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

[BRayne]

Because Strider was never a hobbit...

Last time, you said Bilbo’s front door was blue, and you said Thorin had a gold tassel on his hood, but you’ve just said that Bilbo’s front door was green, and the tassel on Thorin’s hood was silver

 

[Hriston]

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.

As someone from the West Midlands and currently living there I can say that there aren’t any characters with a Black Country accent in TRoP. (Though Lenny Henry is from Dudley).

These are two good examples of that accent which is really distinctive. Gran and the Bloody Baron. Both from the Witcher 3 game. You definitely know it when you hear it. You can also hear it in the Peaky Blinders series, which is set in and around Birmingham.



So Sean Austin in LOTR had a West Country accent common to SW england - particularly Cornwall. The quintessential farmers accent. Which I guess is easy to confuse with Black Country because of the name. In the first video with Gran, Little Jonny has a classic West Country accent.

Nicol Williamson actually speaks pretty good RP Queens English without any accent at all when reading The Hobbit. Though he tends to use Yorkshire accents for dwarves… which I’m sure started a trend.

The Harfoots definitely have an Irish base with there own twang. That’s been corroborated by producers. To be honest I think they’re trying to evoke the British traveler community accent which also has a strong Irish twang and would make a lot of sense in the context. But maybe they’re downplaying that in interviews.

Here's an example of the voices Nicol Williamson did for Bilbo and Gollum:

Bilbo's accent seems somewhat regional and has been how I imagine hobbits talking since I first heard it. I'd be interested if either of you think it's West Midlands or something else that Williamson might have been going for.

 

[Stalker0]

I feel happy for anybody that enjoys this series, I really tried to at least be intrigued by the mysteries and the beautiful scenery but the dialogue and pacing is GOT season 7 and 8 bad.

pacing wise if anything it’s the opposite of GoT season 8. GoT plot was moving lightning fast by the end, quick to the point of absurdity (ie teleporting people to keep up with plot).

Rings of power has started off at a pretty slow and methodical pace, some would argue too slow, but definately a different problem than GoT season 8.

As for the writing, if it’s not your cup of tea it’s not your cup of tea. That said, from what we have seen so far nothing written is “stupid”, ie the characters are still acting reasonably and in character. Again the character are archetypal but consistent. Of course it’s only been two episodes, it’s pretty easy to be consistent with not a lot has happened yet

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Here's an example of the voices Nicol Williamson did for Bilbo and Gollum:

Bilbo's accent seems somewhat regional and has been how I imagine hobbits talking since I first heard it. I'd be interested if either of you think it's West Midlands or something else that Williamson might have been going for.

It's really good! It sounds like a West Country accent to me - somewhere round Somerset/Wiltshire. See if you can find Pam Ayers for comparison. If you want to be picky, it's a bit too working class - Bilbo should be more upper middle class. In LotR Tolkien makes the class-based accent distinctions plain between the hobbits. But really, who cares? It's a great reading.

 

[Ryujin]

It's really good! It sounds like a West Country accent to me - somewhere round Somerset/Wiltshire. See if you can find Pam Ayers for comparison. If you want to be picky, it's a bit too working class - Bilbo should be more upper middle class. In LotR Tolkien makes the class-based accent distinctions plain between the hobbits. But really, who cares? It's a great reading.

I would go as far as to say it should be Upper Class as Bilbo just lived on his inheritance and it sounds like even his parents were independently wealthy, rather than working.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I would go as far as to say it should be Upper Class as Bilbo just lived on his inheritance and it sounds like even his parents were independently wealthy, rather than working.

That was considered middle class in those days - independently wealthy, but no inherited title. title. Bilbo is "new money" on the Baggins side. Pippin is "Old Money", and very nearly says "What Ho Gamgee!"

 

[John R Davis]

As an aside come on GW get some ROP licencing sorted so you can steal more of my money. Want my Galadriel v Snow Troll minis!!

 

[TheSword]

It's really good! It sounds like a West Country accent to me - somewhere round Somerset/Wiltshire. See if you can find Pam Ayers for comparison. If you want to be picky, it's a bit too working class - Bilbo should be more upper middle class. In LotR Tolkien makes the class-based accent distinctions plain between the hobbits. But really, who cares? It's a great reading.

Yes I agree. West Country.

Funnily enough I listened to these as a teenager on cassette tapes, borrowed from the library… that I promptly copied. Which goes to show how old I’m. That was radical technology then.

 

[TheSword]

I would go as far as to say it should be Upper Class as Bilbo just lived on his inheritance and it sounds like even his parents were independently wealthy, rather than working.

Sure but an accent is based on the community you surround yourself with. One family of plummy speakers surrounded by a community of country bumpkins isn’t necessarily going to develop a strong accent in their children if those children are mixing with the farmers and the children.

That said accents can develop according to social circumstances as well. I attended a lecture by the author of the book Peaky Blinders is inspired by and he explained that the Brummie accent became much stronger and defined as a result of immigration into the manufacturing city of Birmingham in the mid 1900’s.

The comedian John Bishop, who has a beautiful Scouse accent explained that his accent became stronger when as a kid his family had their inner city tenements in Liverpool knocked down and they were relocated to the suburbs. His whole community developed a stronger scouse accent because of self consciousness about not being seen as Liverpudlian any more. In his words they became more scouse than scousers.

