✨Rings of Powers is nearly here!✨ Some initial thoughts

The final 24 promotional posters for S1 of Rings of Power (Source)

Rings of Powers is very nearly here 😃✨⚔️🙌, and I thought it would be interesting to blog about some initial thoughts, mostly various sources of hype, and also a couple of slight (and subjective) aesthetic pet peeves, regarding all the promotional material we have so far. I’ve been a Tolkien fan for years, since the very first LOTR movie, so when I learned about this adaptation, I was very excited, and I'm really looking forward to this series! Of course, seeing as the series hasn't aired yet, this lengthy post will only include my thoughts judging solely by the promotional material and my knowledge of Tolkien lore, and later on I'll be posting a couple of follow-up posts commenting on these thoughts, and whether I still hold the same opinions or not, because you can never judge solely by the promotional material without actually seeing the series proper (something that many people in the fandom should understand, I'm afraid 😬). 

My stance on book vs adaptations in the form of movies and TV series is also relevant here. On this matter I'm often directly opposed to the very strong opinions of those "purists of the canon", who believe that any adaptation that deviates even so slightly from the lore is automatically a bad one, and instantly assume that the creators of said adaptation, as well as the fans who enjoy it, are total ignorants of the lore and the books. Because as we know, one can't enjoy both the books and a movie/series adaptation at the same time, apparently 🙄 (I keep having to tell the elitists that I've read and studied Tolkien's books for more than 20 years, having to show my proof that yeah, I know the lore, I just also like the movies lol). I've been disagreeing about this concept regarding Peter Jackson's movies for years, and, unfortunately, I've continued to read the same discourse ever since the first promotional material for Rings of Power came out.

 

My personal take on book vs adaptations? I don't need an adaptation to be 100% accurate to the original source material to consider it a good one, and I'm perfectly OK with changes that are still coherent with the universe the adaptation is based on. I tend to see books (or any original source material) and adaptations (usually as movies or series, also as comics or other media) as parallels in a way, two versions of the same story, to be enjoyed in a different way. Sometimes an adaptation will have to make some changes that work better on screen than on the page, while a book can excel in other respects that would not work on the screen. And both can be good, in my book (lol).

Pretty much

So, like I said, in this post I'll be talking about some general thoughts and impressions about the series. Some of these impressions will also include opinions from a feminist and activist point of view, of course, and the pet peeves will for the moment refer to aesthetic preferences more than anything else, seeing as I prefer to reserve my actual fandom rants (if any) for when I have a more complete opinion on the material xD. I actually wrote a whole set of notes detailing my impressions, hype and some hypotheses about each Middle-earth race and place (starting with the Elves of Lindon and Eregion, and then following with the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm, Númenor and the Southlands, the Harfoots, and the Dark side), and also about several subplots which will appear in S1, but seeing as I obviously won't be able to post all that before the air date, those notes will instead feature in the follow-up posts about Rings of Power S1, where I'll be speaking in more detail about the main characters, the places and the plot arcs, and whether or not I've formed new opinions, compared to these initial impressions, after watching the first season (as can very often happen). 

Galadriel in her (actually perfectly canonical) warrior aspect. And yep, you guessed it, I'll obviously keep talking a lot about her in the follow-up posts, even after already blogging about her in this one xD

 General thoughts coming up, but before that, here below are the two main trailers for the first season of Rings of Power: The SDCC trailer, and the final official trailer. They also released three teasers (1, 2, 3), as well as the title announcement, and various promos on the official Twitter @LOTRonPrime (Lindon, Galadriel, Elrond, Khazad-dûm, Durin and Disa, Númenor, Southlands, Harfoots, Arondir, Tar-Míriel). Here's also the Variety first look, as well as the Entertainment Weekly article introducing 13 of the 23 characters in the main cast.

✨1. initial general thoughts about Rings of Power✨

Sophia Nomvete as Dwarven princess Disa and Ismael Cruz Córdova as Silvan Elf Arondir are the first represented poc in main roles among the Elves and Dwarves in an adaptation of Tolkien's universe.

✨Representation and diversity: I’m very happy about the addition of new female and poc ('people of colour', non-white) characters in this series 👍. 

Even though Tolkien's works do contain interesting and powerful female characters, such as Galadriel herself, most (nearly all) stories are still blatantly male-dominated, and the adaptations so far have followed suit for the most part. Jackson's movies, to the chagrin of *that* faction of the fandom, tried to redress this at times with the inclusion of a more proactive Arwen in Fellowship of the Ring (even though in LOTR quite a lot of additional scenes featuring women were finally cut, such as the inclusion of warrior Arwen at Helm's Deep, an Éowyn action scene with added female bonding in the Glittering Caves, and Arwen and Galadriel interacting in Lórien). Achieving a slightly better gender balance was a more conscious decision in The Hobbit movies, with the addition of original female characters (OCs), namely Silvan Elf captain Tauriel, and Esgaroth women Sigrid, Tilda and Hilda (as well as the appearance of Galadriel in the Dol Guldur storyline). Even so, the female interaction stayed to a minimum (women don't interact beyond a couple of lines in the final cut of LOTR, and they only do so in some scenes in The Hobbit thanks to the original female characters created for the story). 

