Is The Rings of Power based on a book? The series’ roots explained

The Lord of the Rings franchise on screen has historically been based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved books, but The Rings of Power follows a slightly different formula.

The Lord of the Rings has always featured adaptations of Tolkien’s beloved series, with the Hobbit trilogy also following his singular Hobbit book.

With the Middle-earth prequel series out, Amazon Prime’s The Rings of Power, audiences may wonder what book this show adapts for the screen.

So, does The Rings of Power Season 2 follow the plot of a particular book? Well, kind of, but it does take some explaining.

The Rings of Power was inspired by The Silmarillion and Tolkien’s LOTR books

The Rings of Power isn’t based on a book the way that the other films are. The series is inspired by parts of one of Tolkien’s books, called The Silmarillion, and other source material.

The Silmarillion is a book of myths and stories about Middle-earth. It was in development even before The Hobbit was published back in 1937. If you thought Tolkien’s world-building was incredible before, The Silmarillion makes that look like a small drop in the ocean. In comparison, The Silmarillion is a tidal wave, containing tales of Númenor, Sauron, Finrod, Gil-Galad, and Valinor.

The Silmarillion isn’t quite as well known to the fandom as the other books, but those who do know of it may be wondering how it was adapted onto the screen. Tolkien never intended to flesh The Silmarillion out into a full narrative, leaving it as a collection of histories, like a bible.

While this well of information may delight many fans, it doesn’t make for a compelling story. Especially since the book has gained a reputation for being near-impenetrable by all but the most dedicated Tolkien scholars.

Amazon technically doesn’t have the rights to The Silmarillion, so it’s really an inspiration rather than a directed adaptation.

“We have the rights solely to The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King, the appendices, and The Hobbit,” showrunner J.D. Payne told Variety. “And that is it. We do not have the rights to The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The History of Middle-earth, or any of those other books.”

“There’s a version of everything we need for the Second Age in the books we have the rights to,” showrunner McKay said. “As long as we’re painting within those lines and not egregiously contradicting something we don’t have the rights to, there’s a lot of leeway and room to dramatize and tell some of the best stories that [Tolkien] ever came up with.”

Which parts of The Silmarillion does The Rings of Power adapt?

The Rings of Power is a prequel of some sort in regards to The Hobbit and LOTR. It takes place thousands of years beforehand and covers the ending of the Second Age of Middle-earth.

This age has been seen before in flashbacks in the LOTR movies. They depicted a battle between Sauron and the alliance of Men and Elves.

Before the trailer dropped, some speculated that The Rings of Power would perhaps be an anthology series, covering multiple histories from the book.

However, The Rings of Power covers Sauron’s rise to power as the Dark Lord of Mordor and the creation of The One Ring. The series details it from the eyes of the characters, rather than as a report or retelling like in the book. It takes a lot of liberties and doesn’t align with some canon events.

What else inspired the series?

The Second Age isn’t covered in enough detail – only dates, times, and events were made apparent – by The Silmarillion to carry an entire series. So The Rings of Power uses the LOTR books for inspiration.

In his letters to Humphrey Carpenter, Tolkien had revealed just as much about Middle-earth’s past in Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, as well as in the 12-volume The History of Middle-earth.

This and the creativity of the writers allowed the series to flesh out very minute characters and plot lines.

Read our Rings of Power Season 2 review to see how well the show brought Tolkien’s words and world to life. Or, read our Rings of Power Season 1 ending explained for a recap. We’ve also written about Rhûn and the Istari.