‘As may a master in the telling of tales keep hidden the greatest moment until it comes in due course. It may be guessed at indeed, in some measure, by those of us who have listened with full heart and mind; but so the teller would wish. In no wise is the surprise and wonder of his art thus diminished, for thus we share, as it were, in his authorship. But not so, if all were told us in a preface before we entered in!’ —Finrod to Andreth, Athrabeth
Most of the criticisms of Rings of Power center on perceived departures from the source material; however, I think a closer inspection of the show reveals a much more faithful adherence to Tolkien’s legendarium than may be at first apparent.
A good example of an apparent departure is Galadriel’s assumption of her brother Finrod’s vow as she mourns over his body in the first episode. This scene has riled many a fan, because in the great tale Of Beren and Lúthien her brother Finrod vows not to destroy Sauron, but to protect the kin of a friend out of love and gratitude. Finrod is killed saving the life of Beren, making good on his oath with the ultimate sacrifice. (The show visually alludes to this tale with the brutal claw marks on Finrod’s arm, which, according to the tale, he sustains by killing a werewolf with his bare hands to save Beren’s life, at the cost of his own.) In the show, however, Galadriel says her brother made a vow to seek out and destroy Sauron, and that Sauron ‘found him first and marked his flesh with a symbol.’
This would seem to be a dramatic departure from the source material, but everything the show runners have said leads me to believe that, aside from time compression, they have remained mostly faithful to the lore. After all, they love the material, are working with the Tolkien Estate and Tolkien experts, and must have the approval of the Estate for the story and dialogue.
The discrepancy in the story of Finrod is our first hint that something else is afoot, and this scene provides a great entry point to explore other missing pieces in the show. By applying the narrative structure of The Silmarillion and Lord Of The Rings, we can discover context that clarifies this seeming contradiction as, in fact, quite faithful to the book.
It is no accident that one of the most important plot points of the first season and arguably the show—Galadriel taking up her brother’s vow—anchors upon Finrod’s death, an event that takes place in the tale Of Beren and Lúthien. This particular tale forms the kernel from which most of the tales of Middle-earth eventually grew and is one of the three ‘great tales’ from the First Age. In it, Finrod makes good on his oath to Beren, son of Barahir, and in doing so forfeits his life.
Finrod originally makes his oath to Barahir, when Barahir saves him during the Battle of Sudden Flame—Dagor Bragollach.
There King Finrod Felagund, hastening from the south, was cut off from his people and surrounded with small company in the Fen of Serech; and he would have been slain or taken, but Barahir came up with the bravest of his men and rescued him, and made a wall of spears about him; and they cut their way out of the battle with great loss. Thus Felagund escaped, and returned to his deep fortress of Nargothrond; but he swore an oath of abiding friendship and aid in every need to Barahir and all his kin, and in token of his vow he gave to Barahir his ring. —Of The Ruin Of Beleriand, Quenta Silmarillion
Contrast Finrod’s oath of ‘abiding friendship’ with Galadriel’s description of his vow in ROP:
[Galadriel] They called him Sauron. My brother vowed to seek him out and destroy him. — The Rings of Power, Episode 101
Why would she believe that his vow was to hunt and destroy, rather than to aid and protect?
To answer this, we must broaden our scope to pose a more general question: why do most of the characters in Arda believe something that is untrue? The unreliable narrator is a literary device at play throughout the histories of Middle-earth, and it turns out that exploring this device will reveal how the discrepancy in Galadriel’s account actually does follow The Silmarillion—just not how you might imagine it would. Our exploration requires us to stray momentarily from Finrod’s oath, but bear with me, as the answers not only clarify this apparent discrepancy as consistent with the source material, but also reconcile many other presumed contradictions.
The Silmarillion is written as a collection of historical works authored by (and for) the Elves and Men friendly with Elves. As such, the content itself is limited, and in some ways unreliable. Because it is not an omniscient account of events, it is neither complete nor objective. Only those events with which the Elves themselves had a part or of which they had access to second-hand accounts are included. Moreover, those stories that are attested are told from the perspective of the Elves, along with the biases of the (fictional) authors, who are themselves Elves or Men friendly with Elves. The result is a biased narrative that necessarily has major gaps, but given the sheer volume of story, it’s easy to forget there are significant pieces missing.
It has to be remembered that they ‘mythology’ is represented as being two stages removed from a true record: it is based first upon Elvish records and lore about the Valar and their own dealings with them; and these hav reached us (fragmentarily) only through relics of Númenórean (human) traditions, derived from the Eldar, in the earlier parts, though for later times supplemented by anthropocentric histories and tales. These, it is true, came down through the ‘Faithful’ and their descendants in Middle-earth, but could not altogether escape the darkening of the picture due to the hostility of the rebellious Númenóreans to the Valar. —Morgoth’s Ring
The most obvious example of this that is relevant to the Rings of Power is the story of Sauron. After Melkor is captured by the Valar in the First Age, the books briefly mention that Sauron is not found. He doesn’t (explicitly) enter into the story again until after Morgoth is released and returns to Arda. Thereafter he garners a few brief mentions, the most extensive of which is his occupation of Tol Sirion, when he turns it into the Isle of Werewolves and later captures Finrod and Beren during their quest for the Silmaril. His part in the story Of Beren and Lúthien is his last appearance in The Silmarillion. Considering what a major role he plays, it’s curious that he appears so little in these tales. On the other hand, it makes sense when you consider the narrator: the Elves would not be privy to details of Sauron’s whereabouts and activities, nor would they have access to second-hand accounts, as these would come from the enemy.
Tolkien has left for us a juicy mystery.
But can we solve it? Yes, we can, and the means for doing so is the structure of the work itself. Tolkien uses several forms of ring composition in The Silmarillion, including fractal, spiral, and chiastic structures with interlace.
In any case the ‘background’ matter is very intricate, useless unless exact, and compression within the limits available leaves it unsatisfactory. It needs great concentration (and leisure), and being completely interlocked cannot be dealt with piecemeal.
— J. R. R. Tolkien, Letter 160 regarding the Appendices of LOTR
When we lay out the combined structures of spiral composition, chiastic structure, and interlacement, we get a map of the history itself.