 

Galadriel and Tar-Míriel will meet in S1, a deviation from the lore that offers the possibility of women from the canon interacting more.

Rings of Power, for its part, will put Galadriel at the forefront of the story as one of its main characters (see my latest post on how amazing Galadriel is here), and will also introduce queen Tar-Míriel of Númenor in another main part, as well as several OCs which will also help balance out the oft male-dominated world of Tolkien adaptations. We’re finally getting female Dwarves in speaking roles as part of the main cast (Princess Disa of Khazad-dûm), as well as introducing more human women (Southlands healer Bronwyn and Isildur's sister Eärwen) and female Harfoots (ancestors of the Third Age Hobbits) in the main cast as well (Elanor 'Nori' Brandyfoot, Poppy Proudfellow, Marigold Brandyfoot) (and, brief note, I don't thnk that choosing the name 'Elanor' for a Harfoot was coherent, as it's a significant name that Sam Gamgee chooses for his daughter after visiting Lórien at the end of the Third Age, and the Harfoots wouldn't know about the flowers of Lórien, or use Elven names, in any case. But anyway xD). 

 

Female representation in the main cast of S1 is still less than 40% (8 out of 23 characters in the main cast are female, corresponding to a percentage of 35% - and yet there have been plenty of complaints already about the inclusion of OCs). But even so, this series will clearly help to redress the middling gender balance in Tolkien adaptations, and will also offer more visibility and participation of women as secondary and extra characters: Reportedly, we will see female Orcs, as well as female soldiers among the Númenóreans as an established norm (hoping to see more Elven women as well, as for now Galadriel is the sole female Elf in the main cast). And, while Jackson's The Hobbit already showed Dwarrowdams in flashback scenes, this series will help normalize the more routinely presence of Dwarf women as well. I'm also looking forward to the greater female interaction in this series, something that is very often much more difficult to see in the media. But its seems that this time we will have Galadriel and Tar-Míriel interacting (a deviation from the lore which I'm very much looking forward to seeing), as well as what looks like a friendship dynamic between Harfoots Nori Brandyfoot and Poppy Proudfellow, and hopefully we'll also see the rest of female characters interacting with more women in the series.

 

Some of the women in Rings of Power, including several new characters that bring more female representation to the series. From left to right, top to bottom: Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), Tar-Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), Disa (Sophia Nomvete), Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi), Eärien (Ema Horvath), and Nori Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh).

 

Regarding poc characters and racial diversity, Tolkien adaptations have been even less inclusive so far, in part translating into the screen the already problematic views we can also find in Tolkien's original works - It can be easily assumed that all Free Peoples in the fantasy Europe that a significant part of Middle-earth is inspired in are white, something which is often the main staple in the argumentation of racist 'fans' (the same people who will insist that Ancient Times and Middle Ages Europe was all-white, when that wasn't the case either). Even though some quotes in the books can dispute this assumption of an all-white group of Free Peoples (for example, both the Harfoot Hobbit people in LOTR and the human House of Bëor, a sizeable part of the ancestors of the Númenóreans and Gondorians, are described as including many individuals with darker skin tones, and nothing is explicitly said of Dwarves and of more than one Elven people), these quotes are often to be found in more obscure material (such as the History of Middle-earth series), and most main characters when described can also be easily assumed to be white. 

 

This scenario is paired and very much aggravated with the regrettable fact that most of the time the people who are explicitly described as 'swarthy', 'dark' and non-white (Dunlendings, Easterlings, Haradrim), often coming from the far East and far South of Middle-earth (a parallel to real life Asia and Africa), are outright described as the enemy, the human peoples who have associated with Sauron and the orcs, and the ones who oppose the main Hobbit characters, the Elves, the Dwarves of Erebor, the Anglosaxon Rohirrim, and the supposed-to-be all-white (not really) Gondorian civilization.

 

1) A sizeable part of the ancestors of the Númenóreans are canonically ethnically mixed; 2) Númenor's culture is directly based on Ancient Egypt and draws clear inspiration from a mix of cultures from Byzantium to Greece and Italy (and the fabled Atlantis), and pretty much all the Mediterranean region and the Middle East. *That* faction of Tolkien fans: "Rings of Power and its wokeness hasn't depicted all Númenóreans as white and blond, where was Gondor when the sanctity of the lore fell!!" 😅 😂

