The Big Problem Tolkien Fans Have With The Rings Of Power's Dwarf Princess
A show like Amazon's upcoming "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" is even more difficult than a typical TV show to make, because of the built-in expectations. It's based on author J.R.R. Tolkien's Second Age, set thousands years before the events of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, but it's not based on events that Tolkien himself actually explored in his novels at length.
So, "The Rings of Power" is both familiar and unfamiliar, which makes it doubly tough to sell. On one hand, since it covers territory relatively unfamiliar to casual Tolkien fans, it won't have familiar characters like Frodo Baggins or Gandalf the Grey. On the other hand, the show has to win over diehard Tolkien heads.
In the run up to the "Rings of Power" premiere on September 2, 2022, Amazon has been releasing glimpses of the show. Some of those diehards are already unimpressed with what's on offer–particularly when it comes to female dwarves.
Tolkien fans have one question about female dwarves: where are the beards?
Back in February 2022, Amazon shared a series of first-look images with Vanity Fair that showed some of the "Rings of Power's" main characters. The images included Morfydd Clark as Galadriel, Ismael Cruz Córdova as the elf Arondir, Robert Aramayo a young Elrond, Charlie Vickers as Halbrand (a new character created for the show), Nazanin Boniadi as the healer Bronwyn, Owain Arthur as Prince Durin IV of Khazad-dûm, and Sophia Nomvete as Dwarven princess Disa.
Disa is another character created for the series (via Lord of the Rings Wiki), but since she's a Tolkien-esque dwarf, that means she should have a beard. In "The Two Towers" novel, Gimli tells Eowyn that dwarven women are almost identical in appearance to men and are often mistaken for them. In Tolkien's "The War of the Jewels," the author says outright that dwarven women have beards (via Comic Book Resource).
Yet, Amazon's Disa is clean shaven. On Reddit, fans were less than impressed. "Shouldn't the dwarf woman have a slight beard?" asked Redditor u/Idislikewinter.
"Dwarven women had beards!" agreed u/imagination_machine.
"I want my dwarven women to have beards," added u/Kiltmanenator.
u/Rebecca_of_troy joked that Disa must have gotten laser hair removal.
u/Lucho358 had a thoughtful take, wondering why Amazon shied away from a bearded female dwarf after Netflix's "The Witcher" series already included one.
However, all is not lost. On Instagram, fan lord.of.the.rings.series took the initiative and gave Disa a beard. See Disa in all her hirsute glory here.