The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series

yung smeagol is my elvish rap name

was hoping for a show where a grizzled old detective has to settle petty grievances between hobbits

meanwhile The Ringer just described Aragorn as "the Jon Snow of Tolkien's fantasy saga" and I want to die

dance in the dark and i sing to the morning light!
imagine the runes write in gold to bring the balance
at least, the sun is shining, the clouds of blue and white
with flames from the dragon of darkness, the sunrise blind delight
bring it back!

back, at last

o now o!

writ in gold :)

xxxp i have called gandalf "lotr dumbledorf" because i couldn't remember his name

dumbledore

Clear as mud, and yet.

https://consequenceofsound.net/2018/06/peter-jackson-lord-of-the-rings-amazon/

I had a phone conversation with Amazon on that one — I think that was over a year ago and it sounded like they were doing the right thing [with the show], they have very good intentions with it, it all sounds very fascinating and exciting. However, I would not want to be the one responsible for the entire TV series, simply because I’ve never been responsible for a [long-term] series like this before in my life. So it would not be very smart if I took on the role of showrunner. What I’m actually doing right now is putting the creative team [behind the series] together.

giant eagles to pick this fuck up and drop him into hawaii thx

But Mortal Engines

which looks ok from the snippet i saw tbh

More info.

https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/jennifer-salke-lord-of-the-rings-amazon-1202840237/

Salke inherited a number of projects in the works, none bigger than a forthcoming series adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings,” the subject of a massive deal last year that Bezos involved himself personally in. According to Salke, that deal only officially closed last month. But Amazon has been meeting with writers. Salke herself spent three hours with Tolkien’s grandson Simon Tolkien, and the next step is for representatives of the Tolkien estate to meet with writers.

“It’s a partnership,” she said of Amazon’s deal with the estate. “They have some lines in the play on this on strategy and on vision. The great news about that is that they’re actually really thoughtful and smart, as you would expect.”

The Tolkien deal covers most, but not all of the material connected to the author’s Middle Earth saga. Salke said that it is still too early to say what shape, exactly, the series will take. But, she added, “It’s not a remaking of the movies, and it’s not a whole new thing. It’s something in between. It’s not, ‘Oh, it’s “Lord of the Rings” but you don’t recognize anything in it,’ but it’s not totally familiar to you either. So it’s original.”

They have some lines in the play on this

Is that a real expression?

In Santa Monica? Why not.

Hmm.

“I wisely started with a map” — J.R.R. Tolkien

— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 13, 2019

Also

Amazon @PrimeVideo #TCA19: @AmazonStudios head Jen Salke says there has been "great progress" in developing #TheLordOfTheRings series but there's no news to report.

— Michael Schneider (@franklinavenue) February 13, 2019

Just do the Children of Hurin already!

Could work...

I mean at least young Aragorn has a general arc and path to follow if that's still the initial goal, thanks to the appendices.

you can't hurry...hurin

I just have to wait?

Real heads know 1st Age > 3rd Age.

I mean Fingolfin squaring off against Morgoth versus feeb Sauron afraid to leave his tower.

In related news, this looks pretty missable
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Girzu81oS8Q

I'll still see it, just because I'm boggling over the fact that this is the director's follow-up film to his Tom of Finland biopic. THAT'S a connection I would have never expected.

Sam of Buckland

"Oo-er, Mr. Frodo."

Separately, they've tweeted out this:

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, pic.twitter.com/unJj1Bpde1

— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 15, 2019

https://www.amazon.com/adlp/lotronprime

Took me a second but something that catches my eye -- they've extended the map to the east, referencing some of Tolkien's earlier maps and sketches a bit. Was half-thinking it could be some sort of Silmarillion-referencing buildup -- Lake Cuiviénen as such isn't apparent, Hildórien maybe? -- but I'm thinking it may be more of a way to showcase some of the lands Aragorn is supposed to have wandered in when he first left Gondor.

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them, In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. #LOTRonPrime pic.twitter.com/7TuQh7gRPD

— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) March 7, 2019

the show is gonna take place in the second age and i'm immediately way more intrigued

i've met my quota on ages

This sounds more promising than Young Aragorn.

makes me wanna play Baldur's Gate

General question for Ned and other superfans: how are you feeling about all this? Are you pumped? Is this gonna be great?

Like a lot of people, I’ve read the main books and watched the films several times (er, the hobbit only once, though) and in general I love LotR. I read a little bit of the silmarillion when I was a kid but that’s about it.

Just curious if this has the potential to be amaaaaazing or if it’s better to be more skeptical at this point.

