The Beauty Of...The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Moseley Bog Nature Reserve — Birmingham, England
When the young John Ronald Reuel Tolkien roamed the verdant greenery of the Moseley Bog in Birmingham, little did he know how the tangible beauty before him would spill out into the written word.
What appeared to be merely an English schoolboy’s childhood playground would go on to inspire the dearly beloved fictional woodlands of Middle Earth. The work of author, J.R.R. Tolkien is held by many as unimpeachable—The Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings, and the Silmarillion have collectively been described as quintessential fantasy.
Peter Jackson’s revolutionary adaptation of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, having received a total of 800 award nominations and received 475 of them, is the most awarded series in cinematic history.
Our media landscape has shifted greatly since the trilogy’s release. Today, the next epic blockbuster arrives, and leaves the public’s awareness just as quickly.
And yet, Amazon’s television adaptation, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, is set for a September 2 release. The enduring presence of Middle Earth in our cultural zeitgeist is a true marvel—which aspects of its production have made the original trilogy so celebrated?
Prior to the debut of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) Tolkien’s works were often said to be “unfilmable.” Announcing a film adaptation of work originating in any other medium is often met with a mixed response; a witches brew of excitement, nerves, and anticipatory disappointment. Many attribute this to a fundamental difference between film and prose. Novels deal primarily in concepts rather than the percepts necessitated by film’s visual medium.
However it’s crucial to note that percepts can also evoke concepts. Key to this evocation are the practically produced visuals of Jackson’s trilogy, but in my book, what truly imbues his work with life is the strength of the films’ audio-visual connection.
Music and poetry comprise so much of the lore of Middle Earth, and these percepts are perhaps the most striking instance of how the broader concepts of Tolkien’s works were distilled into the very bones of Jackson’s original film trilogy.
Take “The Edge of Night” for example—a lament sung by Billy Boyd’s Pippin in The Return of the King. The song takes inspiration from a more lighthearted tune sung in the novel, amending its ending to leave listeners with the haunting final note of “all shall fade.”
It is this concept of transience upon which Tolkien’s original works and Jackon’s adaptations both confer beauty. Consider some of these films’ most iconic locations: the Mines of Moria, the white city of Gondor, Dunharrow etc.
We see none of these places in their full glory—the mines are little more than a crypt, caging beast of ash and ruin; Gondor exists only as a shadow of itself under the purview of a petty steward; Dunharrow literally houses the tormented ghosts of once great men, fallen from grace. Our heroes pass through ruin after ruin.
Audiences typically associate the boons of high fantasy stories with a glimpse into the splendors of another world. And yet, we are given a sense that the Golden Age of this continent and its many cultures has passed. As Pippin says, all shall fade.
The non-diegetic soundscape of Jackson’s trilogy is rich with meaning as well. In regards to the wide ranging impact of the truly ambitious score, including over 13 hours of music in total, much credit is owed to composer Howard Shore.
The man went so far as to deconstruct different instruments so that he could find sounds to properly encompass the 3rd Age of Middle Earth. In interviews with author Doug Adams, Shore explained,
“I’m writing the music based on a story that predates our culture. I want it to feel old. I want to create a very specific sound for this story…to feel like somebody discovered the score…in a vault somewhere.”
Shore’s compositional approach involved the use of leitmotifs, or recurring themes, to create a musical history for the realm of Middle Earth. Leitmotifs were constructed for each geographical location, ensuring each culture depicted in the trilogy received their own distinct, lived-in sounds.
Pairing this rich soundscape with the tangible visual detail provided by the crew’s use of miniatures and other innovative film practices makes for a killer combination. Upon rewatch, nothing significant about the films’ production values feels dated.
To pour so much care and respect into a work of fantasy, a genre often thought to be the realm of children, may seem odd to some. But that’s just it.
The magic of these films continues to endure because it speaks to adults and children alike. Jackson’s 3 film epics honor Tolkiens’ near reverential belief in the power of fantasy stories. As the author wrote his 1947 scholarly essay:
“The realm of fairy-story is wide and deep and high and filled with many things…The association of children and fairy-stories is an accident of our domestic history.”
Can Amazon’s new stab at Tolkien’s work live up to the rich tapestry laid by the films? Well, in the interest of remaining optimistic…I suppose we’ll just have to see.
Nonetheless, when I’m in the mood to step out of my daily routine, I know the wonders of Middle Earth will never disappoint.
