When Amazon Prime announced that it would be adapting the backstory to The Lord of the Rings for the small screen, there was much talk and excitement in fandom.

Now the teaser trailer, aired at the Superbowl last night, gives the fullest glimpse so far of what the show will look like. Aimed squarely at the millions who loved Peter Jackson’s vision of Middle-earth, it begins with the words: ​“Haven’t you ever wondered what else is out there?”

The voice belongs to the first character up on screen – a ​“harfoot” played by Markella Kavenagh. This will be reassuring for fans nervous that there would be no hobbits, because harfoots are simply a hobbit people. They’re the first to be mentioned in J.R.R. Tolkien’s historical appendices to The Lord of the Rings, the primary source for the series.…