"The Rings of Power" Vanity Fair article

[Huinesoron]

As G55 says, we have the trailer now, and also two followup articles from Vanity Fair:

Teaser Trailer 1 (Superbowl Trailer)
Secrets of 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Teaser' Trailer (Vanity Fair)
10 Burning Questions About Amazon’s 'The Rings of Power' (Vanity Fair)

I'll obviously do a trailer response later, but for now I want to poke one specific point:

Names

The show's name-game is... kind of rubbish, actually. Ignoring the canon characters and places, here's what we've got so far:

• Arondir - Silvan elf. Plausible Sindarin (maybe something like Arod+Nir, "Noble Tears"?), but as a Silvan elf he should be using a slightly different form. Even Legolas does this, rather than being pure Sindarin Laegolas.
• Halbrand - Unspecified mortal on a raft. Tolerable Sindarin (Hal+Brand, "Tall and Towering"), which would make him... what, non-Numenorean Edain? It just feels like they've taken Brand (son of Bain son of Bard) and slapped an Edainic (specifically Haladin) prefix onto him.
• Tirharad - Village in "the Southlands". Obvious Sindarin Tir+Harad, "Guard (of the) South", but I don't think Tir- would actually compound like that. Also: why does a mortal village have a Sindarin name?
• Bronwyn - Mortal woman in Tirharad. But her name is Welsh. And not old-fashioned Welsh, which would be a clever way of extending the Old English/Old Norse 'translations'. It's just a modern Welsh name. (And apparently not much used in Wales, because -wyn is usually masculine.)
• Carine - Isildur's sister. If written and pronounced as Carinë [Ka-REE-nay], looks like plausible Quenya (no obvious meaning, but could just be Car+inë, "Maker"). If pronounced as an English speaker would (ca-REEN), it's neither Quenya nor Adunaic, but looks more French.
• Disa - dwarf princess. Okay, I know there's not a lot to work with, but this is literally the only known female dwarf name with an English feminine ending stuck on. (You couldn't find anything in the Eddas?!)
• Elanor "Nori" Brandyfoot - I like her. She's adorable. I look forward to seeing her explore Middle-earth. But ye Valar that's a bad name. She's named for an Elvish flower which I don't think blooms anywhere east of Lindon at this point - certainly nowhere her family would have seen. The flower is yellow, which doesn't have anything to do with her (unlike Elanor Gardner). The name is abbreviated - fine, Hobbits do that - but to a canon (male!) dwarf name. And the surname combines her species name with a river that none of her people have ever seen. It's just... really bad.

I just... languages, and the names that come from them, were kind of Tolkien's whole deal. I would have expected them to put a lot more effort into making things fit properly.

So there we go! Finally, something I unambiguously dislike.

hS

[Huinesoron]

Okay, trailer review, using G55's numbering, and drawing on the Vanity Fair reaction article (which seems to have extra information):


1. A lovely opening shot of what VF confirms to be Numenor. The archway has some nice patterning on it, and the ship looks like an interesting design. The tower (ooh, it's a lighthouse!) has a movie-Imladris feel to it, and presumably the Argonathalike is Elros. Almost has to be Romenna. The Meneltarma is nice and imposing, though I always pictured it taller than it is wide.

2. Flyover of the Meeple. This looks very like the famous flyover of the Fellowship all strung out in a line from the movie - it might even be the same filming location! I'm not convinced the Meeple are even characters; they may just be scenery to show that M-e is full of primitive nomads right now. (VF says they're "not particularly central to the story".) I feel like the valley behind gets more of a dramatic reveal than it really warrants; there's nothing there! Did they forget some SFX?

3. Nori! The name's still dumb, but this is Nori Brandyfoot, the Harfoot. She's almost certainly the voiceover as well. VF says the Harfeet live "within the forest and fields", so my guess is eastern Mirkwood (exactly as various people are saying upthread!). I think she's adorable.

