The lands of Rhûn hold many mysteries, and this week’s episode ofThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Poweris all about that. In “Eldest,” the Harfoots Nori Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh) and Poppy Proudfellow (Megan Richards) finallyfind their footing againafter being blown away from the Stranger (Daniel Weyman). More than their footing, they actually find Merrimac (Gavi Singh Chera), a Stoor, who takes them to his village.Stoors look just like Harfoots, but are adamant about not being like them. In fact, those two groups are pieces of a puzzle that will eventually be solved under a single name: the Hobbits. It might take some time, though.
Stoors Are One of the Main Branches of Hobbits
Hobbits are fond of the comforts of home and wary of strangers, but very sociable among themselves. And they are very nosy, too. InThe Lord of the Ringsnovels, Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) has to come up with a whole story to justify him leaving the Shire, and, whenever a more adventurous Hobbit like Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm) comes along, they are usually frowned upon, too. For a long time, though,wandering around and facing unexpected journeys was how they survived, and that’s whatThe Rings of Powershows.
When we talk about Hobbits, we usually imagine halflings with messy hair and big feet, but before they were one folk, they were three. In Season 1,The Rings of Powerintroducedthe Harfoots, who are one of the branches that will eventually become the Hobbits. Now,they meet the Stoors, another of those branches. According to the novels andJ.R.R. Tolkien’s writings, though, there are a few key traits that only Stoors have, making them easier to mark among the Hobbits. For example,Stoors are generally broader and heavier in build compared to the other Hobbits, and are also known to be the only Hobbits to occasionally grow beards.
Stoors originally lived along the rivers of Middle-earth, particularly around the Anduin River, between the Misty Mountains and Mirkwood.They are more inclined to settle near water and are known to be proficient swimmers. In the year 1050 ofthe Third Age, Hobbits began migrating westward across the Misty Mountains into Eriador, possibly to escape the growing shadow in Mirkwood and the increasing pressures from Men. They eventually settle in what will eventually become the Shire. Stoors migrated with Harfoots and Fallohides (the other Hobbit branch), butsome of them decided to remain east of the Misty Mountains, settling mostly in the Gladden Fields. In the Shire, Stoors can be found mostly in Buckland, by the Brandywine River.
Poppy Predicted They Would Find the Stoors in Rhûn
Not much is known about any of the Hobbit branches during the Second Age, whenThe Rings of Poweris set, since Tolkien documents their whereabouts starting in the Third Age. Before they settled in the Shire, they were known to be nomadic, wandering around Rhovanion and possibly even further to the east, soit’s not unlikely that some of the branches could have wandered into Rhûn before the Third Age. In fact, in the Season 2 premiere, “Elven Kings Under the Sky,” Poppy remarks that Rhûnmay not be all that strangeto Harfoots, unknowingly foreshadowing them discovering the Stoors.
Merrimac is an odd fellow, and takes Nori and Poppy tothe Stoor village, where they live in holes, have access to water and agriculture, and, most importantly, are completely settled. This is a surprise for the two Harfoots, who have wandered around Rhovanion all their lives. The Stoor leader, Gundabale (Tanya Moodie), has the typical Hobbit temperament of being overprotective of her own people and wary of strangers, and initially dismisses Nori and Poppy, but, once Nori tells her of the Harfoot leader, Sadoc Burrows (Lenny Henry), Gundabale realizes something. She then takes the Harfoots to a mosaic on the walls of the village andtells them about Rorimas Burrows, an ancient Stoor who left the village to find a place called “the Sûzat,“where endless river streams and soft land would provide a home for the halflings.
Of course,“Sûzat” is another name for the Shire; it’s a Sindarin word used by theDunedáin of the Northto refer to it in the books. The story that Gundabale tells Nori is very different but shows thatStoors and Harfoots were always meant to find land to settle on, living safely in their holes in the ground. With Harfoots wandering around and Stoors living under the yoke of the Gaudrim and theDark Wizard(Ciarán Hinds)in Rhûn, they deserve to find the Sûzat.
Stoors Are the Predecessors of Some Very Important Hobbits
InThe Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit branches are seldom mentioned, butthere is a Hobbitof Stoor descent in the Fellowship of the Ring: Meriadoc “Merry” Brandybuck (Dominic Monaghan).The Brandybucks live in Buckland, a region near the eastern border of the Shire across the Brandywine, reflecting the Stoors' traditional preference for living near rivers and wetlands. In fact, Frodo himself is Merry’s cousin, although their exact family relationship can’t be known due to complicated Hobbit family ties.
And there is yet another famous Stoor in Tolkien’s Legendarium. In the prologue toThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, two Hobbits are fishing by a river - Sméagol (Andy Serkis) and Déagol (Thomas Robins). They live in the Gladden Fields, on the banks of the Anduin, and eventuallyfind the One Ring, lost for millennia. Under the Ring’s sinister influence, Sméagol kills Déagol and vanishes, eventually becomingthe creature known as Gollum. Sméagol and Déagol are among the Stoors who didn’t migrate west to the Shire. If they had, the fate of Middle-earth could have been completely different.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Epic drama set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth.
Season 2 of TheRings of Poweris streaming on Prime Video. New episodes air weekly on Thursdays.
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