Rings of Power: Elf-Human Relationships & Touching the Darkness

As a huge Tolkien fan, I am a huge fan of Amazon’s new Rings of Power series. I disagree with most of the criticism of it. This article highlights three criticisms, some of which no one else has brought up to my knowledge.

Thwacking Darkness

First, J.R.R. Tolkien himself was a very mainstream Roman Catholic; unlike Teilhard de Chardin, Tolkien did not dance on the edge of exotic mysticism or heresy. What then are Christians to make of Galadriel’s brother Finrod advising her that to distinguish stars from their reflections, she must “touch the darkness”? This saying seems similar to the rhetoric of Star Wars Sith Lords in their conversations with pre-evil Darth Vader and his son Luke trying to convince them to go evil.

Right now, in Rings of Power, Finrod’s advice still feels random. Are we going to hear it again; will it influence Galadriel’s future actions? In what way, if at all? It seems entirely possible that we will never hear about this advice from Finrod again because it is not at all clear how it is supposed to connect with Galadriel’s character, plans, or actions.

For my own part, I can think of a perfect explanation for Finrod’s advice that fits well with everything: “Touching” the darkness really means “hitting” it. Instead of Finrod saying something cryptic and mysterious-sounding like “Touch the darkness”, he could have said “Just smack the water”.