4. Waterfall, and an ice-choked river running from it, leading into:

5. Galadriel climbing the ice-cliff beside said waterfall. VF says this "is clearly the Forodwaith", but that means they don't know. It's obviously the source of the rumours about the Helcaraxe appearing in episode 1, but yeah, we don't know. It's ice. Could be anywhere from the Grinding Ice to Mindolluin. I'm not impressed with her climbing technique; I wonder whether she's meant to have fallen from the top? Would explain why she's using her dagger to climb. There are at least three other billowing cloaks below her, suggesting a party of climbers/fallers.

Her 8-rayed star emblem makes a reappearance. It looks like it has uneven rays, which makes it not the Star of Feanor (which in any case should have 16). It could be based on the House Finarfin emblem, which has 8 'rays' and a central circle; but I think it's just a generic star for the High Elves.

6. Halbrand on his raft. The raft seems to have bits of sail, and what looks like a grille, so I think it's actually a chunk of wrecked ship. The colour scheme seems to match the Numenorean ship, so maybe he's a Numenorean mariner (and buddy of Isildur)? But then his name is in the wrong language...

7. Arondir in the woods, showing off his arrow-fu. Little bit silly, but oddly enough a quick Google confirms that catching an arrow in flight is physically possible. There's three arrows coming at him, and they look like they might be black-fletched (his are red) - Orcs?

8. The fireball. Flies over a gnarled-looking wood that I would parse as Mirkwood-y. This would make sense; see later.

8a. Gil-Galad looking up. Are those gold leaves? Have they put mellyrn in Lindon? Tolkien explicitly stated that they didn't grow there, though at least Gil-Galad was canonically gifted them (which is where Galadriel got hers). If the fireball is east of the Mountains, he might not actually be looking at it; there's no yellow glow on his face.

9. Galadriel, leading an armoured cavalry charge... well, could be anywhere from Forodwaith to Ithilien.

10. Galadriel again (I recognise her chainmail), in a cave with snow on the ground, finding a goblitroll thing; I think it's ice-encrusted. Putting this together with the waterfall and the claims about her "fool's errand" - she's hunting through the North for traces of evil, and oh look, she found some. Possibly she winds up in the Sea while trying to get home (shades of Arvedui) - ie, her 'crazy solo quest' is actually just the first couple of episodes, before she can get word back to Lindon that she was right after all.

11. Elves, forest, and a cliff over the sea. I reckon this is Lindon, and that could be Gil-Galad in the middle. It would match the image of Lindon in the Galadriel-Elrond reunion shot from the first VF article. So... yeah, either it's autumn, or TV!Gil-Galad has figured out how to grow mellyrn.

12. Prince Durin IV. The 10 Questions article says he's the son of Durin III, which... I mean, it's not quite ruled out by the books and timelines, but would make the superstition that they were both reincarnations of Durin I a bit hard to cling to.

13. Elrond is not happy about that rock. He seems to be in Khazad-Dum, and I like the detail that he's got wing-patterning on his shoulders - his grandfather led the House of the Wing! I'm not sure what the rod is that he's holding - it's clearly of dwarf-make.

14. Disa, singing. The original VF article described this as a "scene-stealing" moment, and the later ones have talked about dwarves using chants to sound out the rock. I mean... sure?

15. Galadriel on Halbrand's raft. She's lost her armour, and might even be naked; she's also unbraided her hair for some reason. And onoes! She's an elf! It doesn't seem like she expects that to go down well.

16. The fireball has landed, and Nori is pulling The Stranger out of it. Wild Mass Guessing on the internet says this could be one of the Istari, or maybe Sauron somehow. The producers are being very cagey about it, and seem to expect it to be an eagerly-discussed mystery. Not gonna lie, this looks kind of daft.

17. Prince Durin smashes a rock, while at least three older dwarves look on. VF want this to be a rock-smashing contest with Elrond. I mean... it could be the same rock? Would imply that the rod Elrond had was actually the handle of an axe. But that seems very silly.

18. Arondir attacking a ship. Could it be... a Numenorean ship? Is he fighting off Numenorean slave-takers who are attacking mortal villages? Please?

