Our Dream Roles for Amazon's LOTR
Meet some of the prime characters from Middle-earth's Second Age
Last week, we kicked off our initial thoughts about Amazon Prime’s upcoming Lord of the Rings TV series, which Amazon Studios already renewed for a second season before the first has come out. Shot in New Zealand and other parts of the world, the series will be set in the Second Age of Middle-earth, the age before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterpiece. There are all sorts of possible plots and story paths that the show can take, including into territory beyond Tolkien’s writings. Already, there is a clear signal that the creative team behind the production have assembled a multicultural cast. While this goes against preconceptions about Tolkien’s mythology, it is in fact well within the Númenórean sphere, given Númenóreans traveled far and wide.
Even so, Tolkien did not create many characters in his Second Age constructs that we might recognize as “non-Caucasian,” though he certainly sketched out some possibilities at the edges: the lands of Harad, Khand and Rhûn all summon correlations with Arabia, Mongolia (Genghis Khan) and Russia. That said, explicitly speaking, Tolkien actually kept the door open on diversity.
Númenor is an island so it draws its influences from across a broader span of Middle-earth, as ships can take one farther and swifter. The Middle-earth lands we know from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings proper, however, also contain places and people more familiar to readers and audiences, such as Galadriel, Elrond and Sauron.
There are more potential actors in the drama of the Second Age than the following who’s who — many of Amazon Studios’ roles are likely to be brand new, invented for the particular stories they want to tell — but this list should give anyone unfamiliar with Tolkien a better sense of the variety of characters who might show up on our television screens next year:
Elrond - Except for those who have not read the books or seen the films, Elrond Half-elven does not need an introduction. He is the father of Arwen and convenes the Council of Elrond, a crucial event that forms the strategy that defeats Sauron in the Third Age. But in the Second Age, this son of Eärendil and Elwing, who has mixed elven and human blood, served Gil-galad, the High King of the Noldor, in Lindon, and then after was sent east to Eregion, and later founded Imladris — Rivendell — following Sauron’s return to power. Importantly, he is the twin brother of Elros Tar-Minyatur, the first king of Númenor. His brother chose to live out his life as a mortal man, and Elrond chose the elven path, opposing Sauron for literally thousands of years until his defeat. He is wise and a great healer.
Annatar - The Lord of the Gifts is not who he seems. **Spoiler Alert** Annatar is a disguised Sauron appearing in fair and pleasing form, sharing his skills with the ingenuity of the elves of Eregion, together crafting the Rings of Power. In the Second Age, he lays low for hundreds of years after the downfall of his master, Melkor. Once he returns, he uses deception to manipulate the Númenóreans, instigates rebellion against the gods, orchestrates multiple wars, and corrupts the hearts of many.
Galadriel - If Sauron is the arch villain of the Second Age, the Lady Galadriel, along with Master Elrond, are in many ways the primary defenders of Middle-earth. Wise and powerful, she founds Lórien, providing a magical haven for elves and their allies in the long fight against Sauron. Before she becomes Queen of Lórien, she and her husband Celeborn live in Lindon with Gil-galad, then move east, settling for a time at Lake Nenuial north of the Shire, then onto Eregion, where they reside for a time during its glory. Precious to Tolkien, we can count on her being a major thread and as indicated by early reports, more critical than Elrond to the series.
Celebrían - The daughter of Galadriel and Celeborn, she weds Elrond and bears Arwen and their two sons, Elladan and Elrohir. Not a lot is written or known about Celebrían, but she is a critical link between Rivendell and Lórien. She is later waylaid by Orcs in her travels between the two elven realms, and as a result of her wounds, departing from the Grey Havens and leaving her family behind when she heads for Valinor in order to rest and heal.
