This is the blog post version of the talk I gave at the New York Tolkien Conference last summer (2025). It also revisits a few of the things I said in my Mythmoot talk from a few years before. But all in all, it’s about the writing of The Silmarillion Primer, a book which I promise is about to drop soon. Since it’s a bit long, I’ve made this just part 1. This one’s about the characters in The Silmarillion.
Read the doom that is writtenTag: elves
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Here is an admittedly long bullet list of some of my thoughts and opinions concerning the first episode of the Rings of Power season 2 episode 1, “Elven Kings Under the Sky.” I say “some” because I simply cannot contain them all! Spoilers, of course, abound.
An important disclaimer: I do not hate The Rings of Power. I’m still watching and I am very entertained. I do wish I was more than entertained by it, because it’s inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien. The show is still far and away the best fantasy television series around.
But here I would like to record many of my opinions. And they are only opinions.
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What did Sauron look like, really? What’s his deal? Was he ever a flaming eyeball on top of a tower? Probably not. Was he a creepy-as-hell humanoid with nine black fingers when he tortured Gollum? Yes. Was he a big guy in spiky black armor when he fought Gil-galad and Elendil on the slopes of Mt. Doom? Possibly. Was he a friendly Elvish-looking mentor when he was “cozening” the Elf-smiths of Eregion? Almost certainly.
He can, in theory, be all of the above. How about a handsome actor like Charlie Vickers? Or a, ummm, Jack Lowden? Apparently!
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Foreshadowed and Foresung 