19. Gold armour, shields with trees on ("the tree of the High Elves" from the doors of Moria), and a blond elf we've not seen elsewhere looking very distressed at being attacked by Orcs. That's... it isn't... please tell me this isn't supposed to be The Death of Finrod. I don't ask for much, but please don't let that be Finrod. (The fire in the background could imply this is the same sequence as the one we first saw armoured Galadriel's photo in?)

20. Nori and the Stranger, holding hands. I guess they're going to go about together being mysterious and secretive. Even if he's not Gandalf, he's certainly implied to fill a Gandalf-like space. (Maybe he's Bom Tombadil! )


Overall? I don't hate it. Some of it's silly, but a trailer will always bend towards the most visually distinctive moments. I doubt Arondir spends his entire time catching arrows, and Galadriel almost certainly stands on the ground at some point. I am not sold on the fireball, but... well, so far we don't know anything about it, and I think I can allow them at least one Deus Ex Machina. We'll see where it goes.

I do really like the designs, and the varied colour palette! It might actually make it possible to tell everything apart! And the Lindon "mallorns" look a lot closer to my image of mellyrn than what Movie Lorien gave us.

Coming September 2nd, Tolkien's death-day. Umm... maybe that's a little on-the-nose.

hS

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

My only comment on the trailer is that, visually, it looks nothing like the world of the Sil I have in my mind.

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Eomer of the Rohirrim

My only comment on the trailer is that, visually, it looks nothing like the world of the Sil I have in my mind.

I like Numenor. I think that has potential. I also like some things purely visually, but they seem to be geographically misplaced or otherwise questionable, depending on their true identity.

Originally Posted by Hui

Gold armour, shields with trees on ("the tree of the High Elves" from the doors of Moria), and a blond elf we've not seen elsewhere looking very distressed at being attacked by Orcs. That's... it isn't...*please*tell me this isn't supposed to be The Death of Finrod.

No. Noooooooooooo! Please don't!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by Hui

So... yeah, either it's autumn, or TV!Gil-Galad has figured out how to grow*mellyrn.

Two roads diverged in two yellow woods,
And sorry I could not have it both
And be one geographic location.

Originally Posted by Hui

So there we go! Finally, something I unambiguously dislike.*

For Bronwyn - I wonder if she is somehow supposed to evoke Rohan's (Old English) -wyn endings in Eowyn, Theodwyn... But then don't pick a Welsh name to do the job.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

My first thoughts on the trailer were rather succint (mostly surprised by the closeness of the aesthetic to our late [figuratively] Mr. Jackson - Meeple valley a copypasted Rohan, the Rivendell-like setting with a "Council" of sorts, all Elves looking like Legolas only with short hair, male Dwarves looking JUST like PJ Dwarves, a cave-troll only being different in that it seems to have a beard or what? Which would be innovative, and nice for some Northern Troll, for warmth...), but I cannot resist to add a couple of ideas after reading these.

I completely agree on that Nori Brandyfoot must be the worst name of the year. With supposedly separating the Harfoots from the Hobbits by millennia, I was hoping for something along the lines of Déagol and Sméagol. Or even further back. Brandyfoot sounds like a proper Shire-dwelling holbytla. Shame on you, whoever came up with AND approved this name. Otherwise I'd say, as the classic would say, not great, not terrible.

Gil-Galad, to paraphrase Thorin Oakenshield, looks more like a trader than High King of Noldor. Or okay, he looks kingly all right - but he and Galadriel should have swapped places. He should be the one in the shiny silver armour ("his shining helm afar was seen"), and she should rather be the one looking like tsar's deputy.

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

16. The fireball has landed, and Nori is pulling The Stranger out of it. Wild Mass Guessing on the internet says this could be one of the Istari, or maybe Sauron somehow. The producers are being very cagey about it, and seem to expect it to be an eagerly-discussed mystery. Not gonna lie, this looks kind of daft.

