“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Energy” goes manner again in Center-earth lore, hundreds of years earlier than “The Lord of the Rings.” It is loosely based mostly on the supplemental texts and appendices that J.R.R. Tolkien wrote to flesh out his fictional universe. Whereas we’ll undoubtedly see a number of acquainted characters alongside the best way, there are additionally some new ones, just like the Harfoots.
In Tolkien lore, the Harfoots are primarily proto-Hobbits, the traditional ancestors of the Hobbits we all know and love from “The Lord of the Rings.” Just like the Hobbits, the Harfoots are brief, human-like beings with giant, furry ft. These beings, nevertheless, do not reside in a country-garden kind of space just like the Shire. They’re forest dwellers, identified for his or her skill to cover and camouflage themselves to reside undetected of their quiet communities and campgrounds. The truth is, another communities do not even know they exist!
Tolkien’s writings have only a few mentions of Harfoots by identify, however “The Rings of Energy” is filling in these gaps with some notable Harfoot characters. Elanor “Nori” Brandyfoot (performed by Markella Kavenagh) is a younger Harfoot whose curiosity leads her to find a mysterious stranger close to a meteor influence website. There are additionally characters like Sadoc Burrows (performed by Lenny Henry) and Poppy Proudfellow (performed by Megan Richards), who appear to have a component to play because the story unfolds. None of those characters seem straight in Tolkien’s writings; as a substitute, they have been created for the TV collection to fill in a number of the gaps.
The Harfoots do have a connection to the Hobbits as we all know them, past simply the superficial resemblance. Based on Tolkien’s “histories” of Center-earth, over hundreds of years, their species evolves, together with two different varieties of hobbits, referred to as Stoors and Fallohides. Finally, the Harfoots settle within the Shire, the place hobbit tradition as we bear in mind it from “The Lord of the Rings” develops. They’re additionally the primary to be referred to as “hobbits,” a reputation reportedly given to them by the Stoors and Fallohides.
It seems to be just like the Harfoots could have a serious position in “The Rings of Energy,” however we’ll have to attend and see simply how their tales unfold.