Jackson's The Hobbit movies started to somewhat redress this very racially-loaded good-evil binary scenario (completely upheld in LOTR) by introducing a more diverse population in Esgaroth, something which also made complete sense seeing as it's a trade crossroads between Rhovanion, the far East and the South, but even so this was received with backlash from *that* part of the fandom. And so, it was little surprise (but a lot of frustration) to see this racist backlash mutiplied exponentially when Rings of Power revealed its intention to present a more homogeneously diverse Middle-earth (how much so it remains to be seen in the final product), with the first poc actors ever playing Elves and Dwarves (featuring Sophia Nomvete as Dwarven Princess Disa and Ismael Cruz Córdova as Silvan Elf Arondir). The series is also showcasing more diverse populations in the Southlands, in Númenor and among the Harfoots as well (something which also makes sense regarding the lore, by the way), with Tar-Míriel played by a black woman (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), and with the inclusion of several more poc human and Harfoot characters in the main cast. The appearance of the Southlands diverse settlement in the series will also help redress the racially-loaded binary scenario that features heavily, especially in LOTR material, regarding poc humans in Eastern and Southern populations, seeing as their plot will directly tackle Elven prejudice against this Southern settlers whose ancestors allied with Morgoth during the First Age (as told in the Southlands promo).

 

Cynthia Addai-Robinson as queen Tar-Míriel of Númenor is *chef's kiss*

 I'm personally very excited for all this, and I hope that the diversity increases even more in future seasons - because, although it's undeniably an appreciable improvement amongst Tolkien adaptations regarding representation, similarly to the case of female characters, poc characters still only constitute 30% (vs the 35% of female characters) of the main cast, with only 7 out of 23 main characters not being white, and the lack of Asian representation in the main cast has been noted as well (although it isn't a complete lack in that respect, as Tyroe Muhafidin, who plays Theo, does have Indonesian roots. The issue remains a very legit concern when it comes to fantasy media casting, however). But once again, still *that* part of the fandom clamoured out and cried injustice, "wokeness" and oppression because less than 40% of the main cast are not white and/or male 🙃, and that is why it's still a 'controversial take' to talk about the need for diverse casts to get more and more normalized in fantasy media.

 

"But Tolkien's universe is meant to be for us white Europeans to solely enjoy"

I'll be devoting an entire separate post to talk in more detail about the very problematic trend of sexist and racist responses to the casting choices and the characters of Rings of Power, coming from *that* faction of the fandom who try to rationalize their sexism and racism behind the also disagreeable mask of the supposed 'sanctity of the lore', elitism and gatekeeping, but I want to be very clear about this matter here as well: So, succintly, regarding casting, the efforts to create diversity in the media are necessary, and women and poc are allowed to be seen in fantasy media (and every other media), period. Even though many of the choices made here are actually either canon or perfectly coherent with the universe, the canon and lore should not come first in these cases.  

 

 This article also expresses and explains this issue in an excellent way: New adaptations of fantasy and sci-fi franchises with important and positive messages that are also a product of their problematic times in some respects (such as a lack of diversity or the presence of sexism or racism) must also change with the times, be it Star Trek or Tolkien. Many Tolkien stories highlight the importance of several races and peoples working together against a common evil, after all, and what better way to display such messages in our modern times than to make an effort to represent more than white and male people in fantasy and science fiction stories which should be universal? Fans who prefer to gatekeep these stories and have an issue with women and poc appearing in them are rather missing the point as to what many of these stories are about, indeed.

The level of racism in some parts of the fandom (often more close to home than I would like) is literally seeing this cover and describing it as 'two Hobbits', and, when corrected, '*some* Hobbits', because the existence of a black Hobbit blows their minds 😬 🙄😤

 ✨ Soundtrack: I’ve listened to some of the tracks in the playlist by Howard Shore (main theme) and Bear McCreary (the rest of the sountrack), and so far I’m really liking it 😃👌! The feel is very much a Middle-earth universe Tolkien feel with the music, and there are distinct vibes and tones depending on which race, location and character the music is talking about – from the more ethereal Elven sounds, to the striking Dwarven choirs, the epicness and Middle-eastern musical influences for Númenor, and the Celtic-inspired Harfoot melodies.  I’m particularly liking Galadriel and Elrond’s themes as well. You can listen to the soundtrack of S1 by Howard Shore and Bear McCreary on this Amazon music playlist! 

Some of the visuals in promo shots of S1 of Rings of Power

✨Visuals: I think they look amazing from the promotional material we’ve been given so far: Lindon, Númenor, Khazad-Dûm, Rhovanion, the Southlands, the Sundering Seas, it all looks stunning. Very high hopes. The only shot I don't love is ironically the first one were ever shown, with Valinor, Eldamar and the Two Trees. I love the idea that we're going to see Valinor in a flashback, but the lighting effects aren't quite right, as others have already pointed out - It looks like the clouds are being illuminated from behind, instead of the light coming only from the Trees. But this is a very small detail in a whole sea of stunning visuals.

