The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power Will Show A Version Of Galadriel Fans Haven't Seen Before

Cate Blanchett and Peter Jackson helped make Galadriel a household name with the director's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, in which Blanchett played the royal elf as an ethereal and almost god-like being. In those films, she is one of the oldest living beings in Middle Earth, a powerful and ancient demi-god who helps the Fellowship and Frodo (Elijah Wood) with their monumental task of destroying the most powerful of all of the Rings of Power, the One Ring.

In the new Prime Video series "Lord of the Rings: the Rings of Power," however, Galadriel is centuries, possibly even millenia younger, and she's not exactly the maternal figure fans of Jackson's films might recognize. 

Galadriel's story begins in "The Silmarillion," written by "Lord of the Rings" author J.R.R. Tolkien as a mythological, formative text for the worlds he created. Galadriel has been around since before the sun existed, as her hair is described as being made from one of the trees of Valinor, a source of holy light from the pre-sun era. She's royalty among the elves, descended from multiple royal lines and eventually a princess after her father becomes the High King of the Blessed Realm of Valinor, which is sort of like Elven Heaven. She's not only a major figure in the Age of Man and the events of "The Lord of the Rings," but she's a central piece of Middle Earth's history.

In an interview with Empire Magazine (via Apple News), Welsh actor Morfydd Clark, who fans might recognize from the horror flick "Saint Maud," explained that she's playing a very different kind of Galadriel than the one we've seen before: 

"It was like being on a school trip! I got to do swimming, riding, climbing... Galadriel is legendary. Cate Blanchett as Galadriel was legendary. Tolkien himself is legendary! [This version of Galadriel] still has a lot to learn. I had to find that balance between someone who has got an element of the eternal but hasn't yet seen it all. Don't expect the same character that you meet later on."

I, for one, cannot wait to see a rough-and-tumble Galadriel who helped shape the fate of Middle Earth, the "Silmarillion" badass who's been around longer than any of the other elves in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. She's a vital character not only for the series, but for femme fantasy fans everywhere.

Galadriel herself bears one of the titular Rings of Power, one of the three rings forged for the Elves. Her ring is Nenya, the Ring of Water, made by Celebrimbor in the Second Age. As the forging of the rings will be a part of the series, we will get to see Galadriel without such otherworldly power, and she will have to grow into the wise woman we know she eventually becomes. She once dwelled among the Valar, who are the true demigods that control Middle-earth, in the magical land of Valinor.

At the end of "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King," Frodo himself travels to the "Undying Lands" of Valinor, knowing he can never come back. But once upon a time Valinor was a place anyone with permission could go to and leave at will, sort of a "Lord of the Rings" version of the Isle of Avalon from Arthurian legend.

It will be exciting for old and new fans alike to see another side of this brilliant character brought to life when "The Rings of Power" hits Prime Video on September 2, 2022.