Oh man, the irony of spouting this bullshit on a WoW forum…
Yeah, Tolkien’s version of things like elves, dwarves, and orcs guided much of the modern perception of how those creatures look, but just as he took existing references and expanded on them, so have others since Tolkien.
D&D, MTG, Harry Potter, Warcraft, Warhammer, and a multitude of other games and books have been expanding on Tolkien’s fantasy races for decades now. Depending on what games you play or books you read, what constitutes as an elf, dwarf, orc, hobbit/halfling, goblin, wizard, ranger, etc might be pretty different from how Tolkien described.
Female dwarves without beards, elves with a variety of skin tones and hair colors, orcs as hulking green aliens. Yeah, the foundations that Tolkien set were important in how these fantasy races developed, but we’re way past his narrow descriptions for them.
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That’s fair, but this whole thread is pretty much about adapting the literature to a dramatic medium. That’s why things like character and action are far more important than any and every minor detail. As great as Tolkien was in describing the details of his world, when brought to a visual medium there’s still a lot of room for interpretation while maintaining the spirit of the setting. Additionally, many of those details (such as the timelines) simply don’t work when adapting the story to a drama.
As for the narrative themes being adapted in the show:
- Covering the fall of Numenor explores how the power hungry and corrupt can lead to the downfall of a civilization
- The story of Arondir and Bronwyn mirrors that of Aragorn and Arwen (and by extension Beren and Luthien). A rare romance between an elf and a human
- Not sure what they’ll be doing with the Harfoots, but it stands to reason that it’ll follow the whole “courage of even the smallest folk in the face of evil” theme that was the backbone of Frodo’s journey
These stories are all very much Tolkien, transposed into a part of his legendarium that he never really fleshed out. If you don’t want to watch them, that’s fine. If you don’t like which details they chose to keep and which they chose to change or drop, that’s fine, too. But given what little we’ve seen so far the show still looks and feels like the dramatic interpretation of Tolkien that we’ve gotten used to since Peter Jackson’s movies.
Pretty loose interpretation of “main character” but sure:
Elrond - Lord of Rivendell. Great warrior turned advisor and protector. Member of the White Council and host to the creation of the Fellowship. Caring father.
Galadriel - Lady of Lorien. Tall. Beautiful, intelligent, and enigmatic. Ring Bearer. One of the most powerful elves in Middle Earth, but wise enough to resist the power of the One Ring when offered. Gift giver.
Obviously some of these traits change depending on what point in the story you’re considering, these being specific to the 3rd Age. I would say that Galadriel’s hair color is a pretty notable detail, being compared to other important narrative devices in the story (the Two Trees of Valinor and the Silmarils). To the point of her depiction in the show, descriptions of her as Amazon-esque, strong in body, mind, and will, tall as a man and capable of matching the other elf princes in feats of athleticism, and student to all the Valar, the idea of her as a capable warrior isn’t outlandish. Nor does it detract from how she is presented in the 3rd Age, like Elrond having taken a position more as an advisor and protector than a warrior.
As for Tar-Miriel - this isn’t a character. She’s a name and plot device that appears once in the appendices. “Rightful ruler, usurped” is pretty much the extent of her role in the story, and that gives a pretty good amount of leeway in interpreting the character for the show.
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One of the best movie adaptations of Richard III portrays him as a 1930’s fascist. Pink hair would hardly detract from what makes the character what he is to the story. The idea that anyone is obligated to present adaptations strictly in line with how and when they were written is hardly true.
James Bond, despite having been created in the 1950’s with a very particular look and history, has endured through various renditions and is always adapted to modern times.
Characters based on those from the Norse sagas are played nowadays by Australians, Britons, Canadians, and Americans. Heimdall is still Heimdall, whether he’s played by Idris Elba or a Norwegian actor. As for Gandalf, there’s a lot more to him than simply “visually based on Odin”.