… Another concern: Is the series going to put hobbits in the Second Age? In short (so to speak), yes and no.… The hobbit ancestors in this era are called harfoots. They may not live in The Shire, but they are satisfyingly hobbit-adjacent.…

When Amazon released photos of its multicultural cast, even without character names or plot details, the studio endured a reflexive attack from trolls — the anonymous online kind. ​“Obviously there was going to be push and backlash,” says Tolkien scholar Mariana Rios Maldonado, ​“but the question is from whom? Who are these people that feel so threatened or disgusted by the idea that an elf is Black or Latino or Asian?”

Even hard-core fans who regard Tolkien’s work as sacrosanct will recognize his message of unity. Staying true to that is as important as realizing his vision of places and characters from this little known era in his fiction.…