Fans of The Lord of the Rings' share excitement over the prequel's trailer

ldquoOne ring to rule them all one ring to find them one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them in the Land of Mordor where the shadows lierdquo wrote Tolkien to define the centrepiece of his greatest creation mdash The Lord of the Rings Now makers have dived deeper into Tolkienrsquos mythology in Rings of Power a new series that will release online in September The teaser trailer has elicited mixed reactions from fans of the movies and books While it predates the incidents in Peter Jacksonrsquos movie series of the eponymous epic The Hobbit it will have some familiar characters in the elvish queen Galadriel and the evil Sauron We speak with fans of the books to explore their reactions to and expectations from the new seriesThe one ring from LOTR Pic Courtesy youTube Wikimedia CommonsInside Middle EarthKarishma Tolani entrepreneur 33For Tolani the books were an experience of a lifetime Having read The Hobbit in college first she recalls her instant curiosity about the creation of the rings ldquoThe question always was lsquoWhat are these rings and how did they come to bersquo I am sure that is going to be the key part of the Rings of Powerrdquo While she agrees that the movies have popularised Tolkien lore it is the authorrsquos writings that still hold fort ldquoWhenever someone tries to popularise or recreate something as complex as The Silmarillion it is interestingrdquo she admits The journeys wonrsquot be there anymore she adds as the series is bound to focus on the core of the myth ldquoIt will be far more focused on kingdoms its many regions and the internal conflicts of good and evilrdquoTolani notes that connecting with audiences unfamiliar with the story before the movies will be a challenge for screenwriters ldquoPeople who are not familiar with the lore may find it difficult to follow The challenge is to help audiences connect the dotsrdquo15The number of languages and dialects constructed by JRR Tolkien to make up the elvish language family for the books and its mythologyThe tale of SauronDhruv Gavde actuary 26Gavde found the teasertrailer confusing ldquoYou canrsquot pinpoint the time there is a vague idea of where this sits in the epoch I suppose they are building anticipationrdquo he suggests As a fan of the books Gavde believes the series will focus on the first and second ages of Tolkienrsquos books ldquoTo go too far beyond is also risky as you will never have an idea of why Sauron had to tempt the others and create the ringsrdquoWhile outlining the rise of Sauron Gavde explains the villainrsquos predecessor Morgoth will not beget more than a mention He notes ldquoThe story centres on Sauron after he took up the mantle from Morgothrdquo Gavde feels fans will always have a bone to pick about some element left out ldquoHaving a series is good since you will get more time to cover all the anglesrdquo he says adding ldquoThe challenge is in trying to end the season on a high note which is difficult in this case since it would require skipping time to reach events that transpire as per the lore itselfrdquoA confusing startLenin drsquoCruz editor and book designer 34ldquoI was not very impressed with the teaser It felt like they were trying to cash in on the success of recent fantasy lorerdquo drsquoCruz explains It was not the trailer but the interviews with the show runners JD Payne and Patrick McKay which caught his eye ldquoI understand they do not have the rights to The Silmarillion So the series will be based on the appendices to the books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Ringsrdquo he explains The makers he speculates will flesh out their own stories based on this lore ldquoOf course with a title such as Rings of Power Sauron will be at the centre of the talerdquo he tells usFor the designer Tolkienrsquos evil villain could remain hidden through the season He shares ldquoSauron persuaded people in disguise so they might reveal him to be disguised as another popular characterrdquo Another key character that he expects to play a major role in the series is the elven queen Lady Galadriel as the connecting point to make it relatable to movie audiences A fan of the books drsquoCruz understands that the series may not follow the lore Pointing to the popular Game of Thrones series he says ldquoThe catch should be that without knowing anything about the books or the lore people can follow the storyrdquo