The Lord of the Rings films is what made J.R.R. Tolkien’s work popular for many fans, but the recent Rings of Power showed where the filmmakers went wrong. In an interview with Le Monde in 2012, Christopher Tolkien who had continued his father’s work said, “The chasm between the beauty and seriousness of the work, and what I has become, has overwhelmed me. The commercialization has reduced the aesthetic and philosophical impact of the creation to nothing.” This seemed harsh criticism to me until I had seen Rings of Power which had the involvement of the Tolkien Estate. The effect of World War I on Tolkien was recently covered in the October issue of National Geographic: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/jrr-tolkien-write-stories-rings-power-180980686/ It is Tolkien putting into a fantasy world, the horror and pain he felt with the Great War, and puts his work in perspective. Two Towers had the Uruk-hai marching on Helm’s Deep, we see the refugees in the Glittering Caves below the fortress, they are afraid of the conflict, but survive. The Last, Last Alliance of Elves and Men doesn’t make too much sense, Dwarves would fit, but let's move on.
Gondorian archers draw their bows. Implausible, an archer can draw a bow, but not a few minutes, and would strain holding it, making an arrow inaccurate. Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) says in Elvish, “Prepare to fire”, that is a mistake, there is no chemical reaction in using a bow. It is a physical action. Use of guns has made the term, “fire” regular for any fantasy-type story, but wrong. Even if an arrowhead was lit by a torch, the action is still "loose" not "fire." It would be more “Ready to loose.” Théoden (Bernard Hill) orders a volley and again the “Fire!” order. Then, we have Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) sliding under an Uruk-hai to cut him down with his axe. He shouts to Legolas (Orlando Bloom), “Legolas! Two already!” and the Elf responds with “I’m on 17!” This leads to a friendly rivalry between the two veteran warriors, Elf and Dwarf, which I liked when I saw Lord of the Rings. I’m going to overlook the physics-defying Legolas. J.R.R. Tolkien fought in the Great War and lost two friends in the Battle of the Somme. It is possible that gallows humor is possible between soldiers, but I doubt it is in the spirit of Professor Tolkien to make light of the situation. It was several episodes of Rings of Power that made me think that the television series was more respectful to Tolkien. In episode seven of Rings of Power, “The Eye”, within the volcanic ash left after the eruption of Mount Orodruin, Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin) has joined Galadriel (Morfyyd Clark).
The destruction of the Southlands, death and injury of many of the Southlanders and Númenóreans, takes away from any glory of war. Theo is angry at the loss of his home. He wants revenge and Galadriel sees the situation, she has been through revenge, and tells Theo that it is over. Later, as they walk, Theo wants to know the number of Orcs she killed. Galadriel answers, “Many.” Theo likes this body count, but Galadriel says, “It darkens the heart, to call dark deeds `good.’” Legolas and Gimli with long lives don’t seem to know this principle. Galadriel says it is corrupting and then tells him, “Every war is fought both without and within. Of that every soldier must be mindful.” Galadriel gives him her sword, maybe she has given up the role of soldier, and even more seeing that Theo could be a soldier who fights with consideration of the consequences. There is understanding that war is costly, I think the intent of Tolkien, really seen almost in contrast to the Lord of the Rings movies. Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy brought in many new fans, which raised Tolkien's book sales which is great, in turn, I hope that everyone can see that Rings of Power captures the tone and world of J.R.R. Tolkien's work and both works can be appreciated.
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