I absolutely did not pay attention to this when I watched it. But now your description made me somehow think about some sort of Lucifer-trope, "falling from heaven like a lightning". That could be any Maia (hopefully not Istari yet!!!), Sauron (cool by me) or another "thing of terror... flying from Thangorodrim..." *cough ifsomethinghadwings cough*

Originally Posted by Hui

Coming September 2nd, Tolkien's death-day. Umm... maybe that's a little on-the-nose.

Are you familiar with the concept of the death of the author? Perhaps unintended, but most appropriate...

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

[*]Tirharad - Village in "the Southlands". Obvious Sindarin Tir+Harad, "Guard (of the) South", but I don't think Tir- would actually compound like that. Also: why does a mortal village have a Sindarin name?

What if it's a Númenorean-built village, a "colony outpost", i.e. guarding against those barbarians? Think Roman outposts in Britain just after their first landing or whatnot. Bronwyn or whoever "native" Middle-Earthians can be just part of the population, or - the uncivilised barbarians they were - settled it after the builders were chased out (by Sauron's cronies? Ok, I am already spinning tales here), because I mean, existing working infrastructure.

Originally Posted by Hui

And onoes! She's an elf! It doesn't seem like she expects that to go down well.

This may be one of my least favourite things in the trailer.
1) I grudgingly allowed to half-close my eyes when PJ had the pointy-eared Elves (and Hobbits!!! Incidentally, did anyone ear-inspect the Harfeet?), but using it as THE defining characteristic is just WRONG. You should be able to recognise an Elf otherwise anyway. 2) Why does it imply that being an Elf is something wrong? Because that's what it indeed looks like. This is not Sapkowski.

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

I like Numenor. I think that has potential. I also like some things purely visually, but they seem to be geographically misplaced or otherwise questionable, depending on their true identity.

Well I first thought it was Lindon, because it looks just like the Grey Havens in LotR, only with more statues. Well, that's a pity. I hoped for a more different design for Númenor. Something more oriental-like, more over-the-top, massive. Think anything from Kremlin through Mezoamerican pyramids to Taj Mahal. Or at least in the Pharazonian era - maybe that will change later; I'd be very happy with that kind of development.

[William Cloud Hicklin]

"Dori Harfoot" - at a time when, if halflings existed at all - was millennia before the Hobbits adopted Westron around the settling of Bree, is just a cardinal illustration of the fact that the writers and showrunners don't know and, worse, don't care about the material they are pretending to "adapt."

What this is of course really is 3rd rate schlock fantasy with a ridiculous budget, with Tolkien branding casually slapped on at random like sponsors' logos on a racing car. This is no more "Middle-earth" than Caligula was "ancient Rome" Without even any good porn sequences.

[Huinesoron]

Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

This may be one of my least favourite things in the trailer.
1) I grudgingly allowed to half-close my eyes when PJ had the pointy-eared Elves (and Hobbits!!! Incidentally, did anyone ear-inspect the Harfeet?), but using it as THE defining characteristic is just WRONG. You should be able to recognise an Elf otherwise anyway. 2) Why does it imply that being an Elf is something wrong? Because that's what it indeed looks like. This is not Sapkowski.

I don't think we can see Nori's ears, but aren't Hobbits the only ones we know had pointed ears? Tolkien Gateway says it's from Letter 27, and I think it's sometimes used to argue that elves did too (it's the "slightly pointed and 'elvish'" line).

If Halbrand is a Numenorean - which I theorise he is - then in these latter days he may never have seen an elf. We know that back in the First Age, the likes of Turin could be mistaken for elves; I don't think it's implausible that Numenoreans who lived (just about) in sight of Eressea would be of similar appearance.

As for #2: if Halbrand is Numenorean, then for a thousand years or more Numenorean society has been turning hard against the elves. I don't think Galadriel would be overly trusting of a people who are claiming most of Middle-earth as their own personal slave-taking playground, and literally had a king who called himself "Lord of the West".

(Also, she might just be offended he's playing with her hair! )

hS