkien’s work, and as Nazanin Boniadi, who plays original character Bronwyn in the show, told TheGamer, “[We’re] a fellowship of Elves and Dwarves and Númenorians and all these different creeds and cultures – Harfoots and Humans – coming together to overcome adversity. What better way to portray that than having people of different backgrounds bring that to the screen?”
That hasn’t come easily, however. Racists, some of whom masquerade as fans of whatever recent TV show has cast people of colour and others who
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