Celebrimbor - A great smith and the leader of the Gwaith-i-Mírdain, the greatest craftsmen of all time save for Fëanor, who made the Silmarils — three gems filled with holy light that triggers the long war with Melkor in the First Age — he helps usher in splendor in the Second Age. Founding Eregion near Khazad-dûm, the underground mountain kingdom of Durin’s Folk, some of the most skilled dwarves of all time, together they make many great works, including objects and armor made of mithril, i.e. “true silver.” This golden era of the Second Age ends however, when Celebrimbor is tricked into helping Sauron gain the knowledge to make the One Ring.
Ar-Pharazôn - The last King of Númenor, its 24th, Ar-Pharazôn is a great warrior who assembles a huge army near the end of the Second Age and marshals them in a risky campaign to take down Sauron in Mordor. He succeeds and brings him back as a prisoner to Númenor. For the next 50 years, however, the Shadow takes hold in the great island realm, fomenting civil strife, human sacrifices, and an invasion of Valinor, the land of the gods. Númenor’s power is so great, that like the empires of Rome, Ar-Pharazôn sits at the head of a wave that literally transforms the world.
Tar-Míriel - The cousin of Ar-Pharazôn and one of the Faithful, she is forced into marriage by her cousin. She should have been the next ruling Queen of Númenor but instead Ar-Pharazôn took the Sceptre of Númenor. Tragically, her fate is sealed by Ar-Pharazôn’s treachery and she is swept up in the wrath of the gods, who punish Númenor when he launches an attack on the Blessed Realm in an attempt to forcefully claim the gift of eternal life.
Elendil - There are many great heroes and warriors of Númenor, and kings like Tar-Minastir, who helps route Sauron in the middle of the Second Age. But no Númenorean is greater, save perhaps Elros, than the faithful Elendil. Leader of the Faithful, he foresees the folly of demanding immortal life from the Valar, and instead leads four ships back to Middle-earth, escaping the destruction of the Change of the World. Landing in Lindon, he develops a great friendship with Gil-galad and founds the human realms of Arnor and Gondor. With Gil-galad, he forms an alliance of humans and elves, and takes on Sauron in Mordor at the end of the Second Age. His sword is Narsil, the precursor to Aragorn’s reforged sword, later renamed Andúril.
Gil-galad - The son of Fingon and the grandson of Fingolfin, two of the greatest elven heroes of the First Age, Ereinion Gil-galad becomes the High King of the Noldor after the Fall of Gondolin, and later the High King of the Elves of the West. After the First Age, he founds a kingdom in Lindon along the west coast of Middle-earth around the Gulf of Lhûn, which includes the fabled Grey Havens. Close to the sea elves of Middle-earth, who are led by Círdan the Shipwright, he also allies with the Númenóreans. At the end of the Second Age, he leads the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, taking on Sauron in Mordor with his friend Elendil. His mighty spear is Aeglos.
Thranduil - Son of Oropher and father of Legolas, Thranduil becomes the Elvenking of Greenwood the Great in the Third Age, which later is renamed Mirkwood. In the Second Age, he accompanies his father in the founding of the Woodland Realm, where they amass a civilization of Sindar and Nandor elves, who integrate with Silvan Elves who never journeyed west of the Misty Mountains, and are therefore more profoundly connected to the land and history of Middle-earth, versus the Noldor who went to Valinor and then returned to Middle-earth in Beleriand — a vast land west of the Ered Luin (Blue Mountains). Beleriand sank beneath the sea at the end of the First Age. Silvan Elves are different from the Sindar, or Grey Elves, who experienced the holy light of Melian the Maia, the wife of King Elwë Thingol in the realm of Doriath, which both Galadriel and Thranduil later model their own elven cultures around, helping form the long resistance to Sauron.
Glorfindel - The elves get a lot of the glory in the Second Age despite it being primarily marked by the reign of the human civilization of Númenor. Glorfindel is perhaps the most heroic of elven characters, so brave and self-sacrificing — he dies by killing a Balrog in the Fall of Gondolin in the First Age — that the Valar send him back from the dead to Middle-earth in the Second Age to help aid the Free Peoples against Sauron. In The Fellowship of the Ring book, not the film, he helps rescue Frodo on his horse Asfaloth and drives the Nazgûl into the flooding Ford of Bruinen.
