What is a Moriondor in The Rings of Power?

Elves, Orcs, Dwarves, Humans, Hobbits. The peoples in Middle-earth are numerous, not to mention the various branches that may exist. There are many divisions among the Elves, between those who went to Aman, where Valinor is found, and those who refused, but also between those who saw the light of the Sacred Trees, Telperion and Laurelin, and the others.

Series The Rings of Powerincluding the sixth episode — Udun — was released on September 30 on Prime Video had so far not mentioned these subtleties, in any case in an obvious way — even if we sometimes heard keywords like “Noldor” or “Uruk”. But this time, it’s another term that calls out. That of “Moriodor”, pronounced by Galadriel.

Warning, the sequel will spoiler.

What is a Moriondor?

This term is pronounced during the captivity of Adar by the riders of Númenor, in a barn. Galadriel knows that Adar shares her essence: he is also an Elf and she knows that he was the leader of the Orcs who attacked a village. She guesses that he is only a lieutenant of Sauron and probably knows part of his plan – and his location.

” When I was a child I heard stories of Elves kidnapped by Morgoth said Galadriel to Adar. ” Tortured. Perverted. Transformed into infamous creatures. You are one of them, aren’t you? The Moriondor, the sons of darkness. The very first orcas “. Adar then replies: Uruk. We prefer Uruk “. You probably know this name, used to talk about the Uruk-hai.

Moriondor is a term that is foreign to us and of which there are no obvious traces in Tolkien’s work. However, the series of Lord of the Rings associates this term with the first Orcs, who are a derivative and corrupted version of the Elves – if we stick to what is said in The Silmarillionas there is some debate about the origin and nature of the Orcs.

If the Elvish hypothesis takes precedence, we know that Morgoth (the evil name of Melkor, the master of Sauron) was unable to create himself. His faculty lay in his influence: he corrupts and tortures creatures. That’s what he did with Elves, now Orcs. This generation of Elves affected by Morgoth would therefore, according to the series, be Moriondor.

The Moriondor, the first Elves corrupted by Morgoth?

Now, JRR Tolkien wrote about these corrupt Elves. They are linked to the elven branch of the “Avari”. They are a group that has rejected the call of the Valar to sail to Aman, to join the “gods” in Valinor. By the way, “Avari” means those of refusal in an Elvish language (Quenya), notes the online encyclopedia Tolkiendil.

In fact, the Avari are not bad Elves – although, from the point of view of those who have left, the impression left is necessarily unfavorable. They are Elves who have not seen the light of the two Trees – they are therefore also to be placed in the category of “Moriquendi”. You follow ? These elves remained in Middle-earth.

It is said that it was from these Avari that Morgoth “dipped” to form his army of Orcs. Those who gave in would therefore be Moriondor. Perhaps this is an intermediate version of Corrupted Elf, with physical degradation not yet at an advanced stage? In any case, Adar looks more like an Elf than an Orc, even if he already seems different.

How old is Adam?

A question then arises: how old is Adar? If he’s a Moriondor, that means he’s an Avari. The existence of this people dates back to before the First Age (the series takes place during the Second), to a time called the Age of the Trees. Elves are known to be immortal — in the sense that they cannot die of old age. We can think that Adar already has thousands of years on the clock.

The Orcs began to exist, through Morgoth, before the beginning of the First Age – there were already some at that time. This tends to suggest that Adar, if he is a proto-Orc, since he is a Moriondor, is older than Galadriel. Possibly older than any crossover character in the series, including the Elves Gil-galad or Elrond.

The Moriondor may have been generated over generations of Avari. Nothing says that Adar is among the very first captured. But, we can also consider that he lived at the time of Galadriel’s father, Finarfin, or even of his grandfather, Finwë. Perhaps he experienced battles like that under the Stars (Dagor-nuin-Giliath) or that of Beleriand, which already involved Orcs.

“Adar the proto-orc” is therefore an extremely ancient creature, an Elf who has been corrupted, an experiment of Morgoth. This perspective is fascinating in that it opens up new possibilities for storytelling — and perhaps flashbacks as well. This provides unique opportunities, such as the War of the Great Wrath, which was an absolute alliance to defeat Morgoth at the end of the First Age.

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