When The Rings of Power‘s third season premieres on Prime Video, fans may finally get a glimpse of a beloved character from the books that was glaringly absent from Peter Jackson’s cinematic Lord of the Rings trilogy. Indeed, it’s always been curious as to why the angelic High Elf Glorfindel was excluded from the epic, award-winning fantasy trilogy. Yet, when drilling down on the details, there’s a pretty understandable explanation.
With Glorfindel rumored to play a pivotal role in Galadriel’s (Morfydd Clark) perilous journey in The Rings of Power Season 3, it’s only right to reflect on the character’s literary origins, mythological role, and ultimately, why Jackson felt the need to omit the character from the popular big screen adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s text.
Who Is Glorfindel in ‘The Lord of the Rings’?
Glorfindel is a mighty member of the Noldor, one of the three groups of High Elves in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth mythology. During Frodo’s quest to destroy the One Ring in Mount Doom, Glorfindel is described as a gallant Elf-Warrior with golden hair who helps Frodo and his Hobbit friends survive the vicious attacks of the Nazgul in Rivendell.
Also known for sacrificing his life to defeat a Balrog in combat, Glorfindel became a reincarnated elf in Middle-earth’s Third Age and was granted near-unparalleled power on par with that of Maiar. Yet, since most of his backstory occurred in the First Age and the movies largely cover the Third Age, Glorfindel’s role was not as integral to the narrative of Jackson’s trilogy. But that isn’t the primary reason for Glorfindel’s cinematic omission.
Why Peter Jackson Left Glorfindel Out of the Movies, Explained
Glorfindel’s main contribution in The Lord of the Rings was to scare the Nazgul into the river during Frodo’s quest. Without much else to do in the narrative, Peter Jackson wisely combined Glorfindel’s actions and accomplishments into the character of Arwen (Liv Tyler) to bolster her heroic development. By consolidating the two characters into one, Jackson nimbly streamlined the events of Tolkien’s massive text into an easily digestible narrative.
For instance, instead of Glorfindel warding off the wraiths in Rivendell, the movies transpose those heroic actions to Arwen, providing viewers with the same dramatic effect as the books. Not only does this elevate Arwen’s standing within the fellowship, but her intrepid protection of Frodo during the “Flight to the Ford” sequence also helped to intensify the romantic development between Arwen and Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen).
By making a composite character of Glorfindel and Arwen, Jackson smartly avoided the unnecessary confusion of introducing a new character to an already massive ensemble cast. Had Jackson included Glorfindel in the Rivendell portion of Frodo’s journey, it would have added a confounding complexity to the story that was simply unneeded. Therefore, Jackson eliminated Glorfindel altogether and bestowed his gallantry on Arwen’s character, adding much more to her mythology than a dying character.
While Arwen is the specific beneficiary of Glorfindel’s absence, Peter Jackson also left the latter character out to amplify the female presence in the movie, which is largely missing from the books. Rather than adapting an all-male story, Jackson felt it important to empower the female elves in the story to make for a more inclusive, well-rounded adaptation.
Such is also the case for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which charts Galadriel’s journey in Middle-earth’s Second Age. The real question becomes whether Galadriel’s distant cousin Glorfindel will appear in Season 3 when the show returns to Prime Video in late 2026 or early 2027.
Source link
Add Comment