Warning! Spoilers for Rings of power Season 2, Episode 4 Ahead!
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Featured the Burrow joke, but who are the corpses, and how are they reanimated? The Whites are monsters that Frodo, Merry, Pippin and Sam face The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the ringBut they were cut from Peter Jackson’s film trilogy. This made their appearance in the Prime Video prequel series quite exciting, but the implied history of​​​​​​​​Barrow-Wights is somewhat different from Tolkien’s original description.
in The rings of power Season 2, Episode 4 Galadriel, Elrond, and their elven company come across the Barrow-downs, an ancient burial ground. Here they note that the messenger Gil-Galad sent to Celebrimbar about Halbrand’s true identity was killed, and it immediately became clear that the surrounding graves were not as harmless as they appeared. Phantom bodies began to emerge, accompanied by an eerie chant. with lyrics like “His hand and heart and bone are cold.” Lord of the Rings Book fans immediately knew what was coming – though Rings of powerThe Barrow-Wights’ version is slightly different.
The Burrow-Whites were originally early people from Middle-earth’s first age
Rings of Power briefly mentioned the history of the Barrow-downs
When the elves arrived at the Barrow-downs in The rings of power Season 2, one of their company mentions that this is where the ancient kings of men are buried. It’s hard to say what the elf was holding.”old,“But it may be assumed that he was referring to the first age of Middle-earth. This has been in line with Tolkien canon ever since The tombs of the Burrow-downs were initially intended for the noble ancestors of the Bede— Men who fought alongside the Elves against Morgoth in the wars of Belriand. This means that the bodies of the Downs could have been there since the first years of the first era.
Why the corpses become barrow-whites in the rings of power
There is some evil magic at work
The bodies of the barrow-downs came to live in The rings of power Season 2, emerging from their graves to attempt to kill Galadriel, Elrond and their company. Although it is not confirmed, Galadriel Theorized that Sauron passed through the Barrow-downs on his way to Eregion and used his dark power to reanimate the corpsesturning them into barrow-jokes. With the bridge down, anyone traveling from Lindon to Eregion would have to pass through the enemies. This would allow Sauron time to work on Celebrimbor and forge the Rings of Power.
Galadriel saw the efficacy of this plan. There were horse bodies and supplies littering the barrow-downs, implying that the messenger Gil-galad had sent to Eregion was killed by the barrow-wights. Galadriel and her company would have been killed too if it wasn’t for the quick thinking of Elrond, who used the weapons hidden in the barrows to fight and kill the whites. He claimed that these were the only things that could harm the ancient corpses of people. Of course, none of this is exactly as Tolkien described.
How to Kill a Barrow-Wight (And How the Rings of Power Changed Tolkien’s Lore)
Rings of Power made some changes based on lore
The weapons of the elves were used against the barrow-wits, and it was not until Elrond decided to dive into the barrows and claim the weapons inside That they have no chance. There is never really any indication that this is the case in Tolkien Lord of the RingsHowever. When Frodo and the Hobbits were captured by the Whites in Fellowship of the RingIt was Tom Bombadil’s singing that saved the day. The mysterious character can influence almost anything with his voice, including the dark creatures. Although there may be other ways to stop Barrow-Wights, Lord of the Rings Don’t mention it.
Bombadil also scattered weapons and other artifacts from the graves around the barrow-downs, declaring that this would stop the barrow joke from resurfacing. Rings of Power just took this idea a little further.
Rings of power Probably got Elrond’s weapon solution from the use of the barrow-blades in Lord of the Rings. In the books, Bombadil gave the Sabitz Blades of the Burrow Downs, and it was later revealed that these weapons had the magical ability to damage Ring-Reds while other weapons could not. Bombadil also scattered weapons and other artifacts from the graves around the barrow-downs, explaining that this would stop the barrow joke from rising again. Rings of power Just took the idea a little further.
How to kill Barrow-Wights isn’t the only change Rings of power Made. The series leans into the common belief that whites are The corpses of the ancient dead kings, but this is not actually the case in Lord of the Rings. The bodies remained just as they were and most of them were creatures that used to inhabit cemeteries like the Borough Downs. Still, it is Something much more eerie about the idea of ​​Sauron using the bodies of old kings against the living. It may not technically be canon, however Rings of powers version of ​​the Barrow-Wights is certainly thrilling.