 

✨Source material and deviations from the lore: Rings of Power is going to be focused on the main events of the Second Age, but Amazon only got the rights to LOTR, The Hobbit and the LOTR appendixes, so key books like The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales or The History of Middle-earth are unfortunately off bounds. That doesn't mean that the creators haven't read them, though. And it doesn't mean that the series creators, the producers, the art team, the cast and so on, are completely ignorant of the lore, as so many people claim or assume, often not exactly in good faith (although I can understand those people who may have genuine initial trepidations about the limitations of source material). On the contrary, various interviews to creators, producers and cast have demonstrated that many of the people involved in this series are well-invested in Tolkien's lore and know quite a lot about it. Of course, the limitations on how much source material and which books they are allowed to use, mention and show onscreen will mean that the plot arcs, while also including the main events from the Second Age as described in the canon they have access to, will have to deviate in some cases from the established lore. But is this so wrong, and will it result in a completely incoherent take on Middle-earth? Because it is an adaptation, after all. Peter Jackson's movies also had changes and deviations from the lore with no limitations to source material, after all. And in my opinion, to achieve a good adaptation that is coherent with the universe it's based on you don't really need to be completely canonical all the time either.

 

But of course, much has been ranted (guess by whom) about the fact that Rings of Power will yes, deviate from the source material in some of their plot arcs (and will also include a compressed timeline, as we will see below). Like I mentioned before, any adaptation is liable to make changes and deviate from the canon, if only because book and screen are different media and stories will naturally get told differently as a result of that in more than one case. Adaptations also tend to be a related but ultimately different version of the source material, often offering a take or an interpretation of it, and not a clone or an exact copy. And, like I said at the beginning of this post, I like to think that a good adaptation is not necessarily the one that follows the source material to the letter (although of course, that can happen too), but rather the one which immerses you in the universe and the story it's trying to tell, and even the one which reimagines the story to offer you a completely new twist on it. 

 

People always like to say that the book is always better than the adaptation, in every case - In my case, that is true in some cases, but in others I like the adaptation better than the book, and in many cases I like both. And it's OK if someone else's idea of what a good adaptation is differs from mine, but I think that we should all still bear in mind that this series is going to be an adaptation, and as such, there will be aesthetic choices we may like or not (it's often a lottery in these cases), and certain deviations from the source material that may work for us or not. But it's just disingenous to claim that an adaptation is objectively bad just because it doesn't fulfil all personal expectations and aesthetic preferences of each individual fan.

'Hey, toxic people are going on about how Galadriel is not a warrior and black Elves and Dwarves are taking away their rights to see their all-white fantasy, when maybe their rants should be more harmlessly directed at why you got all the hair and why I got so little' 😅 😂 (Absolutely no hate to Aramayo's Elrond, tho, he has really grown on me, and I also understand that short-haired Elves are a completely valid take, even if not my preference 😅 But more on that later xD).

 

Personally, the promotional material and the information that we have on the series so far has left me with the initial impression that the series will end up being considerably more canonical than many people have assumed it will be, and when it is not, I think it's very probable that the added characters and plotlines will still be coherent with the universe created by Tolkien and feel like Arda, even with the limitations they have regarding source materials. At least that's the vibe I'm getting. Also, some aspects which have been criticized time and again by alleged (and offended) diehard tolkienites are actually canonical or very much coherent with the lore as well (warrior Galadriel and her feud against Sauron appear in the lore, for example, and seeing poc in Númenor and among the Harfoots is perfectly coherent with the canon as well). And in any case, beyond initial impressions and preferences regarding adaptations, none of us can say much more until we actually watch the series and decide if the adaptation is to our personal taste or not. Because, at the end of it all, it's also always going to be a matter of personal preference in many ways.

 

But yeah, it also irks me to no end that many supposed hardcore tolkienites have been claiming for freaking months that more than one actually canonical aspect is not so (very often because sexism and racism, heh 🙃), and without having watched the series already feel confident to say just how coherent with the universe of Arda it will be. It's fun to see supposed 'real fans' and 'experts' to be blatantly ignorant of the lore in the first place, and how often they try to shield their prejudice, toxicity, gatekeeping and problematic mindsets by citing it anyway. Ah well.

 

Me being excited for Rings of Power amid all the toxic haters xD

 

Map of Middle-earth in the Second Age. Also see this interactive map.

 ✨Compressed Second Age timeline: When the Variety first look announced that the plot of Rings of Power would significantly compress the timeline of the Second Age so that the series could tell several stories at the same time, I was initially apprehensive that the result would be confusing and would change the plot arcs too much. But since then I’ve come to understand and appreciate this concept much more. It does make sense for a series that aspires to tell the main events of the Second Age to compress such a huge timeline so that all main events the series wants to talk about in their five seasons can flow more naturally. If we left the timeline untouched, centuries would pass by for the immortal Elves with minimal changes while Númenor changed at a rapid rate with generation after generation of kings and queens and characters and events, for example, and time would pass even more swiftly for less long-lived races such as the Middle-earth human settlements or the Harfoot ancestors. 