Pre Fall-of-Numenor 2nd Age could be interesting.

it's a story that hasn't been told in full in book or film form yet, just appendices and prologues, and it certainly has more appeal to me than a young Aragorn figures out how to become a hero story.

but also, if you have a billion dollar budget, just do the fuckin silmarillion maaan

but also, if you have a billion dollar budget, just do the fuckin silmarillion maaan

― voodoo chili, Thursday, March 7, 2019 12:33 PM (fifty-three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Bingo.

Or Children of Hurin. Glaurang is an evil mindfucker on the level of Zeus.

Okay wait, where are we taking the Silmarillion as ending? Because the one I have on my bookcase includes the Children of Hurin and basically ends past the end of LOTR (though those are probably appendices?)

yeah there's an appendix called "of rings of power and the third age" but the rest of the book takes place well before LOTR

Children of a Húrin is definitely in the book The Silmarillion, though an expanded standalone version was released that I liked a lot. Children of Hurin only tangentially related to the story of the Silmarils (ie no Silmarils) but does provide the backstory to the fall of Nargothrond.

Hi there! I have thoughts!

First thought -- you should all subscribe to this podcast that starts next month:

https://www.megaphonic.fm/bythebywater

Because it's, well, mine. Jared and Oriana and I will have plennnnnty of thoughts on this. And we already have, starting with her post today (and yes, subscribe to the Twitter feed please)

And for now, here's @Schwindter's initial thoughts on the news that the Amazon's series's first season focus will be the Second Age and, very likely, the Fall of Numenor. https://t.co/tGr9Qo1X2z

— By-the-Bywater (@BytheBywater) March 7, 2019

So here's what we've been able to figure -- based on the exact details of the map (and I think just about everything that's named will play a role), this is almost certainly a 'rings origin story' set in the middle of the Second Age. Rivendell does not exist, the Ost-in-Edhil predominance clearly means this is going to focus heavily on Celebrimbor, the forging of the rings of power, Sauron-as-Annatar and the eventual invasion of Eriador and Numenor's response/intervention.

On the one hand this is an intriguing blank slate -- Tolkien wrote very little specifically dealing with all this aside from appendices/backstory, and the bulk you can find he did write in more detail is scattered fragments collected in Unfinished Tales. On the other hand there's arguably the danger of overexplaining things that only needed details, and tonally they have to invent a lot of dialogue that has to balance entertainment with the estate's presumably watchful eye.

One thing I can think of is that this'll be a new casting of Elrond here, so who's the young Hugo Weaving? (In essence.)

my fav part of the map was that before Mordor, there was a perfectly enclosed region that nobody settled--was it just a dark and miserable place even before evil dropped in?

I'll definitely listen to that podcast.

I read the Silmarillion as a kid, but this isn't material that I know well. I feel like the challenge of adapting legendarium material will be to give it grounding and immediacy, the way the hobbits counterbalance the epic sweep of LOTR.

xpost At the very least, probably dry and arid, though there's a comment in LOTR that the Sea of Nurnen, though 'bitter' (a la the Dead Sea, I'm guessing), was surrounded by arable land that could be irrigated by the rivers that feed into it, and that Aragorn granted the area to Sauron's slaves who worked said fields. Gorgoroth itself was probably pretty bad in general thanks to Mt. Doom but there's no real further detail in terms of that pre-Sauron era.

I feel like the challenge of adapting legendarium material will be to give it grounding and immediacy, the way the hobbits counterbalance the epic sweep of LOTR.

Very. Tolkien himself was well aware of this when it came to the original work -- Christopher in the intro to the first Book of Lost Tales quoted a comment from Tolkien where he acknowledged this kind of deeper work on his part would be of less interest to many readers because of its "'heigh stile' -- no hobbits!" And since the hobbits as such don't really interact with these big Second Age events in any specific way, it kinda leaves the field open.

Worth noting that another Unfinished Tales entry -- which I'm particularly fond of -- called Aldarion and Erendis has the closest to 'daily life in Numenor' as Tolkien ever wrote, and there's moments of 'regular' people cropping up in the story here and there. Not enough to totally go on, though.

Forwarded your podcast to a huge Tolkien nerd friend, who subscribed immediately. Will report back!

Ha, nothing is happening for another month (very busy schedule on my end and we also wanted to get a visit to the Tolkien exhibition in NYC under our belt). But we figured we could stoke interest a bit!

Anyway, thanks!

Meantime I have to wonder if they're going to stick with that title as it stands -- The Lord of the Rings on Prime is, how you say, unwieldy and inaccurate. Idle thought, though, is that if this is a Rings of Power origin story, arguably the whole idea is showing how Sauron became such a figure, etc., and then the prime mover for millennia for any number of things. The map extensions to the east and south could factor in.

just seen it described under the twitter heading of

young sauron

cunts