Other Minds and Hands
A quick explanation about why I talk so much about Tolkien through the lens of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
“I would draw some of the great tales in fullness, and leave many only placed in the scheme, and sketched. The cycles should be linked to a majestic whole, and yet leave scope for other minds and hands, wielding paint and music and drama.”—J.R.R. Tolkien to Milton Waldman, 1951
One of the crosses that I have to bear is ADHD, and its resulting issues with focus and following through. You all can have that to thank for this essay. I was initially planning on writing something else for this week, an in-depth dive on how Sauron in Rings of Power works for me personally, based on the expanded lore. But a couple of weeks ago, I picked up Carlo D’Este’s Patton: A Genius for War, his excellent biography of the brilliant and complex general who has been a personal hero of mine ever since I saw George C. Scott’s Oscar-winning portrayal in high school. Patton’s first serious baptism of fire (aside from a couple of shootouts with Mexican bandits during America’s involvement in that country’s Civil War) was in the last year of the Great War, as a visionary who saw the potential of the tank and founded, trained and led into battle the first American armored units. And that discussion led me down a rabbit-hole involving the combat debut of British tanks during the last months of the Somme, which many Tolkien scholars including John Garth believe directly inspired Tolkien to write in 1917 how Morgoth used mighty metal dragons that breathed fire and carried orcs during the Fall of Gondolin. And that gave me an idea for yet another essay, a reflection on The Fall of Gondolin similar in style to the one I wrote for Unfinished Tales. But while we’re on the subject of going down rabbit holes…let me show you all a screenshot of the 12 most recent posts on my blog’s linked Instagram page:
What do we see here? Three memes, three galleries of images from Rings of Power of which two start with Morfydd Clark’s Galadriel, three promotional images for the show (which are links to Bear McCreary’s blog), a photograph of my library’s copy of Humphrey Carpenter’s biography of Tolkien, and two posts dedicated to Morfydd Clark. Two things come to mind: that’s a lot of focus on Morfydd’s Galadriel. And where in all of this is any reference to Peter Jackson’s landmark trilogy of films that were the gateway through which so many of us came to Middle-earth, myself included? And with regard to the latter point…long-time readers of this blog might have picked up on some subtle digs in the direction of the trilogy. Such as how, in my essay on Tolkien’s horses, Shadowfax and Brego are represented by screenshots from the trilogy but Bill the Pony and Snowmane are not; or how in my essay on Galadriel’s character, there’s a statement that might be interpreted as being unfavorable to Cate Blanchett’s interpretation; or how in my essay on Unfinished Tales, I am much more direct in my criticism of how the trilogy handled Isildur’s story. While I don’t know whether any of you, my dear readers, have thought so, it’s occurred to me that it might seem that I actually hate the Jackson trilogy and put Rings of Power in opposition to it.
This, of course, is not the case. Who can dismiss Peter Jackson out of hand? Even 23 years later his films still stand as a triumph of cinema and an adaptation of Tolkien’s trilogy that is, for the most part, very faithful in spirit to the books, and the gold standard for depictions of Middle-earth and many people’s gateway to this world. The scene depicting the Ride of the Rohirrim still stirs my soul and can bring me to tears of joy. Ian McGregor truly does bring Gandalf, both as Grey Pilgrim and as White Rider, to life, and Miranda Otto’s Eowyn still is one of my favorite heroines from movies of all time. I should really be talking more about those movies in my blog and on my Instagram, right? Well…I thought I’d take a “moment” to talk about my approach to Tolkien fandom. I’ll use as my guideline the “About” section of my social media profiles: “In this house we love J.R.R. Tolkien and his world, Galadriel his great heroine, and Morfydd Clark who brings her to life.” The last two, Galadriel and Morfydd, will merit their own treatment later, owing to their personal significance for me. For now, I’d like to talk about the first point “Tolkien and his world”, which will hopefully explain my approach, what I try NOT to do, and what I sincerely believe is the best way to view various adaptations.
One of my favorite pieces of Tolkien art is the following 2016 painting by Elena Kukanova. It’s called “Lord of the Third House of Middle-earth,” and in it Finarfin bids farewell to his children and entrusts his ring, which will eventually become the Ring of Barahir, to Finrod as Galadriel, Orodreth, Angrod and Aegnor look on.
I’d like to focus on the name of the artist, Elena Kukanova. Not Peter Jackson, or even Alan Lee or John Howe (who along with Ted Nasmith form a sort of trilogy of the most revered Tolkien artists). To be sure, this doesn’t mean I don’t like these artists, far from it; indeed, the reason Lee and Howe joined the production team for the Jackson films as concept artists is because of their established skill as Tolkien artists. Ted Nasmith would have also been on the team, but he ended up having a personal commitment that foiled his participation. All of these artists are worthy and sincere in there efforts to bring to life Tolkien’s world, in keeping with the spirit of the famous quotation from the Waldman Letter which forms the header of this essay.
