Rings Of Power Can Reveal The Origins Of 4 Iconic LOTR Locations

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The Rings of Power has a unique opportunity to show how four iconic locations from Lord of the Rings were founded. Amazon has spared no expense on Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, and even the most passionate critics must praise the epic, detailed landscapes on display. Set thousands of years before Gandalf coaxes Bilbo Baggins out of Bag End, Middle-earth's world map in The Rings of Power is wildly different to the geography Lord of the Rings fans will be familiar with… but not totally different.

Locations such as Valinor and Númenor have never before been glimpsed in live-action, but play a central role in the First and Second Ages. Other settings, meanwhile, have been created exclusively for The Rings of Power, such as the settlement of men known as Tirharad. Amazon's Middle-earth will also show a few ancient locales from The Lord of the Rings in drastically different lights. The ancient dwarf kingdom of Khazad-dûm, for example, is a bustling, thriving mine rather than an orc-ridden tomb in this era.

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The Rings of Power will visit plenty more tourist spots along its way — maybe even some the Fellowship pass through in The Lord of the Rings. And because the story takes place so long beforehand, The Rings of Power can show how four of these Middle-earth strongholds, kingdoms and provinces were established in the first place.

For centuries, Mordor's volcanic geography and barren soil deterred potential colonists, but this smoky corner of Middle-earth was perfect for Sauron's purposes. The Dark Lord seized Mordor as a base of operations sometime after his master, Morgoth, was defeated at the end of J.R.R. Tolkien's First Age, but