 

To be able to tackle the ambitious list including events such as the war of the Elves against Sauron and the forging of the Ring of Power (supposedly the main arc in the series), as well as the twilight and Fall of Númenor, the full splendour of Khazad-dûm, the founding of Rivendell, the rise of Sauron in Mordor, the Nazgûl, the One Ring, the creation of the Last Alliance, and who knows what the scope of the five seasons will end up being...It’s just a lot of material spanning millennia, and the only way to do even just a handful of these is to compress the timeline considerably. So that is why Sauron hasn't yet made his appearance as Annatar and Celebrimbor hasn't forged any Ring of Power as yet, and the War of Wrath seems to be somewhat fresh on the Elves' memories, but at the same time Elendil and Isildur are already out and about. So yeah, I get it, and so far, judging from the promos and trailers, it seems like the timeline, even if compressed, will still be pretty coherent with the main events from the lore, or will at least make sense within the limits of this series.

 

The initial 23 promotional posters for Rings of Power, showcasing the details of the costumes, props, weapons and jewellery for the main cast.

 ✨Costumes and historical inspirations: From the moment the detail posters dropped (see above), I was mostly awed by the level of detail in the costumes shown for the main cast, and after all the promotional images that came after that, I have high hopes. As with the soundtrack, each Middle-earth people seems to have their own particular fashion style, and the colours, textures, jewellery and weaponry look pretty stunning so far. I particularly love the suits of armour they have given to Galadriel, which I think are both beautiful and thankfully functional (female armour in the fantasy genre isn't so lucky as a rule), and Tar-Míriel, Gil-galad's and Disa's looks are close favourites as well. There will be probably times when I may have wished for something different, or for something more, but for the moment my impressions as a cosplayer and costumery fan are mainly very positive 😃✨ (although there have been some costume choices in the promos that I don't quite get from a more feminist point of view, like the decision to have an all-female Elven group of what looks to be personal attendants of king Gil-galad wearing semi-transparents veils covering their heads :S It rings an icky vibe to me for now, we'll see what's that about 😬).  

 

The costumes and visuals are definitely some of the aspects I'm more excited about the series

Another thing I thought about when looking at the different costumes is the real life historical inspiration and influences. Jackson's movies drew a lot of inspiration from different historical eras, from European Medieval fashion elements, Art Nouveau and traditional Asian fashion for his Elves, to 18th Century styles for the Hobbits, 16th Century Italian and German armour for the Gondorians, Italian Renaissance fashion for the Dwarrowdams in Dale and Erebor, or Anglosaxon culture for the Rohirrim.  In Rings of Power I found it interesting that many historical influences for many styles seem to come more often from Ancient cultures, as well as the quintessential high fantasy Medieval vibes typical of this genre which are still to be found. I can kind of see Roman influences with Gil-galad's golden leaf crown; a Greek-inspired Delphos dress/Fortuny pleated gown situation with Disa, and also a classicist inspiration with Galadriel's simple white tunic in the shipwreck scene; Celtic and Anglosaxon vibes with the way that Elrond wears his mantles pinned at one shoulder with a pennanular brooch; and a range of Ancient Greek, Byzantine, Persian and  Egyptian inspirations (among others) for the Númenóreans.  And although onscreen adaptations need not be interconnected and can include completely different visions, I liked to see an apparent progression in these historical influences in some cases by taking into account that Rings of Power takes places in the Second Age vs the Third Age, when The Hobbit and LOTR take place, and the costumes seem to have drawn quite a lot of inspirations from real life Ancient Times and early Medieval fashions for this series, while Jackson's Middle-earth also includes later Renaissance and 16th-18th Century influences more often in some cases.  

 

Some of the costumes in Rings of Power S1: Gil-galad (left), Tar-Míriel (middle), and Disa (right)

 ✨Pronunciation: My most sincere and happy congratulations to dialect coach Leith McPherson because, oh my Valar, you don’t know how refreshing and cathartic it is to see the cast (and special mention to Welsh Morfydd Clark 😄) actually pronouncing the Elven names with those trilled 'r' sounds, and the correct enunciation: GalAdRiel, MORdoR, NÚmenoR, MORgoth, SAuRon,...I love it so much 😍. As a Spanish speaker who’s routinely frustrated with the apparent disinterest of many English-speaking people to pronounce other languages correctly (sorry for generalizing, but in general terms that's my experience 😅), I’m thrilled this is not happening here! Also, I read in an interview that they’re drawing inspiration from Tolkien's way of writing and associating the way of talking of each race with different heroic meters, and I’m so into that as well!

 

 ✨Hairy pet peeves: 

 

From left to right, top to bottom: Hairstyles and facial hair (or lack thereof) as chosen for Celebrimbor, Arondir, Disa, Elrond, Finrod Felagund, and Ereinion Gil-galad.

As my inner circle already full knows at this point, this has been my main aesthetic pet peeve since the first promotional material came out 😅. While Jackson's movies and many people in the fandom associate Elves, male and female alike, with long, beautiful hair, Rings of Power has made the undeniably bold choice of breaking this pattern outright and deviating from the general aesthetic of long-haired Elves by choosing to show most male Elves in the series with shorter hairstyles, from Elrond and Celebrimbor's wavy, just below-the-ear locks, to Arondir's crew cut, and we can see this aesthetic choice in many of the male Elven extras as well, both in Lindon, in Eregion and in the Southlands. Most male Elves we have seen so far in the promotional material have followed this short hair aesthetic, although we also see some variety of hair lengths among the male Elven extras of Lindon and Eregion, some of them sporting longer hair lengths from above the shoulder to nearly mid-back (seen for example at the start of the Elrond promo). And High King Gil-galad offered some respite and hope to us long hair lovers with the long, flowing hair that has been associated so often with Elves of Middle-earth 👌. 

