Amazon has now fully released the first season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. This is the first cinematic portrayal of J.R.R. Tolkien’s mythology since the release of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies in 2014. The series has unleashed a torment of reviews, both fiercely positive and fiercely negative. Being myself an admirer of Tolkien and his work, I am very interested in this latest depiction of his mythology. However, I shall not be writing about The Rings of Power here on Remembered Lore. Why? Although Remembered Lore is dedicated to the discussion of Story, its focus has remained on written story, rather than cinematic story. While cinematic stories are just as legitimate as written stories, they are a relatively new method of storytelling and I have chosen instead to focus on the more ancient methods of storytelling: oral and written. I am not, in some way, slyly boycotting The Rings of Power by not writing about it here. I have watched the show and I have many thoughts on it—good and bad, exuberant and reluctant. I may write about these at some point elsewhere, but for now, I shall refrain from doing so here.
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