[+] The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - SPOILERS ALLOWED

[Hriston]

There are two schools of thought on that; one of them, as you say, says that he's talking about Narya, where the other notes that "Anor" is the Sindarin for "sun" and concludes that he's referring to the fruit of Laurelin and thus the light of Valinor in general.

Or just what it says: the Secret Fire, which is the Flame Imperishable which is with Ilúvatar and gives reality and life to all creation. Tolkien said it’s the Holy Ghost, so basically on a mission from God.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

There are two schools of thought on that; one of them, as you say, says that he's talking about Narya, where the other notes that "Anor" is the Sindarin for "sun" and concludes that he's referring to the fruit of Laurelin and thus the light of Valinor in general.

Seems like that leads back to the ring, to me, but yeah I don’t think the Stranger is Gandalf.
Some fan service is just too silly.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Offensive? How can this be offensive? Who is insulted by this, in what way, and how is it offensive to you?

When Tolkien visited the USA he was dismayed about just how seriously people were taking his work, which he was well aware was just a piece of fiction created for his own amusement. He was concerned that is had become a substitute for "true" religion, as he believed it. By that time he was too old to do much about it, although he touches on those issues in his forward to LotR.

 

[trappedslider]

I'm getting to the point of asking "Which appendices is that in?" when someone brings up something that clearly isn't in it.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Apparently, not very. I watched a few youtube videos purporting to be examples of West Midlands and/or Black Country accents, and it's not quite like I imagined. It actually reminded me a bit of recordings of Tolkien I've heard though.


I had a copy of the Nicol Williamson reading of The Hobbit when I was growing up, and I've always imagined Bilbo and other hobbits using the same accent he uses for the character. It's similar to the one used by Sean Astin for Sam in the Peter Jackson movie (although I'm sure it was butchered pretty badly by him). It's not quite what I heard in those videos, though, as a West Midlands or Black Country accent. I read that Williamson spent a lot of time in Birmingham growing up, though, so it might not be that far off.

Tolkien spent some time growing up in the Black Country, so it's probably pretty close to his imagined "hobbit" accent. Not familiar with that reading though. I first heard the Hobbit read to the class by my primary school teacher. Who I guess had a Liverpool accent since I lived in Liverpool at the time. With regard to the Harfoots, my first thought was "what accent?!" (apart from the occasional Australian twang) so I guess it's pretty close to the accents I grew up with in Liverpool, Lancashire and Yorkshire.

As for dwarves, the "dwarven accent" was a well established trope long before the LotR movies. Check out Baldur's Gate CRPG, and even, in written form, some of the Forgotten Realms novels. It's parodied by Terry Pratchett. I detected more Welsh than Scots in TRoP dwarves. There is a kind of logic in that. The Welsh are stereotypically famous for their mining and singing.

 

[TheSword]

Seems like that leads back to the ring, to me, but yeah I don’t think the Stranger is Gandalf.
Some fan service is just too silly.

I’d stake all the money in pocket it is Sauron. He broke the halflings leg with magic, consciously or unconsciously! He kills fireflies! He flares up fire when he gets emotional. This guy is sinister.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I’d stake all the money in pocket it is Sauron. He broke the halflings leg with magic, consciously or unconsciously! He kills fireflies! He flares up fire when he gets emotional. This guy is sinister.

But why would Sauron be "in the sky"? So far as we know he is lurking somewhere in Middle Earth. And it's said he was completely unaware of halflings until he encountered Gollum.

There is a middle option: Saruman.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Yeah, there's definitely something unresolved with that. My best guess is that they've been picked up by a Corsair ship, and that the wyrm will be their unintentional rescuer from that situation.

It's a Numenorean ship, and the shadow is Isildur.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I'm getting to the point of asking "Which appendices is that in?" when someone brings up something that clearly isn't in it.

There are no "stories" in the appendix (apart from the tale of Aragorn and Arwen, most of which made it into the extended edition of the movies). As in "here are some characters, and this stuff happens to them" (there isn't much of that in the Silmarillion either, JRRT did not think it was in a suitable state for publication when he died). The poems are a significant source with regards to narrative. There is a timeline in the appendices.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

But why would Sauron be "in the sky"? So far as we know he is lurking somewhere in Middle Earth. And it's said he was completely unaware of halflings until he encountered Gollum.

There is a middle option: Saruman.

Because Saruman first comes to Middle-Earth in the 3rd Age with Gandalf and Radagast and the two "blue mages".

And Sauron is the fallen angel Lucifer, so maybe they made that comparison a bit more literal for the show?