 

Gil-galad our Lord and Saviour xD 🙌

  One thing that I found interesting regarding Elven hair in the series was the fact that Gil-galad actor Benjamin Walker said that the High King wore his hair long as is the wont of Elven nobles, and associated his long hair to the noble status of Gil-galad ("Gil-galad’s hair is long, like we traditionally see with noble elves, but it’s shaved on the sides as though he were a fighter"). Which is an interesting take, as pretty much all of the explicitly long-haired Elves described as such in the lore are Elven princes, kings and nobles as well, and it seems like a legit interpretation (and also to be found in real life cultures and time periods) to only give long hair to the Elves holding the higher status. This could  track with Arondir being a Silvan foot soldier and Elrond, albeit of noble birth, starting his career holding a lower societal status as a budding politician before becoming the Lord of Imladris (although we might argue that as Gil-galad's herald and later lieutenant, he is already of quite high status in the Lindon court). However, while this interpretation only seems to apply to male Elves (I'll be talking about my thoughts on short haired Elves and the gender binary below), Celebrimbor, who is also an Elf Lord of high status, and Finrod, the eldest son of Prince Finarfin of Valinor, seem to be outliers to this hypothesis. 

 

 Still, I can't but hold my ground with the personal opinion that Elrond, Celebrimbor and Arondir would have all looked better with longer hair – and when the first images of Arondir came out, especifically (and Cruz Córdova looks amazing as an Elf, A+ casting!), I thought what a failed chance it was not to give him an intricate braided hairstyle as a Silvan Elf (dreads would’ve looked so cool as well). I guess I personally dislike this aesthetic and would prefer longer haired Elves by a long shot, so this counts as one of the few pet peeves I currently have with the series 😅. Of course, it's an aesthetic preference, and mayhaps I’ll get used to it eventually – I’m already warming up quite a lot to Robert Aramayo’s Elrond, for example, and so far his hairstyle looks like the most Elven and 'fantasy' look of all the shorter hair looks for the Elves, with its wave, swept up bangs and slightly longer length.

 

Celebrimbor and Elrond sport below-the-ears wavy locks in Rings of Power

My personal preference aside, it is also important to bear in mind that once again, this is an adaptation, and depicting male Elves with short hair is after all an aesthetic choice that the series is perfectly entitled to do. And let’s be clear, before delving into some more stuff – it’s a very different thing to differ with an aesthetic choice such as hair length or costumes, than to have an issue with the representation of characters with different skin tones and genders. Having an issue with fantasy hair lengths and styles generally harms nobody and invalidates nobody (unless the issue is racially-loaded). We all have preferences about purely aesthetic matters, and that's fine. A fantasy adaptation in the 21st century, like I said, is more than entitled to add some very necessary gender and racial diversity to a fantasy universe that is made no more incoherent for it, and to have an issue with the existence of genders and races is rather more problematic than to rant about the hair length of a fantasy species.  Both issues are not comparable. One goes against human rights, and the other doesn't.

 

 To delve a bit more about just how canon long Elven hair should be considered to be, I also think it fair to note that, while Tolkien Elves are traditionally associated with long hair, and this is something which has been reinforced both by the fantasy genre during years and, particularly, by the great influence of the aesthetic choices of Peter Jackson’s movies, in the lore it’s not explicitly said outright that all Eldar and Elves have long hair as a rule. When speaking about the princes of the Noldor in Valinor, Tolkien does remark in Peoples of Middle-earth, that the Eldar appreciated hair that is particularly beautiful, but doesn't really explicitly specify that is must always be long, although 'length' is mentioned and easy assumptions can be made (“All the Eldar had beautiful hair (and were especially attracted by hair of exceptional loveliness) but the Noldor were not specially remarkable in this respect, and there is no reference to Finwe as having had hair of exceptional length, abundance, or beauty beyond the measure of his people.”). 

 

 Tolkien also describes several important individual male Elves, such as Fingon or Glorfindel (among some others), as having long hair, and many Elves in the house of Finwë have names with the Quenya name for 'hair' in it, fin(dë)(ssë), as well (which does also seem to direct to the fact that at least the Noldor seem to be quite a lot into hair, because if not that's too much of a coincidence xD). And so, because of this quote and the individual instances where male Elves are described as having long hair, it’s generally concluded among many tolkienites that Elves in general value and favour long hair, men and women alike, but it's also something that can be more assumed rather than directly stated when it comes to generalizing this fact to all Tolkien Elves. So just citing the lore may not do either.

