One Ring to Rule Them All? Whom Should Lord of the Rings Fans Truly Blame for the Alterations Seen in Amazon’s Rings of Power Trailers?

The trailers for Amazon’s streaming series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has fans of Professor Tolkien and his timeless Middle-earth furious over their clear disregard for the mythos. Amazon, having bought the rights to a television series straight from the Tolkien Estate in 2017, wasted no time fabricating one. Fans of these enduring epics doubtless felt more than mild misgivings at this news, given how many franchises have suffered at the hands of cultural and historical revisionists intent on remaking the real world rather than in honoring the fictional source material. But others were more willing to give the show a chance.

As of February 2022, that willingness has been revoked with the view of the trailers, and people immersed in the lore of Tolkien’s mythology are taking up verbal arms against Amazon when they should be directing their ire elsewhere. Some were already worried when premiere Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey was dismissed from the series along with the rest of the writing staff and the first season put on indefinite hiatus. Amazon has since claimed this was due to Shippey violating a non-disclosure agreement with them, but this has yet to be confirmed. Regardless, the fact that Shippey – the most prominent Tolkien scholar living – had been removed from the project was cause for alarm.

In addition to the trailers, multiple supportive articles by media outlets such as Variety have had their effusive praise eviscerated by longtime Lord of the Rings fans of every race, nationality, and creed for their willful ignorance of Middle-earth’s canon. As the television rights do not include any parts of Tolkien’s legendarium published posthumously, Amazon’s only source of Second Age material – which is the timeframe wherein they claim to be setting the series – is the Appendices in The Return of the King. The Appendices compress Middle-earth’s history and leave out items included in The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales, among other books.

It is already clear that the writers Amazon hired for the series have ignored the source material. Galadriel, a passive leader of her people who never entered combat as a warrior, is made to lead Elven armies to fight the remnants of Morgoth’s forces. A Dwarven queen of Moria has been introduced but, since she lacks a beard, fans have become irate at Amazon’s choice. The decision to have a male Silvan Elf (a less wise branch of the Elven race simply because they did not join the Valar in the Undying Lands but chose to remain in Middle-earth) court a human woman is considered by fans to be a cheap attempt to rewrite Beren and Luthién’s romance. Amazon cannot broach that particular subject because they do not hold the rights to the books wherein the couple’s adventures are recorded.

Tom Shippey

The Tolkien Estate, which sold these television rights directly to Amazon following Christopher Tolkien’s decision to retire as head of the Estate in 2017, could have vetoed these changes at any time. In a July interview with the German Tolkien Gesellschaft in 2019, before he was fired by Amazon, Tom Shippey told the fan outlet that:

“…the Tolkien Estate keeps a very careful eye on everything and is quite capable of saying no. They retain a veto over everything that concerns Tolkien.”

In other words, it seems the only reason Amazon has been allowed to make such flagrant alterations to the source material is that the Tolkien Estate has allowed these changes or at least has not refused them. Rather than follow in the late Christopher Tolkien’s footsteps and jealously guard their inheritance, they have opted to franchise Middle-earth very much in the manner of Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Star Wars, Marvel Comics, and many other fan-beloved institutions that have suffered from abuse by Orc-ish corporations.

At this point, the only people left to guard Tolkien’s legendarium are a few scholars – namely Tom Shippey, Tom Simon, Joseph Pearce, Jonathan Witt and Jay Richards – and the wide, diverse fanbase that has immersed itself in The Lord of the Rings and the related books. The Tolkien Estate has abdicated its responsibility to oversee and protect the material to which it is heir while the Zaentz Co., which owns Middle-earth Enterprises and holds the licensing rights for motion picture production and the video games, intends to put those rights up for sale this year. Amazon has already opened hostilities with fans by encouraging the series’ directors and Amazon-approved Tolkien scholars to mock them through various media articles (like these Variety pieces here and here). It has also begun trying to oust fans from their own fandom with the “superfans” interview video, where those decrying the desecration of this masterpiece are told they aren’t real fans at all.

This is, as actor Kramer at Living Anachronism stated here, precisely what was done to Star Wars’ fandom. It is what has happened to fans of Star Trek, Marvel and DC Comics, Terminator, Ghostbusters, and far too many other great epics in the last many years. Thus far, Tolkien fans who have been involved with the mythos for most of their lives have remained united in their opposition to Amazon’s abuse of The Lord of the Rings. However, if they want to stop them in their tracks, they will have to do more than simply embarrass Amazon to the point they remove their “superfans” video because it was “ratioed” (i.e. received more dislikes than likes) and received thoughtful comments rebutting the interviewees’ statements. They will have to hit them where they hurt – the pocket book.

Don’t watch it. It’s that simple.

Fans can buy copies of The Lord of the Rings and related media from other outlets, host local gatherings where they can invite those who live in their areas to attend or read The Hobbit at their local libraries to a group of children through a volunteer program. Simply discussing the material and fandom with those who have never encountered it before could work as well. Displaying figurines from the movies or the games in one’s cubicle, wearing jewelry based on Middle-earth, or even citing the books in appropriate conversations will help refute Amazon’s claims. The Mouth of Sauron’s power is only as great as his listeners allow it to become. Forcing him to keep his poisonous tongue behind his teeth robs him of his strength and renders him mute. Speak about the original material to those who do not know it and may be taken in by Amazon’s tactics.

If it is war which Amazon seeks, then fans should make ready to wage it as Tolkien would have: By presenting his real work to those who have never encountered it before. The lies of Wormtongue and Saruman were defeated by exposure to the truth.

Fans should remember that and react to Rings of Power accordingly. Shine the light from Earendil’s star, captured in the phial of Galadriel, and Shelob retreats. The Watchers’ power will break, and fans can pass from Minas Morgul to throw the One Ring of Amazon into the fires of Mount Doom, where it belongs. Fans are the ones with the true power. Whether Man, Elf, Dwarf, Hobbit, or anything in between, they can overcome Amazon. “What can men do against such reckless hate?” Théoden asked in The Two Towers.

The answer now is the same as before: “Ride out and meet them!”

“Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden!

Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter!

spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered,

a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises!

Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!” – “The Ride of the Rohirrim,” The Return of the King