Galadriel, Elrond, Sauron: Three of the most important characters from “The Rings of Power” also play an important role in “The Lord of the Rings” films and books and should therefore be familiar to many. In the third episode of the Amazon series, however, two more well-known, if less prominent, characters are now added: Isildur (Maxim Baldry) and Elendil (Lloyd Owen) – and all fans should also be familiar with Elendil’s sword.
This is Narsil, the same sword with which Isildur cuts the ring from Sauron’s finger in the prologue of “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship” and which can eventually be seen in Rivendell. Then in The Return of the King, Elrond (Hugo Weaving) has the sword reforged and the pieces of Narsil become Andúril, the Flame of the West – the sword of Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen).
Narsil in
WHY DOES NARSIL LOOK SO DIFFERENT FROM THE FILMS?
But why does Narsil look so different in the Amazon series than in The Lord of the Rings films? There is a simple explanation: “The Rings of Power” is NOT a prequel to the Peter Jackson trilogy, but a stand-alone story.
The people responsible for “The Rings of Power” have the rights to J.R.R Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” and its appendices as well as to “The Hobbit”, but for legal reasons it is not the same world as in the well-known films, which after all were also produced by Studio Warner and not by Amazon.
Despite certain similarities in design, music (the title theme of the series is by “The Lord of the Rings” composer Howard Shore) and the whole look (“The Rings of Power” was also filmed in New Zealand), there will always be clear differences between the series and the films – and this can be seen in the example of Narsil.
THAT’S WHY NARSIL IS SO IMPORTANT
But what remains the same in “The Rings of Power” and “The Lord of the Rings” films is the importance of Narsil: as mentioned in the introduction, Narsil is crucial in defeating Sauron – and the battle that began “The Fellowship” actually takes place at the end of the Second Age of Middle-earth, in which “The Rings of Power” is also set.
It is very likely that we will also reach this point in the history of Middle-earth in the planned five seasons of “The Rings of Power”, so that Narsil will then also be allowed to cut the One Ring from Sauron’s finger – only that the sword will look different here and Isildur and Elendil will be played by other actors.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” episode 4 will be released on 16 September 2022 at 6am on Amazon Prime Video. You can also learn more about Narsil in the video above from our YouTube host Sebastian starting at minute 4:55.
