Tolkien TV

Less than a month ago, Amazon announced that they would be optioning the Lord of the Rings as a new streaming series, to compete with HBO's highly successful Game of Thrones adaptation. Details are sparse thus far, but the information available states that they intend to tell new stories set prior to the LOTR trilogy. Whether these stories will feature characters and settings familiar from the LOTR and Hobbit films or new ones is unknown.

I was not as displeased with the trio of Hobbit films as many fans, though I can't deny that I find some flaws with them. I'm also not a great fan of Game of Thrones, in either its literary or television form. What I am is a great fan of Tolkien's literary world-building and the other stories he told beyond The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, in The Silmarillion and the various other books (The Lays of Beleriand, The Children of Hurin, Beren and Luthien) that his descendants have published from his notes. As a result of these opinions, I'm ambivalent about a LOTR tv series. But I'm not completely opposed to it, so long as it isn't the kind of misuse of the setting that has recently appeared in the PC/console game world - yes, I'm looking at you, Shadow of War. If the producers of the new series completely discard what's canon from the books in favor of making something that wears the skin of Tolkien over a blatant imitation of Game of Thrones, then it's guaranteed I won't be watching.

But if initial previews indicate that the production team are respectful of the source material, I'll give it a chance. Like many Tolkien fans, I have a strong desire to see more of his work visualized. For me, the LOTR film trilogy was like bringing my imagination to life. I forgave Peter Jackson the changes he made to the story because it was all so beautifully realized and he clearly loved the source material so much (one may ask how he could willingly change anything if he loved the source material, but that's a discussion for another post). I wish that Jackson's team could make film adaptations of some of Tolkien's other tales of Middle-Earth, without the Hollywood marketing machine pushing him to manipulate it to suit their desires, as reportedly happened with the Hobbit films. I think some of the stories of Middle-Earth that take place prior to the creation of the Rings of Power are more than worthy of being translated for film or television. I don't think that's what Amazon is going to do, though. But if I had a magic wand (or a Ring of Power) to make them produce a tv series based on what I'd like to see, here's what I think they should do.

One of the tales that I feel could potentially compete with the broad saga of Game of Thrones is the story of Feanor and the Silmarils. While Tolkien's writings carry no hint of the sexuality rampant (pun intended) in GoT, there is plenty of intrigue, adventure, and action available to build an exciting series from. For those who've never read The Silmarillion (shame on you) or don't remember it, the Silmarils are three magical gems created by the Elf prince Feanor in the realm of Valinor, which is essentially Heaven for Middle-Earth, especially for Elves. All of the characters in the tale of Feanor are Elves, which I'll admit could possibly be a problem for a tv series, since audiences generally tend to want characters they can relate to. But setting aside the issue of all non-human characters, I think a good writing team could make this work. Feanor could be a compelling lead; he's a proud, brilliant, fiery character who creates something that even the Valar (the demigods of Tolkien's world setting) are incapable of replicating. His obsession with his creation ruins his life and the lives of all seven of his sons, as well as those of many other Elves, and brings endless strife to what was once an idyllic place. There's even a villain, Melkor, who is rather like Loki from the Marvel films but darker and even more powerful. 

It would take some work to flesh out any characters other than Feanor himself. Most of the other characters in the saga, such as Feanor's seven sons, his father, and his various half-brothers, are mere cyphers. His wife is hardly more than a name. But that lack of definition leaves lots of room for talented screenwriters to develop the characters. There are plenty of battles as well, and magic. And if there's a desire to link the movies to the series, they could always include Galadriel - she is the daughter of one of Feanor's half-brothers.

But if a story of the Elves and the gods set before the Sun or the Moon even existed doesn't excite a creator, then the production team could always turn to the travails of Beren and Luthien instead. At least Beren is human, and it's a love story about a couple who keep getting separated and end up having to go on a long quest. It's a follow-on from Feanor's story, since part of the quest they undertake is to recover the Silmarils from Morgoth (aka Melkor) after he manages to steal a couple of them. In my dream series, both the story of the Silmarils and of Beren and Luthien would be told.

If the story of the Silmarils or of Beren and Luthien's romance isn't appealing enough, there's the tale of the Numenorean kings and how they were misled into destroying themselves by the duplicity of Sauron, Morgoth's minion. There aren't that many Numenorean characters described in detail in Tolkien's writing, but good screenwriters could flesh that out. Palace intrigue, sex, violence - all of those things could be added to make the story more appealing to modern audiences (even if sex and overt violence aren't very Tolkien). Following the Numenoreans would have the advantage of having mostly human characters, with a few Elves and Dwarves thrown in for flavor. Gandalf could show up since he was around then (though technically he would probably have been known as Mithrandir). The stories could also include themes of racism and religious conflict, as the later Numenorean kings came to resent the Elves and turned away from worshipping the supreme deity Eru Iluvatar in favor of worshipping Morgoth.

I don't know what Amazon will do with this property, or even if they'll actually follow through. I admit there's a part of me that doesn't want a 'modern' story full of sex and violence, and worries that they'll try too hard to emulate Game of Thrones' style in an attempt to repeat its success. I'd like to see a story that stays closer to Tolkien's romantic, other-worldly vision of Middle-Earth while eliminating some of his implied sexism and racism. But I'll try to keep an open mind until I find out what Amazon is really going to do.