This is also not the first time that Tolkien Elves have been portrayed with shorter hair. Regarding former adaptations, Ralph Bashki's LOTR already depicted Elrond and Celeborn with short hairstyles not dissimilar to the ones we're seeing in Rings of Power, and Legolas sported a shoulder-length shorter style as well. And if we must take serious offense with the aesthetic choices that other Tolkien adaptations have made, let us also remember that the 1977 Hobbit animated film showed a wizard-like grey-haired Elrond with a goatee and Thranduil as a wizened goblin (wtf xD), and illustrated Russian Tolkien books have the penchant of showing Elves as winged fairies, so there are...choices out there 🤣.  Among  the realm of Tolkien art, long-haired Elves certainly dominate, but we can also find famous artists such as Jenny Dolfen who like to depict Elves with both long and short hair (see example below). 

 

And so, (male) short-haired Elves is an aesthetic choice that we may love, like, be neutral to, or hate with a passion. But like it or not (and I don't much like it xD), it's also a prerrogative and a valid choice for any Tolkien adaptation. But I must also mention that I find it strange that a fantasy production wouldn't be excited to explore different intricate hairstyles for its male Elves (and also for Dwarf women, as we'll see below), to be honest, especially taking into account the gorgeous costume design the series has already showcased.

 

In this painting depicting the Oath of Fëanor, Jenny Dolfen portrays Fëanor and his seven sons with varying hair lengths.

Similarly to long-haired Elves, many people of the fandom tend to also feel very strongly about Dwarf women having beards, and it's often quoted how Tolkien described both Dwarf men and women as being pretty much identical in appearance and voice to human eyes, including the fact that Dwarf women have beards as well (War of the Jewels, for example, states that "the Naugrim have beards from the beginning of their lives, male and female alike; nor indeed can their womenkind be discerned by those of other race, be it in feature or gait or in voice"). I am generally a strong supporter of Dwarrowdams having beards and facial hair, and I was already frustrated with the fact that the brief appearances of Dwarf women in The Hobbit movies had rather less facial hair than many of their male counterparts - Many of them had sideburns, but also the smallest possible amounts of beards. In contrast to this, there are art concepts for the Hobbit movies of Dwarrowdams with luxurious beards and intricately braided hair (see below), and many Tolkien cosplayers also tend to showcase intricate hairstyles and beards with their Dwarf women designs.

 

Art concepts for the hairstyles and facial hair of Dwarf women in The Hobbit (Weta Workshop), showing varying degrees of facial hair. The most abundant full beards among these designs didn't make the cut.

  

So when the first picture of Disa came out (see above in the post), I was both thrilled at the perspective of finally seeing more Dwarf women, and in actual main parts and with speaking roles, and similarly thrilled to see black Dwarf women. But I was also frustrated at the fact that Rings of Power had also decided to follow the trend to not give full beards and facial hair to Dwarf women. Rings of Power actually seems to have decided to give their Dwarf women even less facial hair than Jackson's briefly seen Erebor Dwarrowdams, as Disa does sport a little bit of a sideburn situation, but at a distance it's practically non-existent, considerably less so than the sideburns and slight beards sported by the Dwarf women selling their goods in Dale in Unexpected Journey, and the Dwarrowdams at Khazad-dûm that we've seen so far in promotional material seem to have practically no facial hair to speak of either (see below), and this is additionally put into blatant evidence with the comparison of the incredibly long and abundant beards that all the male Dwarves seem to be sporting. 

 

Dwarf men and women in Khazad-dûm. All the Dwarrowdams we've seen so far have no significant facial hair to speak of, so I guess it's safe to conclude that Rings of Power has decided to clearly differentiate between the two regarding beards.

However, while this isn't my preferred aesthetic preference either, there may be a caveat in the lore to explain this facial hair dychotomy as well. While Tolkien stated that Dwarf women do indeed have beards and facial hair in the material of History of Middle-earth, he seemingly changed his view on Dwarf women and facial hair later on, seeing as in Nature of Middle-earth he's quoted as saying that only Dwarf men have beards, and so Dwarf women might in fact not have beards in his later revisions ("All male Dwarves have beards"). So in this light, portraying Dwarrowdams sans the beards might in fact be a canonical aesthetic choice as well.  

 

I still prefer Dwarf women to have beards, though, but it's important to also bear that in mind. It's still curious that this series has decided on this choice, however, seeing as the LOTR appendixes, the main material they have used to create the series, do state that Dwarf men and women are indistinguishable to human (and Elven) eyes, which must surely include the facial hair: "It was said by Gimli that there are few dwarf-women, probably no more than a third of the whole people. They seldom walk abroad except at great need. They are in voice and appearance, and in garb if they must go on a journey, so like to the dwarf-men that the eyes and ears of other peoples cannot tell them apart."

