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The Rings of Power revolves features several faces crafted exclusively for the show. Sure, their backgrounds may lie within Tolkien’s texts, but the characters themselves are entirely foreign to fans.
7 Bronwyn
A single mother, Bronwyn looks after her son in their rundown village. Unbeknownst to onlookers, she also harbors a secret love for Arondir the Elf. It’s a forbidden romance that fans have seen before. They haven’t seen this character, however.
Bronwyn is a new face with familiar roots. She lives in Tirharad, a region in Mordor known as the Southlands (another addition to the lore).
The members of her community descend from the Men who fought alongside Morgoth. History and their fellow Middle-earth residents saw these people as traitors. According to the books, some would go on to become the Haradrim in The Lord of the Rings, siding with evil once again as an ally of Sauron.
6 Arondir
The second half of the forbidden relationship, Arondir is likewise a product of the show. Also like Bronwyn, his background informs his role. He’s stationed in Tirharad as a cautionary measure, watching residents to spot any lingering loyalty to Morgoth. It’s not unlike the Men of Gondor stationed around Mordor following the Battle of the Last Alliance. Other clues to Arondir, though, may lie in past events.
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The archer in question is a Silvan Elf. Members of this breed are lower in the hierarchy, living rougher lives in forests and other wild places. That partially stems from the fact that they never completed the initial passage to Valinor, meaning that Arondir has never been to the Undying Lands. As such, he doesn’t have the longing for home that Galadriel and other High Elves do.
5 Elanor Brandyfoot
This girl goes by “Nori,” which might perplex the more observant fans. After all, this is also the name of a Dwarf in The Hobbit. By contrast, the Nori of this series is likely an ancestor of that hobbit. She’s part of a race of Harfoots. These little guys live off of nature and migrate with the seasons, doing their best to stay hidden from the Big Folk. They have a basis in Tolkien’s lore, albeit several decades too early.
Harfoots and other hobbit breeds didn’t emerge until the Third Age. Again, The Rings of Power takes place in the Second Age. Even if they were around during earlier times, they obviously didn’t impact world events since they’re undocumented. Maybe the showrunners thought audiences wouldn’t like a Middle-earth tale without hobbits.
4 The Stranger
More confusing than the Harfoots is the stranger who lands in their midst. This mysterious Man falls from the sky and crashes to the ground like a meteor. Tolkien’s written works contain no record of this.
One figure who comes to mind is Eärendil, Elrond’s father. At the end of the First Age, he sailed to Valinor and sought forgiveness from the Valar for earthly beings’ past affronts. In response, they overthrew Morgoth and raised Eärendil’s ship into the sky, with a Silmaril functioning as a star. The difference is that he never came down. If The Rings of Power reveals the Stranger as Eärendil, then it would be the most major departure from the author’s vision.
3 Halbrand
One of the more random inclusions is a Man whom Galadriel meets in the Sundering Seas. Introducing himself as “Halbrand,” he lets the other members of his company perish yet saves the heroine from drowning. His reasons for doing so remain unclear, and his background provides little help in his regard. He supposedly hails from the Southlands, possibly one of the villages near Bronwyn’s. He also claims the Orc incursion wiped out his family and friends. However, all of this seems too clichéd to be true.
As a result, some have theorized that Halbrand might be Sauron himself. After all, the Dark Lord is infamous for his deceptive tactics, and it creates a beautiful irony in Galadriel helping the very villain whom she’s hunting. Why he strands himself at sea is unclear. He might have wanted to escape his fate as royal heir to his people. After all, his ancestors served Morgoth, so he wouldn’t have been welcome in many corners of Middle-earth.
2 Oren/Adar
Early in the show’s development, Joseph Mawle joined the cast, reportedly playing an antagonist named “Oren.” There’s no one by that name in Middle-earth history, leading some to suspect that he might also be Sauron.
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That certainly tracks with what little info is available. Oren has no background or promotion like the other characters. In addition, Mawle has played several enigmatic figures in his career, like Benjen Stark in Game of Thrones and Odysseus in Troy: Fall of a City. He’s also tackled some truly despicable villains, such as Jedediah Shine in Ripper Street. This would be yet another in that lineup. Unfortunately, more recent reports list his character as “Adar,” who leads the Orcs currently ravaging the Southlands. It’s more likely he’s just a lieutenant of the real Dark Lord.
1 Disa
This Dwarf princess isn’t explicitly named in the books, but she’s nevertheless present in some form. Disa is the wife of Durin IV, the prince of Khazad-Dum. She’s also the mother of his children, thereby making her part of his longstanding family line.
Tolkien outlines numerous members of Durin’s Folk. '
Some play prominent roles in his mainline stories, such as Thorin and company in The Hobbit and Gimli in The Lord of the Rings. The book’s family tree is predominantly male, with the wives never mentioned by name. That said, the aforementioned Thorin did have a sister named Dis. She probably inspired the Rings of Power character.
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