The Rings Of Power Creator Says Glorfindel Could Show Up

“The Rings of Power” has had a busy lead-up to the premiere of its second season. The show has revealed that it is officially introducing Sauron in his Annatar form, which he will use to trick the Elves into forging the rest of the lesser rings. Amazon Studios also set San Diego Comic-Con ablaze with an epic trailer packed with exciting hints and spoilers. The show even hosted a massive Hall H presentation that included a Q&A with members of the cast and crew. During that last event, showrunners Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne made a shocking revelation about a forgotten character from “The Lord of the Rings” books who could show up in their story — and they didn’t even beat around the bush.

“Do you think that maybe in ‘The Rings of Power,’ there’s an opportunity for Glorfindel to exist beyond the pages of Tolkien?” a fan asked (via Fellowship of Fans). Without hesitating, McKay said, “The answer is yes.” After a boisterous response from the crowd, Payne added, “50 hours is a long time. We’ve got a long story to tell. So, there’s room for a lot of surprising people to show up.”

That last comment is in reference to the fact that the showrunners have already mapped out a five-season story arc for “The Rings of Power.” That also means there’s no guarantee that Glorfindel will show up this season — and that’s okay. There are plenty of other new characters arriving in season 2. Still, just the fact that Glorfindel is remotely in the mix is exciting for diehard fans of Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

The big question for those who follow Middle-earth from a distance is, who is this guy — and why does he matter? Glorfindel is one of the greatest characters to ever flow from Tolkien’s pen. In a nutshell, the individual that fans affectionately call “Glorfy” is a supernaturally empowered Elven warrior with one of the most impressive rap sheets in all of Middle-earth history.

Anyone who has read “The Lord of the Rings” will remember that Glorfindel is the elven warrior who helps Aragorn and the four Hobbit adventurers get to Rivendell without being turned into mincemeat by the Nazgûl. The first time we meet him, the book “The Fellowship of the Ring” describes Glorfindel’s most famous feature, his hair, saying, “his golden hair flowed shimmering in the wind of his speed.” The luscious locks are important if only because “The Silmarillion” says that the name Glorfindel literally means “Golden-haired.” We’re told he also has a high-pitched Elven tenor, and a bit later, he’s described thusly: 

“Glorfindel was tall and straight; his hair was of shining gold, his face fair and young and fearless and full of joy; his eyes were bright and keen, and his voice like music; on his brow sat wisdom, and in his hand was strength.”

While Glorfindel is described as a powerful Elf-lord and a mighty warrior, his real strength is supernatural. When Frodo sees him with the insightful eyes of a Ring-bearer, the book says, “It appeared that a white light was shining through the form and raiment of the rider, as if through a thin veil.” Later, when the elf confronts the Black Riders, the hobbit sees Glorfindel as a bright figure of white light. Gandalf explains this perspective, saying, “Yes, you saw him for a moment as he is upon the other side: one of the mighty of the Firstborn. He is an Elf-lord of a house of princes.”

Part of this is Glorfindel simply being an elf — a creature that lives both in a physical and spiritual state. But Glorfindel is more than that. In “The Lord of the Rings,” he is a reincarnated being who has already lived an epic life of heroic adventure. Born in the Undying Lands away in the West, Glorfindel originally perished over six thousand years before “The Lord of the Rings” story. This first death occurred at the end of the First Age during the destruction of a hidden Elvish stronghold called Gondolin. In that fight, a balrog attacked some Elvish refugees in the mountains, and Glorfindel perished while falling with his enemy to their mutually destructive death. For most individuals, that would be the defining end of an illustrious life of heroism. For Glorfy, though, it is just the beginning.

Glorfindel dies in the First Age, and yet, there is a Glorfindel alive and well during the War of the Ring in the Third Age over 6,000 years later. How is this possible? It’s a question that even Tolkien didn’t fully understand at first. He wrote about the two Glorfindels separately and then had to rectify the two stories after the fact. In the end, he came up with the perfect solution: reincarnation. (Get ready for some hardcore Middle-earth nerdiness here.)

Elven spirits don’t leave Arda (the Earth) like Human spirits do. They go to the Halls of Waiting, where they, well, wait for the afterlife to commence. At times, though, some Elves are allowed to re-inhabit a physical body, and this happens to Glorfindel due to his heroic acts in life. In fact, he comes back even stronger. In the book “The Peoples of Middle-earth,” Tolkien explains, “his spiritual power had been greatly enhanced by his self-sacrifice.” While the author never fully developed Glorfindel’s entire story, he also says in that book that the new and improved Glorfindel was eventually sent back to Middle-earth to fight against Sauron. He adds that while he could have come later with Gandalf and the other wizards, “it seems far more likely that he was sent in the crisis of the Second Age, when Sauron invaded Eriador, to assist Elrond, and that though not (yet) mentioned in the annals recording Sauron’s defeat he played a notable and heroic part in the war.” The half-worked-out resurrection theory ends with the note that he probably returned to Middle-earth via a Númenórean ship.

What does all of this mean for “The Rings of Power”? At least at one point, toward the end of his life, Tolkien planned to write Glorfindel’s return to Middle-earth right into the time in its history when the show is set — and to help with the epic events that are just beginning to unfold in the show. Even better, Glorfindel’s role in the Second Age was never written, which leaves plenty of room for creative storytelling.

Eventually, Glorfindel’s story does pick up again in Tolkien’s writings, albeit well into the Third Age. By the time the Elven warrior appears in the lead-up to the War of the Ring, it’s in a war with the Witch-king just a millennium before “The Lord of the Rings.” Glorfindel helps defeat the Witch-king in a great battle, and when the Nazgûl himself attacks, the book “The Return of the King” says, “But Glorfindel rode up then on his white horse, and in the midst of his laughter the Witch-king turned to flight and passed into the shadows.”

On top of this badass arrival and clearly overpowering presence, Glorfindel goes on to utter a prophecy, right there on the spot, saying, “Do not pursue him! He will not return to this land. Far off yet is his doom, and not by the hand of man will he fail.” That’s right. Glorfindel is the guy who set up Éowyn for her Witch-king busting duel a thousand years later.

The lingering question is, where has Glorfindel been all of this time? Why haven’t we seen him before? He isn’t like many other Tolkien characters who are only known to diehard fans who have read deep-cut books like “The Silmarillion” or “Unfinished Tales.” He’s right there, front and center, in the first book of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Why hasn’t he made it into an adaptation yet?

Ralph Bakshi replaced Glorfindel with Legolas in his 1978 animated film “The Lord of the Rings.” Peter Jackson swapped Liv Tyler’s Arwen in for Glorfindel’s Nazgûl-defying role in his trilogy. (Yes, Glorfindel was technically included as an extra played by Jarl Benzon, but he didn’t have any meaningful parts or lines). In those adaptations, the directors likely didn’t include Glorfindel for the same reason Tom Bombadil didn’t make the cut: they weren’t essential to the plot and would have taken up valuable screen time.

Still, Glorfindel remains one of the great unadapted characters of “The Lord of the Rings.” Bombadil is another tragically overlooked individual, but that wrong will soon be righted, as Rory Kinnear will finally be portraying the merry old fellow in season 2. Is Glorfindel close behind Bombadil’s streaming-screen debut? We know the show has the rights to the Elven warrior’s most well-known storyline. We know that in at least some of Tolkien’s multiple versions of the Second Age story, he intended to have Glorfindel on-scene, too. Now all that remains is for J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay to find the right spot to work him into their growing story at some point in the future.