Amazon is getting the chance to explore certain periods of Middle-earth in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power that have never been brought to life before. The streaming service’s upcoming fantasy series is set primarily during the Second Age of Middle-earth, many years before the events of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogies.
That means The Rings of Power is going to depict important moments and conflicts that may only be briefly referenced in the Lord of the Rings, from the drowning of Númenor all the way to the forging of the Rings of Power. In case that wasn’t exciting enough, the first posters and trailers for The Rings of Power have also revealed that the series is going to go back even further in time than Tolkien fans originally thought.
In fact, some fans believe that the second trailer for The Rings of Power may not only feature the hugely important Two Trees of Valinor, but also one legendary and infamous moment.
Raise Your Swords — The main trailer for The Rings of Power is full of stunning and ominous images. However, there’s one brief scene in the trailer that’s caught the particular attention of Tolkien fans.
The moment can be seen around the two minute mark, when a number of Elves are shown standing in a circle beneath a night sky while raising their swords in unison. Amazon, of course, hasn’t revealed what’s happening during the scene, but some Tolkien fans believe it may be depicting the Oath of Fëanor.
A Deadly Oath — For those who somehow don’t know, the Oath of Fëanor refers to a disastrous promise that was made by a legendary Elven smith named Fëanor and his sons. Fëanor is one of the most important Elves Tolkien ever created, and he’s known for, among other things, creating three coveted gems known as the Silmarils, which contained some of the light of the Two Trees of Valinor. Their beauty, unfortunately, caught the attention of Melkor, the first Dark Lord of Middle-earth.
After Melkor united with the primordial spider known as Ungoliant to successfully destroy the Two Trees, he killed Fëanor’s father and stole the Silmarils. In response, Fëanor not only gave Melkor the new name of Morgoth, but also swore an oath with his sons that none of them would rest until all three of the Silmarils had been reclaimed by them, vowing to go to war with any party who tried to withhold the jewels.
The oath proved to be a horrible decision for all involved. Not only did his desire to get the Silmarils back inspire Fëanor to lead many of his fellow Elves out of Valinor and into Middle-earth, but it also resulted in his death at the hands of Morgoth’s Balrogs. Bound by their oath, Fëanor’s sons were forced to continue their pursuit of the Silmarils even after Fëanor’s death, which resulted in them going to war with not only Morgoth but also a number of their fellow Elves.
While they eventually managed to recover two of the Silmarils, the oath’s only remaining participants discovered that they could not hold them without experiencing intense pain because of the horrors they had committed in their efforts to recapture them. In response, one of Fëanor’s sons threw himself and his Silmaril into a fiery chasm, while another cast his Silmaril into the ocean.
The Inverse Analysis — The Oath of Fëanor is one of the most important moments in the history of Tolkien’s fictional world. It’s a moment that not only directly leads to some of the biggest conflicts throughout the First Age of Middle-earth, but also causes a lot of pain and suffering for Fëanor, his sons, and any of the Elves who helped them with their pursuit, including Galadriel.
The possibility of The Rings of Power actually depicting the Oath of Fëanor is, therefore, an exciting one. And it almost certainly is the oath; the elves are standing under the night sky, and the Oath happens after the Two Trees of Valinor are destroyed, an act that temporarily robs Tolkien’s world of its light.
It would make sense for The Rings of Power to show the Oath of Fëanor. One of the series’ central figures is expected to be Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards), the Elven smith who’s not only tricked into making the Rings of Power by Sauron, but who also happens to be the last in the line of the House of Fëanor.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power premieres Friday, September 2 on Prime Video.
