Rings of Power - Adaptations

Adaptations

Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated film begins with the forging of the Rings of Power and the events of the Last Alliance's war against Sauron, all portrayed in silhouette against a red background.

Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring begins with a similar prologue, though longer and more detailed. The three Elven rings are shown being cast using a cuttlebone mold, an ancient primitive casting technique consistent with the book's description of them as "only essays in the craft before it was full-grown". Additionally, Tolkien illustrators John Howe and Alan Lee, employed as conceptual designers for the films, have cameos as two of the nine human Ring-bearers (the future Nazgûl).