Amazon's Lord of the Rings Series to Debut September 2: It's the 'Second Age' of Middle-Earth

Michael Foust | ChristianHeadlines.com Contributor | Updated: Jan 20, 2022
Amazon's <em>Lord of the Rings</em> Series to Debut September 2: It's the 'Second Age' of Middle-Earth

Amazon's Lord of the Rings Series to Debut September 2: It's the 'Second Age' of Middle-Earth

The much-anticipated Lord of the Rings Amazon Prime series will debut on September 2, bringing to life what the studio calls the "second age" of Middle-earth history from J.R.R. Tolkien's novels.

The multi-season series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, will premiere on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories, Amazon Studios said. It is set thousands of years before the events of Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

The title itself foreshadows an "epic story that welds the major events of Tolkien's Second Age together: the forging of the iconic rings," a news release said.

"This is a title that we imagine could live on the spine of a book next to J.R.R. Tolkien's other classics. The Rings of Power unites all the major stories of Middle-earth's Second Age: the forging of the rings, the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, the epic tale of Númenor, and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men," showrunners J.D. Payne & Patrick McKay said in a news release. "Until now, audiences have only seen on-screen the story of the One Ring – but before there was one, there were many… and we're excited to share the epic story of them all."

The first three Lord of the Rings films still rank among the top 75 grossing films of all time. Those movies were The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).

The series, according to the news release, will "take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien's pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness."

"Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth," Amazon said. "From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone."

Amazon Studios unveiled the series title with a 60-second video filmed in a blacksmith foundry in slow motion.

"Three rings for the elven-kings under the sky," a female voice says as the title is formed. "Seven for the dwarf-lords in their halls of stone. Nine for mortal men doomed to die. One for the dark lord on his dark throne. In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie."

Photo courtesy: Ergo Zakki/Unsplash


Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chroniclethe Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.



Amazon's Lord of the Rings Series to Debut September 2: It's the 'Second Age' of Middle-Earth