And here’s the thing. “Other minds and hands.” Because although Lee and Howe are their own people with their own visions, with regard to their role in the Jackson films they were working to help bring to life Peter Jackson’s interpretation of Middle-earth; they were in the service of his mind and his hands, as it were. And there’s nothing wrong with Jackson having his own vision and being a creative spirit bringing Tolkien to life. The problem comes from, how do I put this, how some people interpret Jackson. Not as just one mind and one pair of hands bringing Tolkien to life, but as the mind and hands doing so. Again and again, on Twitter, on Youtube, in conversations even with family members and friends, it sometimes feels as though Peter Jackson is seen as the only one whose vision and interpretation are legitimate. So many memes hinge on Merry and Pippin’s portrayal in the movies as lovable clowns, when they were in fact surprisingly clever and resourceful as early as the first book. Many depictions of elves follow the PJ style of ethereal, distant, angelic creatures with long straight hair, ignoring depictions from Jenny Dolfen or from The Silmarillion where they are flawed, complex, and warlike with varying hair lengths (Jenny Dolfen in particular has many beautiful illustrations where Elves have very human hair lengths, albeit not quite the buzz-cut that Arondir has). Aragorn is frequently upheld as a prime example of heroic and virtuous masculinity…but movie Aragorn, who until a third of the way into the third movie is a VERY different character than he is in the books, even to an extent in his physical appearance. Story beats unique to the Jackson films are instead taken as almost Tolkien gospel. And, to be honest, when Jackson is left to his own devices his script, when not directly adapting lines from the text, can sometimes be rather weak, a problem that becomes even more apparent in The Hobbit.
This sort of attitude, in my opinion, does something of a disservice to both Tolkien’s source material and Peter Jackson’s adaptation of them. At that point, Jackson was not subject to the hubris that would play a part in how much of a missed opportunity The Hobbit films would turn out to be. I don’t think he would have been comfortable with his work being elevated to the “sum total” of good Tolkien adaptations. And leaving aside the film trilogy…it’s just not true that Jackson is alone. Artists like the aforementioned Lee, Howe and Nasmith were active long before the trilogy began to take shape, and they have been active in the years since independent of any relationship to the films. And they are far from the only ones; Magali Villeneuve, Abe Papakhian, Anke Eissman, Natalie Chen, Sara Morello, the aforementioned Jenny Dolfen and Elena Kukanova, and many others featured on websites like Tolkien Gateway, DeviantArt and ArtStation have brought their own unique styles to depicting scenes from Tolkien’s world. Ralph Bakshi’s 1978 animated film in many areas provided inspiration for Jackson, and in a few select scenes is actually closer in spirit to the books; and the Rankin-Bass 1977 adaptation of The Hobbit has long been seen as a classic, and a far more faithful adaptation of the novel than the bloated, CGI-heavy Jackson adaptation. Musicians not named Howard Shore, like Karliene and Clamadi di Profundis, have put to music many of Tolkien’s epic ballads and songs which didn’t make it into the films.
And…The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power exists. Yes, I have not forgotten my favorite TV show of 2022, soon approaching its 1-year anniversary. With time and more exposure both to the show and to the wider lore, my thoughts on some specific aspects may have changed, but my overall view that the show is beautiful, well- and sometimes wonderfully-executed, and and faithful in spirit to Tolkien’s world and values remains the same. I firmly believe that Rings of Power deserves a spot in the pantheon of “good” Tolkien adaptations. And it is mostly due to the show that I rediscovered my love of Tolkien and his world; it’s why I first read Unfinished Tales, The Fall of Numenor, The Fall of Gondolin, and Humphrey Carpenter’s biography of Tolkien, it’s why I started this blog, and it’s why I have a newfound appreciation for heroic characters like Galadriel, Eowyn, Aragorn, Gandalf, Luthien and Idril. And in many cases, there are people who agree with me and gladly show their love and appreciation of the show.
But too often, it feels to me that the show is ignored, and in favor of the Jackson films. Worse, the show is sometimes actively put down and slandered. Several LOTR meme accounts on social media not only use exclusively the Jackson films, but frequently engage in bashing of Rings of Power. Whole video essays are devoted to tearing apart aspects of the show, such as the writing, the characterizations, the costumes, which are either beyond criticism or deserve much more measured critique than these video essays provide. When the show’s technical qualities win seven Emmy Nominations, or Bear McCreary’s work on the score wins three awards and gets five more nominations, or Morfydd Clark receives the Madame Figaro Rising Stars Award from Cannes, all these real achievements are either ignored or attributed exclusively to Hollywood politics. This attitude stinks, and quite frankly is antithetical to the spirit of the Professor. The show has numerous good qualities, and some of them are frankly magnificent and worth celebrating. It comes from a good place, and is made by people who truly care about Tolkien and their craft. Lloyd Owen read the Notion Club Papers to prepare for his role as Elendil; how many of his detractors have even heard of the Notion Club Papers. Listening to Bear talk or write about his work, one can truly feel his love of his work and the story he is telling in music. And Morfydd…I’ll have much more to say about her love of Tolkien and of Galadriel later, but her reverence for them are truly something special.
So, in conclusion: Peter Jackson’s trilogy is wonderful, and needs no additional defenders. I love it and have no vendetta against it. In a perfect world, neither would Rings of Power need to be defended against ridiculous and hateful criticism. But unfortunately the world isn’t perfect. Not only that, in general I am a pretty passionate person who cares deeply about my favorite things and wants to share my joy. To paraphrase the last words of Thorin Oakenshield: “If more of us valued joy and beauty and truth, we would have a merrier world.” And Rings of Power truly does value these eternal values just as much as the Jackson trilogy, or the art of Villeneuve or Dolfen or Kukanova, or the music of Shore or Karliene. This fact cannot be stressed enough. So with a firm awareness of the everlasting truths and joys that Tolkien himself felt that he was tapping into to create his stories, I will continue to share my joy in the world he shows us, and those who have brought it to life. And I hope that my joy can be shared by everyone who reads my blog and checks out my social media.