Amazon's the Rings of Power debuts this week (tonight!) after years of production and much wonderment about what it's going to include. I, at the moment, count myself largely skeptical the show will be any good, much less faithful to JRR Tolkien's work. But I'll give it a chance and can't altogether skip such substantial content from my all-time favorite property.
Back in February I wrote a post on the source material for the show. A short version is this: Amazon spent an absurd amount of money basically to adapt the appendices that appear at the back of the third book in the Lord of the Rings series, The Return of the King. This includes brief explainers (Appendix A) on a number of the groups appearing in the story like the kings of Numenor and their descendants, the horse-riders of Rohan and Durin's folk, the dwarves. There's not a ton on the Elves. Most of the events that'll happen on the new show will likely come from a high-view timeline (Appendix B) showing thousands of years of history. They did not gain the rights to other books, such as The Silmarillion, which covers many of these events in more detail. It's kind of a weird situation but Amazon wants their own Game of Thrones, which, somewhat ironically, they'll be competing against directly. Luckily the wait is over and we can finally see what they put together.
Originally the Rings of Power post was an outgrowth of another idea. To connect my original thought to the show required too much background and the background ended up as the sole focus. Now it's time for the fun tidbit that initiated it.
First let's look again at the Ring Verse, which'll be a central theme:
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky
Seven for the Dwarf-lord in their halls of stone
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to bind them
One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie
The One is the ring carried by Frodo, accompanied, at least part of the way, by the Fellowship. If you've read or watched the Lord of the Rings, this ring needs no explainer. The Nine rings created the Ring-wraiths from nine once-great kings of men. The Seven rings drove the dwarves underground like never before in a mad search for gems and other precious materials. The Three, held by the Elves, were handled more carefully. When the Elf bearers felt the power of the One Ring, which would have overwhelmed and bent them to the will of Sauron, they took them off. This kicked off the first war against Sauron, which ended following the Last Alliance of Elves and Men and Isildur taking the One Ring.
Which Elves wore those three rings? One was given to Galadriel from the start. We know Galadriel as the Lady of Lothlórien, who was tempted by Frodo when he offered the One Ring (a test she passes). Renowned for her beauty and power, she's one of the most important Elves still in Middle Earth, and oldest, born before the First Age. She's the niece of Fëanor, creator of the Silmarils, and mother-in-law of Elrond, master of Rivendell (thus also grandmother to Arwen). The other two rings were initially given to Gil-galad, High King of the Elves in Middle Earth, but he didn't hold onto them or survive the war. Of those two, one was given to Elrond, who you probably already know. The third was given to Círdan, ship-builder and master of the Gray Havens, from where Elven ships depart for Valinor (aka heaven). Círdan has been around, more or less, since the beginning of time but barely makes an appearance in the Lord of the Rings. He only greets the party when Bilbo and Frodo make it to the Grey Havens at the end. That said, he still has an impact. Known for his foresight, Círdan gives his ring to another early in the Third Age, before the story begins, as a powerful tool in the coming renewed battle with Sauron. Remember, as long as Sauron did not hold the One Ring the three rings could safely be used.
By the way, each of these rings has a name. I'll list these along next to their known bearers.
Vilya (Elrond) - blue, ring of air, healing/preservation
Nenya (Galadriel) - white, ring of water, concealment from evil
Narya (Círdan) - red, ring of fire, resists despair
When the Fellowship passes through Moria they awaken shadow and flame, Durin's Bane. Balrogs, for those that don't know, were creatures of the First Age and created by Morgoth (or Melkor). The discovery of this ancient demon results in the exciting race through the enormous dwarf halls and ends at a narrow pass called the bridge of Khazad-dûm (the dwarvish name for the kingdom of Moria). It's there that Gandalf makes a stand, buying time for the others to escape, and gives his most famous line.
But before those words he says something else, perhaps lost on the majority of viewers (or readers).
'I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow!'
Flame of Udûn is just a description of the Balrog by Gandalf. Udûn is a valley in Mordor, land of evil, and the Balrog is clearly made of fire, so 'Flame of Udûn' is apt. The other phrases are more important. The Secret Fire is the power of the creator of the universe, Eru Ilúvatar. Gandalf serves Eru and the Valar (the gods who shaped and ruled the world after its creation) as a force of good. Hence he's certainly a 'servant of the Secret Fire.' This is a detail I didn't know (or more likely, remember). 'Wielder of the flame of Anor' is what I want to talk about. Anor is one of the Elvish words for sun, so it's like he's carrying 'the light of the sun.' (Light and darkness are key themes here). But what this means, precisely, is apparently debated. Supposedly it could just be a name for the power granted to him by the gods.
My opinion, instead, is that Gandalf here reveals his possession of Narya, the ring of Fire, a mighty gift from Círdan. He may even be using its power, as it seems helpful against a massive creature made of flames. I like this because otherwise we might never know this detail, at least from the films alone (unless you have a very keen eye). It also makes an already awesome scene even cooler. In the books, fwiw, Gandalf is expressly revealed as the ring's bearer, but not until just before they depart the Gray Havens.
So that's what I really wanted to write about when it came to the rings of power. Whether or not it's actually true I always felt like I knew something no one else did. Since the wizards don't even appear in Middle Earth until the Third Age, I doubt we see Gandalf receiving his ring on the show, though it'd be a fun addition to be sure. We'll have to stick with the Elves that make (Celebrimbor) and receive the three (Gil-galad, Elrond, Galadriel, Círdan) and everything else that happens during the Second Age. That content should be more than interesting enough, if they do it right.
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