Wednesday, January 19, 2022

Amazon Prime Video reveals the title of its Lord of the Rings series as The Rings of Power.


by Thinus Ferreira

Amazon Prime Video has finally revealed the title of its upcoming Lord of the Rings TV series set to debut on 2 September with new episodes weekly, as Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

The Rings of Power title is revealed in a new video in which a woman's voice says "Three rings for the Elven kings under the sky. Seven for the dwarf lords in their halls of stone. Nine for mortal men, doomed to die. One for the dark lord on his dark throne in the land of Mordor where the shadows lie."


Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is set as a prequel story to the Lord of the Rings films, during the so-called Second Age.

"This is a title that we imagine could live on the spine of a book next to J.R.R. Tolkien's other classics," showrunners J.R. Payne and Patrick McKay say in a statement.

"The Rings of Power unites all the major stories of Middle-earth's Second Age: the forging of the rings, the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, the epic tale of Númenor, and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men."

"Until now, audiences have only seen on-screen the story of the One Ring - but before there was one, there were many... and we're excited to share the epic story of them all."

Just as so many elements of the show itself were hand-crafted, Amazon Prime Video chose to physically forge the title in a blacksmith foundry, the video streaming says, pouring fiery molten metal into hand-carved wooden ravines shaped to the letterforms.

The process was captured in slow motion for a live-action video, which features voice-over narration of lines from Tolkien's famous "Ring Verse," describing the intended recipients of the 20 Rings of Power.

The bespoke title treatment appears crafted in a silvery metal, with lines of Elvish script inscribed along the crest of each letterform. 

Amazon Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth's history. 

This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and will take viewers "back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and one of the greatest villains that ever flowed from Tolkien's pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness".

Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared reemergence of evil to Middle-earth. 

"From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the farthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone," Amazon Studios says.

The series is led by showrunners and executive producers J.D. Payne & Patrick McKay and they are joined by executive producers Lindsey Weber, Callum Greene, J.A. Bayona, Belén Atienza, Justin Doble, Jason Cahill, Gennifer Hutchison, Bruce Richmond, and Sharon Tal Yguado, and producers Ron Ames and Christopher Newman. 

Wayne Che Yip is co-executive producer and directs along with J.A. Bayona and Charlotte Brändström.