Amazon, Warner Bros in Talks for LOTR Series Adaptation: Variety

A lot of fuss over a single cast-member? Perhaps, but I'm not the one fucking around here.

Nigerian Hobbits oh my!

halfwise wrote:Do you add anything to make your cider, or just let it sit out a bit?

I added this stuff that helps make it clearer, some sugar, and some yeast. You can let the yeast that's naturally on the apples do the job, but the idea is that you get more consistent results with an added yeast product.

nothing to do with the Amazon series, but if they were looking for some she Elves? The girl at the beginning would do, also the girl in pink at the 2.05 min mark
is defo an Elf in the making. The girl after her too. to hell with it, there all bloody good. The music is excellent by the way.

I wouldn't push any of them out of my...uh...film. Not that I'd have any say in the matter, I reckon. I didn't realize this was a thing among young women in Russia. The first one is doing her thing among tables in a restaurant - can't imagine that being allowed anywhere I know of.

Imagine if she let go and impaled someone.

must be a Cossack thing.

{{ This is allegedly the first image from the Amazon series, though if it is official looks like concept art to me not a still from the show. Also where is it? Looks like Gondolin maybe in a flashback scene or a prologue? }}

Can't be Gondolin, which was beat to a pulp in the first age, and I think of it more on a hill by itself rather than right up against a mountain. If a flashback it seems like a lot of work for something that comes and goes.

We may be looking at a city in Numenor.

What makes this so bloody official? Where'd it come from?

The image teases what appears to be the legendary city of Valmar on the continent of Amar, where the Valar reside. It is basically Middle-earth's version of Heaven, where those who shape and ruled the world lived, and where characters like Gandalf, Saruman, and even Sauron come from. If the show truly gets to the realm of Valinor, then we are in for a deep dive into the lore of J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. - Collider

{{Vanity Fair also have the image as 'first look' }}

Amazon’s Lord of the Rings Unveils a First Image and Release Date= Vanity Fair

{{The release date is apparently September the 2nd, 2022 }}

Found this among others:

https://www.theonering.net/torwp/2021/08/02/111246-official-first-pic-of-amazons-lord-of-the-rings-series-release-confirmed-for-fall-2022/

September 2, 2022? A whole 'nother year. Drat them all.

Okay, if you zoom in those are two glowing trees in the background. Not the way I'd make them glow, but I capitulate. This is Valinor. And it's early first age Valinor to boot. This will be one hell of a prologue.

Perhaps we'll get the Valar watching as things unfold, commenting like Statler and Waldorf from the Muppet show.

What the bloody hell are the two trees doing down in a valley? Though I never thought of them as being up high, they were at least tall enough to extend over the local topography.

Hey! Why do they need walls around a city in Valinor? Sure, there's Morgoth horsing around, but for the most part there's no need to keep out an army. Somebody wasn't thinking.

Didn't see the 2 trees of Valinor till he zoomed in.

Neat guess that Sauron could be the narrator of the prologue.

{{ I wonder just how much of earlier stuff and First Age stuff we are getting. There was already mention of seeing the elves being corrupted into orcs, and that was First Age too. I wonder if we are going to be following Sauron's path, from Valinor to follwoing Morgoth to Annatar to Necromancer to Sauron.}}

It looks nice, a bit Rivendelly.

But it shouldn't have a wall.

Okay, quick change of topic. Looking back at the 2nd Age timeline, the only two things of note that happen is the Rings of Power are forged, and Sauron seduces Numenor into attacking the undying lands. They are connected via Sauron.

I think this series should be titled the Rings of Power. More emphasis could be placed on who gets the rings and what happens by consequence, which Tolkien largely whiffed on for the Seven and Nine. This would let them add to the legendarium without treading on existing cannon. We have to imagine a good portion of the Nine were doled out in the east and south, which would explain the diverse casting.

I've always been bothered by lack of information about the Nazgul. We should get it.

Hmm so I'm assuming the First Age writings aren't exactly off limits to the series writers but access is now allowed on a case by case basis, I reckon we'll seeing flashbacks to Valinor/Tirion and the years of the Trees in a prologue of some sort.

And that image reminds me of some of Ted Nasmith's artwork...

halfwise wrote:Okay, quick change of topic.  Looking back at the 2nd Age timeline, the only two things of note that happen is the Rings of Power are forged, and Sauron seduces Numenor into attacking the undying lands.  They are connected via Sauron.

I think this series should be titled the Rings of Power.  More emphasis could be placed on who gets the rings and what happens by consequence, which Tolkien largely whiffed on for the Seven and Nine.  This would let them add to the legendarium without treading on existing cannon.  We have to imagine a good portion of the Nine were doled out in the east and south, which would explain the diverse casting.

I've always been bothered by lack of information about the Nazgul.  We should get it.

IIRC there are unpublished drafts of Of the Rings of Powerand The Third Age which weren't included in the HOMe for space reasons, there's also a bit more info about the Ringwraiths in the LOTR Readers Companion:

http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/The_Hunt_for_the_Ring#Other_parts_of_the_manuscript

Those writings on the ringwraiths mainly concern the war of the ring. I'm more interested in the origins: who were they? What did they first do with the rings once they got them, before they faded in nazgul? Lots of fodder for storytelling there.

I've always assumed the Ringrwaiths were something like tribal rulers or shamans from Khand or Harad who were gifted the rings by Sauron after he helped them in a civil war or something.