Tolkien historian reveals what Amazon isn’t allowed to change in The Lord of The Rings
Amazon has a lot of expectation to live up to with its Lord of the Rings adaptation. Among the cries that it is hoping to be the new Game of Thrones there are also the legions of Middle Earth obsessives. And now, we learn, Tolkien's estate itself, which has put strictures on the growing entertainment studios in order to adapt the fantasy epic.
Tom Shippey, a Tolkien scholar and consultant on the show, is acting as something of a gatekeeper to ensure that the adaptation remains within the estate's remits. He has also given an interview with a German Tolkien website in which he explains some of the remits that the show and studio are under.
Essentially, Shippey says, the narrative that Tolkein insisted on must remain intact: “The Tolkien Estate will insist that the main shape of the Second Age is not altered. Sauron invades Eriador, is forced back by a Númenorean expedition, and returns to Númenor. There he corrupts the Númenoreans and seduces them to break the ban of the Valar. All this, the course of history, must remain the same.”
This suggests that the lost island of Númenor will act as the background for the bulk of the 22-episode season (the length was another nugget Shippey disclosed), which aligns with the teaser Amazon recently released.
What Amazon can do, however, is add to the existing framework originally defined by Tolkien.
“You can add new characters and ask a lot of questions, like: What has Sauron done in the meantime? Where was he after Morgoth was defeated?” Shippey said. “Theoretically, Amazon can answer these questions by inventing the answers, since Tolkien did not describe it. But it must not contradict anything which Tolkien did say. That’s what Amazon has to watch out for. It must be canonical, it is impossible to change the boundaries which Tolkien has created, it is necessary to remain ‘Tolkienian.’”
Amazon can also not dramatise events that took place in either the First or Third Age, but seeing as the Second Age lasted 3,441 years, that should be plenty to start with.
