The Dark Truth About Rings of Power's Harfoots Only Adults Will Notice
Amazon's show The Rings of Power offers an entirely new perspective of Middle-Earth, set thousands of years before Bilbo or Frodo ever encountered the One Ring.
Not only does RoP depict Middle-Earth in its earlier years, but it also reveals insights into the origins of the Hobbit folk. Focusing prominently on a travelling community of Hobbits called 'Harfoots', there is more to these halfling wanderers than first meets the eye.
The series introduces the Harfoots as a collective tribe, roaming east of the Misty Mountains; years before the founding of the Shire. Their lives involve sheltering around encampments along their travels, living from their caravans and hiding from any perceived dangers they encounter.
It is this tradition that irritates Elanor Brandyfoot the most within the show and highlights the most unsettling aspect of the Harfoot culture. Stuck following the conventions and paths of their forebears, the tribe is unwilling to change. They are even willing to sacrifice their own to keep to the way of things.
A Redditor has shared their own thoughts on the dark reality of the Harfoots on a thread as part of the r/LOTR_on_Prime community. Noting Elanor's close friend Poppy is a prime example of the Harfoot's cold nature. The opinion points out that Poppy is mentioned as orphaned after her parents and siblings died in a mudslide at a young age.
Poppy is clearly still quite young within the community, yet she is left to largely fend for herself with her own cart at the back of the group. Throughout the season, the Brandyfoots seemingly adopt her as their own, and yet they themselves are rebuked for doing so within the tribe. For a group that considers themselves reliant on each other, they show very little compassion in times of need.
Towards the later part of the season, the Harfoots continued migration becomes a prominent part of the story. This happens at an unfortunate time for Largo Brandyfoot, who breaks his ankle just beforehand. At this time Sadoc Burrows (the tribe leader) references the rules of the journey. In a public speech, he announces "Should any fall behind they shall be carried with us, in our hearts and in our memories".
To put it more clearly, 'keep up because we will not come back for you'. For the Brandyfoots this is effectively an unspoken death sentence. With Largo's bad leg and the cart they can not live without, there is no offer of assistance or aid. Only the promise of 'nobody leaves the trail, nobody gets left behind'. This a statement that only some of the audience may have recognised as a threat instead of an assurance.
With such a dedication to their routine, the series highlights a much darker side of the Harfoots with an almost cult-like following. Cleverly, the RoP has displayed Hobbit culture in a greater depth than what we have seen of them on our screens before. Their travelling nature is as much a metaphor for them running away from their issues as much as it is a reality for them.
An early less progressed version of the more whimsical Hobbits who eventually settle peacefully in the Shire. For the audience, the Harfoots deliver increased tension and anticipation for its characters. We may continue to see further dismay for the Harfoot community yet, as Sauron proceeds with his corruption of Middle-Earth in the ongoing seasons.