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Credit: New Line CinemaAmazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power streaming series just blew up the internet with exclusive photos of a female dwarf queen with no beard. After a flurry of controversy, some fans have “fixed” the issue, receiving praise from many.
Related: ‘Lord of the Rings’ Fans Slam Amazon’s Female Dwarf for Not Having a Beard
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power aired their official teaser trailer during Super Bowl, LVI, generating a fury of controversies concerning the ethnicities of new elvish creatures to the Dwarven Princess Disa — played by British actress Sophia Nomvete — for the female dwarf reportedly NOT having a beard.
In the wake of the Twitter wars, some Rings fans fixed this Amazon Studios’ issue on Instagram:
Well..
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When Jeff Bezos gave Vanity Fair the first look at their new Middle Earth characters played by a diverse cast, Twitter became a warzone among LOTR fans:
I find the lack of facial hair disturbing, female dwarves have beards
I find the lack of facial hair disturbing, female dwarves have beards #LOTRonPrime #LOTR20 #ringofpower #lordoftherings #LOTRonPrime #TheRingsOfPower #dwarf #Tolkien https://t.co/Cec8lngm7m
— Johnny Straycat🔻🎃🇺🇲 (@johnnystraycat) February 10, 2022
Another fan wrote:
What is this? A beardless dwarf and a shorthaired elf [Elrond]? No sir. All dwarves male and female have beards. All Elven have lang braided hair
What is this? A beardless dwarf and a shorthaired elf? No sir. All dwarves male and female have beards. All Elven have lang braided hair#TheRingsOfPower
— Kevin Vercauteren (@KevinVercauter1) February 10, 2022
Looking at these Tweets, it’s inferred that no one has an issue with actress Sophia Nomvete taking the crown as Dwarven Princess Dira, but how Amazon interpreted the first female dwarf raises eyebrows.
Related: Amazon’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ Team Firmly Address Diverse, Multicultural Cast Complaints
Not to fear, some Photoshop-savvy fans added a beard to Sophia Nomvete’s dwarven princess, receiving praise from most Tolkien fans on social media.
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According to The Lord of the Rings lore/canon (which isn’t exactly like Star Wars “canon”), J.R.R. Tolkien himself described female dwarfs as having beards.
According to author Tolkien, ancient dwarvish folk was so alike that they were often considered a male-only race.
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In The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), legendary dwarf Gimli, Son of Glóin, reveals to Éowyn (Miranda Otto) and Strider/Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) that dwarf-women are often mistaken for men:
It’s true you don’t see many dwarf women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for dwarf men.
Aragorn then replies: “It’s the beards.”
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These established ideas of a dwarf female mentioned on-screen in The Two Towers support the opinion of many LOTR fans that every female dwarf in the world of Tolkien should sport a beard.
But, any fictional work is open to interpretation. Given that Amazon has the legal rights to interpret Tolkien’s work for their Rings TV show any way they please, it’s clear that they feel having a female dwarf with no beard is the best choice for their Rings TV series.
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It is worth mentioning that the first live-action appearance of a female dwarf occurred in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012). Director Peter Jackson saw it fit to include facial hair to this character, but something will inadvertently change this September when The Rings of Power debuts on Prime Video.
More about The Rings of Power
Taking place in the episodic Second Age of Middle Earth, Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power chronicles the construction of the One Ring worn by dark lord Sauron under Mount Doom:
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, 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.
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The $1 billion series is set to focus on the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron as he forges the One Rings (Ring of Power), the historic alliance between Elves and Men (that transcended the entire franchise), the island of Númenor/Westernesse, as well as a look into Khazad‐dûm/Moria before the dwarven kingdom fell to hoards of goblins and the deadly Balrog/Durin’s Bane. On top of that, Amazon filmed in New Zealand, keeping that Middle Earth look that Academy Award-winning director Peter Jackson masterfully captured in his
However, unfortunately, you won’t be seeing any of legendary hobbit Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood), Bilbo Baggins (Sir Ian Holm), Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin), Merry Brandybuck (Dominic Monaghan), Pippen Took (Billy Boyd), Legolas (Orlando Bloom), Gandalf the White (Sir Ian McKellen), Saruman (Sir Christopher Lee), Gollum (Andy Serkis), and more in Power of the Rings.
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This series features a relatively unknown cast of lead and supporting actors that are set to play some of the most formative names in Elrond (Robert Aramayo), Prince Durin IV (Owain Arthur), and Lady Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) — replacing Cate Blanchett as the Lothlórien queen.
New characters like silvan elf Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) and Cole (Maxim Baldry) have been created specifically for the series:
In a bold move, #TheRingsOfPower condenses Tolkien’s Middle-earth timeline and adds entirely new characters. Sophia Nomvete’s dwarven princess, Disa, and Ismael Cruz Córdova’s Silvan elf, Arondir, broaden the notion of who lives in Middle-earth.
In a bold move, #TheRingsOfPower condenses Tolkien’s Middle-earth timeline and adds entirely new characters. Sophia Nomvete’s dwarven princess, Disa, and Ismael Cruz Córdova’s Silvan elf, Arondir, broaden the notion of who lives in Middle-earth.
🔗: https://t.co/Tabxf9CzoL pic.twitter.com/s2MXkGpQXm
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) February 10, 2022
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Showrunner Patrick McKay and writer JD Payne pen the tentative series with directors JA Bayona and Wayne Che Yip leading the Rings show set to debut on September 2, 2022.
Do you feel that female dwarfs should have beards in The Lord of the Rings? Let us know in the comments below!