Círdan the Shipwright - Born Nówë, he is one of the oldest elves in Middle-earth, a Sindar who was the most skilled in the craft of making ships, hence “Círdan the Shipwright.” In the First Age, he established an elven settlement in the Falas, a long coastal bend in Beleriand, where aided by his people they established the havens of Brithombar and Eglarest. Círdan built the mighty ship Vingilot off a vision he had had centuries earlier when he missed the great migration of the elves to Valinor. Vingilot was the ship that bore Eärendil to Valinor and to the stars. In the Second Age, Círdan becomes Master of the Grey Havens and a close counselor to Gil-galad.
Durin III - King of the dwarves of Khazad-dûm — Durin’s Folk — he rules the mountain kingdom during a golden age of friendship between his people and the elves of Celebrimbor in Eregion. He is given the chief of the seven Rings of Power given to the dwarves.
Narvi - A great dwarven smith and friend of Celebrimbor, he makes the West-Gate of Moria, a magical wall that opens when the elven word “mellon” is said, which means “friend.” It is engraved with ithildin, a magical silver substance made of mithril that only appeared in starlight or moonlight.
Stoors, Harfoots and Fallohides - There are no Hobbits of repute in the Second Age or the First Age, or at least none captured in the history of Middle-earth written by Tolkien. However, some scholars speculate that hobbits did exist early on, and like the Silvan Elves or the human tribes that lived east of the Misty Mountains — the earliest known locus of hobbits in the Vales of Anduin — were probably around for eons. This then leaves an opening for Amazon Studios to introduce hobbits in some form. If so, they can pull from the three known branches of the hobbits: the Stoors (who at the time of The Lord of the Rings still reside in the Vales of Anduin), the Harfoots and the Fallohides, all who eventually migrated west to settle the Shire in the Third Age. One of the reasons so few knew about the Shire in the Third Age is because the Rangers vigorously protected it for centuries. This brings up an intriguing relationship with the Dúnedain and the Rangers of the North, who were the descendants of Elendil and the Númenóreans. That is, maybe their allegiance goes far beyond the Third Age and back in time when the Númenóreans and elves traveled far and wide.
The Wizards - There are five known wizards in Tolkien’s legendarium. They include Gandalf, Saruman and Radagast. There are also the Blue Wizards. All of them are Maiar, or angels, who are sent by the Valar to Middle-earth to aid in the struggle against Sauron. Alatar and Pallando — the Blue Wizards — were sent in the Third Age, according to earlier texts, but later in his life, Tolkien shifted their arrival to the Second Age. Whatever the timeframe, Alatar and Pallando journey east and south far beyond Mordor, in order to contest the influence of Sauron on those lands. They become known as Morinehtar and Rómestámo, Darkness-slayer and East-helper.
The Nine - “They were once Men. Great Kings of Men. Then Sauron the Deceiver gave them Nine Rings of Power. Blinded by their greed, they took them without question, one by one, falling into darkness. And now they are slaves to his will. They are the Nazgûl, Ringwraiths, neither living nor dead.” So says Strider to Frodo and his friends in The Fellowship of the Ring film —nine mortal men doomed to die who were given what Ar-Pharazôn wanted, immortal life, except life stretched and twisted into a blackhole. Who were the Nine before they became the Nazgûl? We are told one of them was an Easterling named Khamûl. Three of them were Númenóreans. With Amazon’s take on LOTR, we may finally “find out.”
Scatha - Smaug is the last great dragon in Middle-earth, slain in the Third Age. The fire of the greater dragons could have melted the One Ring. After the First Age, the dragons settle in the Northern Wastes. There is no dragon of record in the Second Age. Besides Smaug, we learn of the dragon Scatha. The Éothéod, the ancestors of the Rohirrim, are Northmen who lived in the Vales of Anduin, and their king Fram kills Scatha in the Third Age, which means Scatha, and even Smaug, perhaps could play some role in the uncharted story-scape of Amazon’s LOTR. Anything is possible…