The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power made a number of unexpected choices, many of which threw off even many fans who were initially positively predisposed towards the Amazon tv series. While relatively entertaining and not entirely bad, the series left many viewers with questions. For instance, why do many humans hate elves in The Rings of Power?
Why Do Human Hate Elves in The Rings of Power?
In The Lord of the Rings we didn't see much mistrust between Elves and humans, though, of course, the Elves were already declining at that point.
The Rings of Power paints a different picture. Not only is Galadriel faced with mistrust in many of the places she goes, but a new character, Arandir, is obviously disliked by the people of the Southlands to the point that they use the term "knife ears" (a slur encounter in The Witcher and Dragon Age, where Elves are treated as second class citizens).
The Numenorians, too, were very hostile towards Elves, though the series doesn't make it entirely clear if it was particularly Galadriel's suggestions they disagreed with.
In the case of the Southlands, it's suggested that Men resent the Elves because the latter didn't trust Men to govern themselves; a conflict that isn't explored in Tolkien's books.
Numenor's complicated relationship with Elves is, on the other hand, canonically explored, though in a more nuanced way.
Is This Mistrust of Elves Canon in Tolkien's Works?
Tolkien's legendarium doesn't really address the relationship between the Southlands' humans and elves though the relationship between the Numenorians and the Elves was rather complicated.
A the end of the War of Wrath in The Silmarillion humans that were allied with the Elves were granted Numenor by the Valar as a reward for their service. They maintained good relations with the elves, though they weren't allowed in Valinor.
As centuries went on, the Humans in Numenor started to resent their mortality, and, by extension, the Elves who were immortal. They were then manipulated by Sauron who exploited that.
Other humans in Numenor, known as the faithful, did not listen to Sauron and stayed loyal to the Valar and the Elves.
Before Sauron took to manipulating the Numenorians, they were on good terms with the elves, but, afterward, their relationships became more complicated.
The Rings of Power treated the question of where Sauron is in an unexpected way, raising questions on when and if Sauron manipulated
Related: The Rings of Power: Where Is Celeborn?
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