A nice little video… that also shows off the Bob Bryson’s welsh accent.

 

[Dioltach]

Pippin is "Old Money", and very nearly says "What Ho Gamgee!"

Now I want a Jeeves & Wooster version of the Lord of the Rings.

"So Jeeves, this Sauron chap. Better or worse than my Aunt Agatha?"
"It is hard for me to say, Sir. The Dark Lord shares many of Mrs Gregson's qualities. Of the two, however, I do not believe that Mrs Gregson has ever been subject to a more powerful being."

---
"If Sir would take a moment, he would see that the ring on his finger is not in fact the (ahum) One Ring. I took the liberty of replacing it with Mr Aragorn's engagement ring. The actual One Ring is on its way to Mount Doom, in the hands of an Eagle acquaintance of mine. Ah, I believe that it has just reached its destination. Will there be anything further? Then if Sir will excuse me, I must return to my ironing. I will lay out Sir's light grey suit for dinner."

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Being a kiwi I don't usually have trouble with Aussie/Canadian/English or Yank accent and can sometimes get a regional one. We also speak a bit faster I think than USA.

Are you saying that you can tell the difference between a Canadian accent and an American one? I'm not sure I believe it. (I mean, I can see you being able to tell the difference between a Toronto accent and a Brooklyn accent, say, because frankly everyone can (though they might not know that that is what they are) but a general US/CAN average accent?

I'm from Vancouver, and while visiting Japan, I met some Americans who said, "You're Canadian? But you have no accent!", to which I responded "You're just saying that because I sound like people on TV. That's because most people you see on TV are from Vancouver."

It's an exaggeration with some small truth to it.

 

[Ryujin]

Are you saying that you can tell the difference between a Canadian accent and an American one? I'm not sure I believe it. (I mean, I can see you being able to tell the difference between a Toronto accent and a Brooklyn accent, say, because frankly everyone can (though they might not know that that is what they are) but a general US/CAN average accent?

I'm from Vancouver, and while visiting Japan, I met some Americans who said, "You're Canadian? But you have no accent!", to which I responded "You're just saying that because I sound like people on TV. That's because most people you see on TV are from Vancouver."

It's an exaggeration with some small truth to it.

There is a reason why so many American newscasters, over the years, have been Canadian.

 

[Mallus]

There is a reason why so many American newscasters, over the years, have been Canadian.

They've even infiltrated our games shows and rock music!

 

[Ryujin]

Sure but an accent is based on the community you surround yourself with. One family of plummy speakers surrounded by a community of country bumpkins isn’t necessarily going to develop a strong accent in their children if those children are mixing with the farmers and the children.

That said accents can develop according to social circumstances as well. I attended a lecture by the author of the book Peaky Blinders is inspired by and he explained that the Brummie accent became much stronger and defined as a result of immigration into the manufacturing city of Birmingham in the mid 1900’s.

The comedian John Bishop, who has a beautiful Scouse accent explained that his accent became stronger when as a kid his family had their inner city tenements in Liverpool knocked down and they were relocated to the suburbs. His whole community developed a stronger scouse accent because of self consciousness about not being seen as Liverpudlian any more. In his words they became more scouse than scousers.

A nice little video… that also shows off the Bob Bryson’s welsh accent.

On the other hand I would spend a couple of weeks at a rental cottage, in an area frequented by Western New Yorkers, and come home sounding like I was from Rochester.

 

[Ryujin]

They've even infiltrated our games shows and rock music!

You would be quite surprised, if you knew the whole truth. Don't tell anyone...

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Are you saying that you can tell the difference between a Canadian accent and an American one?

You can usually tell by the volume!

 

[Ryujin]

You can usually tell by the volume!

Not necessarily, though. I'm fairly loud (hard of hearing in one ear... is my excuse) and talk with the speed of an auctioneer.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Which is not the case. JK hates the fantasy genre, and has never read any of those.

Parallel evolution is a thing. The author of the Sookie Stackhouse novels apparently never heard of Vampire: the Masquerade before she published, but the show based on her novels, True Blood, basically comes off like World of Darkness: The Very Horny TV Show. Sometimes, certain ideas just make sense to multiple authors independently. (And I don't believe for a minute that those involved in the show didn't have a complete set of oWoD books on hand.)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Dont watch stuff like that. You'll get more pop ups of similar stuff.

Definitely erase it from your YouTube history ASAP.

 

[Ryujin]

Parallel evolution is a thing. The author of the Sookie Stackhouse novels apparently never heard of Vampire: the Masquerade before she published, but the show based on her novels, True Blood, basically comes off like World of Darkness: The Very Horny TV Show. Sometimes, certain ideas just make sense to multiple authors independently. (And I don't believe for a minute that those involved in the show didn't have a complete set of oWoD books on hand.)

And some things are just so culturally ubiquitous that even if you don't have direct interaction, they can bleed through from other sources.

And as an unintentional "Vampire: The Masquerade" tribute, it was far better than the on purpose "Kindred: The Embraced." Curse Aaron Spelling and his ilk.