A guide to all the new and familiar characters on The Rings of Power

The Rings of Power marks our first adventure back into the high fantasy world of Middle-earth since The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies in 2014. What makes this Amazon Prime series special is that it takes us into an era of Middle-earth and The Lord of the Rings franchise that has never been adapted for the screen: the Second Age. Amazon didn’t base this show on a book or series of books, but rather than appendices at the end of The Return of the King, which leaves room for interpretation.

Many of the characters in The Rings of Power will be familiar to even the most casual Tolkien or The Lord of the Rings fan. Other characters make their live-action debut in the series, and many more are original characters created specifically for The Rings of Power.

Here’s everything you need to know about them. And beware: there are potential SPOILERS for The Rings of Power below.

Characters with deep histories in the Tolkien-verse

Galadriel

• Actor: Morfydd Clark
• Films: The Fellowship of the Ring; The Return of the King; The Hobbit trilogy
• Books: The Fellowship of the Ring; The Return of the King; The Silmarillion; Unfinished Tales

Galadriel is one of the most famous and powerful elves in all of Middle-earth. By the time we see her in The Fellowship of the Ring, Galadriel is thousands of years old, carries one of the great Rings of Power, and rules over the woods of Lothlórien with her husband Celeborn.

During the events of the first book and film, Galadriel offers shelter and rest to the Fellowship after their harrowing escape from Moria. She also shows Frodo possible versions of the future if he were to fail in his mission to cast the One Ring into the fires of Mt. Down.

In The Rings of Power, Galadriel is thousands of years younger but no less powerful and beautiful. Galadriel was born in Valinor before the beginning of even the First Age. Valinor is basically the elven version of paradise or Valhalla and is also known as the Undying Lands. Tolkien’s notes compiled in Unfinished Tales describe Galadriel as an exceedingly intelligent and ambitious elf who wished to see and rule over parts of Middle-earth. She left Valinor millennia ago with others of her people, the Noldor, to fight the Dark Lord Morgoth, who had stolen the sacred jewels and Silmarils and fled with them to Middle-earth.

The new series is set during the Second Age, which begins after the defeat of Morgoth, a Valar (a god, basically) formerly known as Melkor. During this time, Galadriel helped rule several places in Middle-earth under the high king Gil-galad, including the place that will become Lothlórien.

During the Second Age, Galadriel is on hand for the forging of the rings of power and the dark lord Sauron’s war against the elves, dwarves, and men. In The Rings of Power, it’s likely we’ll see her being chosen to wear the ring Nenya and lead forces against Sauron.