  

Disa sings a Song of Power alongside male and female Dwarves

✨ A brief commentary on short hair for male Elves and no beards for Dwarrowdams in light of the gender binary:   

 

Apart from personal aesthetic preference, there's another reason why I was rather disappointed by the decision of the series to portray male Elves with short hair and female Dwarves without beards. From a feminist perspective, bearded Dwarrowdams and androgynous Elves with long hair disregardless of gender can be powerful examples that defy gender norms and expectations, and that subvert the constructed gender binary that's prevalent in society. I’ve always loved how both these aesthetics and description of physical appearances for Dwarves and Elves challenge limited notions regarding  the gender binary among humans. And while the artistic choices of Rings of Power regarding their Elves and Dwarves are still valid, as I commented above, I still feel like it's a missed opportunity to defy societal expectations about traditional 'masculinity' and 'femininity' with the appearance of the Elves and Dwarves in Tolkien's universe, presenting more normalized societal notions where most male characters have shorter hair and all women are clean-shaved, instead.

 

Even though we know that in real life there are also women, both cis and trans, who can grow facial hair for different reasons, this is of course both considered shameful and diametrically opposed to traditional femininity. And thus, all Tolkien adaptations to date (that I know of), have edged away, whether conscious or subconsciously, from the opportunity to explore just how cool Dwarf women can look with intricately braided and decorated beards and facial hair. Similarly, in Western society short hair for men has become the norm and long hair is traditionally associated with women (note that all Elven women in the promotional material continue to sport long hair that's at least past shoulder length). Even though men still wear their hair long in some modern cultures (such as many Native American tribes), and historically men have also worn their hair long in many places and time periods, from Europe to Asia. Long hair is so culturally associated with Native American and East Asian cultures, actually, that I've always thought that casting Tolkien Elves with those ethnicities would be just so fitting (but still, it's a good thing that Tolkien Elves are already starting to get more diverse with this series). 

 

And the more androgynous quality that is often given to fantasy Elves in direct association to Tolkien, with their long hair disregardless of gender, their beardlessness (until they're really, really old like Círdan, or unless you're Mahtan, in Arda's case xD), and their graceful features, can certainly serve as an example of how the gender binary can be blurred beyond the established limitations constructed by society, similarly to the near identical physical appearance of Dwarves disregardless of gender.

And there's not much that's directly problematic about the choice to portray short-haired male Elves and beardless Dwarf women as to what the series is trying to directly express, I don't think, but I still think it's such a missed opportunity when seen from this perspective, beyond purely aesthetic preferences. Because whether consciously ot not, the media tends to reinforce normalized societal notions regarding both the beauty canon, the gender binary with its diametrically opposed notions of 'femininity' and 'masculinity', and gender roles and stereotypes (all these are usually closely related). And while Rings of Power is quite clearly consciously involved in improving the gender balance in Tolkien adaptations and defying and subverting limited gender norms in more than one respect, I just think it would have been really cool if they had fully taken the plunge in this particular case as well. But, like I said before, the series creators and the art department are still perfectly entitled to make different aesthetic choices regarding hair and beards, so while this issue will still remain a personal pet peeve (and feminist wish), it also won't stop me from enjoying the series! It's still kinda grating, though 😅.

 

Celebrimbot and Elrond in Rings of Power

And finally, I wasn't planning on talking especifically about the individual characters per se in this post, but I wanted to write briefly about Celebrimbor's casting as well: Charles Edwards’ Celebrimbor seems to have become one of the more controversial casting choices in Rings of Power, alongside the sexist and racist ‘fans’ who have taken so much exception to every single non-white and female member of the main cast. Personally, I have to say that I was very confused when the first image of Edwards as Celebrimbor came out. I do like Charles Edwards as an actor, and I'm sure he'll do a good job, but I can also freely admit that this is not how I imagine the Noldorin smith of Eregion and grandson of Fëanor to look like, by a long shot 😅. However, at the same time, I've been growing more and more tired and directly opposed to the often offensive attitude of the dissenting voices among, well, *that* faction of fans. So much so, that, even if I'm still puzzled by this very conscious casting choice, I've become somewhat protective of Edwards' Celebrimbor, of whom we have yet to see any significant material apart from a couple of promotional images and seconds-long silent appearances in a couple of teasers and promos.

 

 An issue that I would still like to comment on regarding this casting choice, however, has to do with the fact that they've consciously chosen a middle-aged actor to play an Elf who's in-universe considerably younger than Galadriel as played by Morfydd Clark in her early 30s - and, ageless appearance of Tolkien Elves aside, this does sound like a gendered double standard which extends beyond Celebrimbor's case in the realm of Tolkien adaptations (albeit perhaps not so blatantly), and also well beyond Elven casting and the fantasy genre. But for now, as regards Celebrimbor, I may still imagine him vastly different in my mind, but I'm also both fed up about the constant hate and honestly intrigued about this casting choice, and in any case, it's a wait and see situation for me at the moment. I'm reserving further opinions until I've watched this version of the leader of Eregion onscreen, and who knows, maybe he will surprise us all.  

So that's it for the general impressions! Hope you've enjoyed reading my ramblings, and hope you'll enjoy the series! We'll see how season 1 plays out, and I'll be back in the near future with more Tolkienite material 😃 Until then, I bid you all namárië!