But with that being said, the series will still be relying heavily on Tolkien's books, as well as their appendices, and a collection of short stories and essays titled Unfinished Tales. Tolkien only sketched out in broad strokes in his novels.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is being pitched as 'a new epic journey in Middle-earth”, and will focus on events that author J.R.R. That intro aside, the main Lord of the Rings timeline involving Frodo, Gollum, the Fellowship et al, takes place during the Third Age, so any crossover will be minimal. The Second Age spans more than 3000 years, and per The Guardian it begins with the dark lord Morgoth being banished, and ends with the defeat of the Dark Lord, Sauron, at the hand of Isildur-these events are depicted briefly in the opening sequence of the first movie, The Fellowship of the Ring. Instead, the Tolkien estate gave them permission to create a prequel series, set during the Second Age of Middle-earth. Payne & Patrick McKay aren't allowed to depict any of the events that took place in the movies' timeline. After all, it's been less than two decades since Peter Jackson's groundbreaking movie trilogy was released, and after such a near-perfect adaptation, what possible reason could there be to do a reboot?īut then, as more information was revealed, it became clear that the new series wasn't going to be a retread of the movie series.

Measuring 23 × 15 inches and printed in black and red, it shows Beleriand and the Lands to the North – the mysterious lands that precede Middle-earth.Way back in 2017, when it was announced that Amazon had acquired the rights to Lord of the Rings and planned to produce a new series adaptation, a lot of fans were deeply skeptical. A very special feature of this edition is the fold-out map by Christopher Tolkien.

The binding is blocked in blue and pale gold, based on a design by the artist. It features a frontispiece and 28 superb chapter illustrations by the artist Francis Mosley. This edition is published with the original foreword by Christopher Tolkien. These are the stories by which the inhabitants of Middle-earth live, offering the reader a deeper insight into Tolkien’s magical world. The Silmarillion tells of the coming of the elves and men, and of Melkor, the greatest of the Ainur, who fell from grace and in doing so planted the seeds of evil. The world of The Silmarillion is the world created out of the music of the angelic Ainur, before The Lord of the Rings, before even The Hobbit. Tolkien’s son Christopher took on the momentous task of preparing a text from the masses of material to hand, with the first edition appearing in 1977. At the time of Tolkien’s death, in 1973, The Silmarillion remained unpublished. The events of The Silmarillion have a power and a symbolism all of their own, while also affording readers a deeper understanding of the later adventures of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins.

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien