Who Is Nori Brandyfoot in The Rings of Power? Meet Markella Kevenaugh’s Harfoot Character

One of the things that we’ve noticed from The Lord of the Rings and its related storylines is the fact that we always see “little people” rising up to the challenge to become bigger than any other character. Of course, we saw this in Frodo and his friends in LOTR. Meanwhile, it does seem like another character is taking the same route in The Rings of Power, as we got to meet Nori Brandyfoot quite early in the series. So, who is Nori Brandyfoot in the Rings of Power?

Elanor “Nori” Brandyfoot is a Harfoot Hobbit that travels with her family and the rest of her kin and tends to migrate from one settlement to another. She was the one who discovered the area where the Stranger landed, as she believed that this was a higher purpose that she needed to pursue.

It is worth noting that Nori Brandyfoot is not a Tolkien creation but is actually just a character created for The Rings of Power. Nevertheless, it is a refreshing sight to see another popular Hobbit representing the series as one of the most important characters of the storyline, considering that this has become a staple theme for LOTR. Now, let’s get to know more about Nori Brandyfoot in The Rings of Power.

Who Is Nori Brandyfoot In The Rings Of Power?

During the trailers and based on what we’ve heard before the premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, we already knew that the story would focus heavily on Galadriel and her journey to find Sauron. Of course, this was made clear during the first few scenes of episode 1 when Galadriel’s backstory was told, and her motivation for wanting to vanquish Sauron was revealed.

However, while Galadriel may be the focus character of The Rings of Power, we did notice that the series actually showcases a much different story that doesn’t seem to be related to Galadriel’s story at all. And we are talking about the “little people” theme that has always been common when it comes to The Lord of the Rings and its related stories and works.

We all know that, while The Lord of the Rings was composed of an ensemble cast, Frodo Baggins was arguably the most important character in the storyline as he was a simple Hobbit that needed to rise to the occasion to fulfill a quest that was bigger than anything he could ever imagine. Of course, The Hobbit told the same story as we got to see Bilbo Baggins taking on a quest that required him to risk his quiet and simple life in the Shire so that he could help the dwarves take back the home that was taken from them decades ago.

In this sense, Nori Brandyfoot is the “little person” in this storyline, as it is quite possible that she is about to embark on a quest that is bigger than she is and is much larger than everything she has ever known in her entire life. But who is Nori Brandyfoot in The Rings of Power?

Elanor “Nori” Brandyfoot is a member of a group of small people called Harfoots. As the series showed in the early introduction of these people, the Harfoots are quite shy because they tend to hide from outsiders that they are not quite familiar with. Nevertheless, they are also very hardworking people that tend to dwell in the forests so that they can simply live off the land and gather food and resources from the trees around them. Meanwhile, Nori was obviously a bit different compared to the rest of the Harfoots. 

Aside from the fact that she is fairer in complexion (Harfoots tend to be darker in terms of their skin color), Nori is somewhat of a troublemaker that loves to wander off and play with Harfoots younger than she is. She loves to go around the forest and search for food in places that aren’t usually within the range of the foraging areas of the Harfoots. On top of that, she craves adventure more than any of the other Harfoots.

Nori told her mom that she believed that there was a much bigger world out there that she wanted to explore and learn more about. However, her mom told her that, like all of the different races of people in Middle-Earth, the Harfoots had their own limits and lifestyles. While the elves fought evil forces, men built cities, and dwarves mined mountains, the Harfoots settled for simple lives. Nevertheless, Nori believed that she was not cut out for the ordinary life of a Harfoot. 

Is Nori Brandyfoot A Hobbit?

In the series, the Harfoots referred to themselves as “Harfoots” because that is what they are. But in actuality, Harfoots are actually one of the three different breeds of Hobbits. As such, the Harfoots are no different from any other Hobbit in terms of their race but are simply different in terms of their breed. They also have a few differences compared to the other Hobbits, but they are all under the umbrella “Hobbit” term.

By the Third Age and during the events of The Lord of the Rings, the Harfoots began mingling and living together with the other Hobbit breeds in the Shire. That’s why the Harfoots became part of the entire umbrella Hobbit term that refers to all of the different Hobbits living in the Shire. This also explains why the term “Harfoot” and any other term used to refer to the other Hobbit breeds were hardly ever used during the events of both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

Is Nori The Frodo Of The Rings Of Power?

One of the things that people should know about Nori is that she was never written by JRR Tolkien. Instead, she is an original character that was designed for The Rings of Power. This gives us the impression that she was added to the storyline to become the “Frodo” character of the series, which is probably going to follow the same route that The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit took when their stories had a Hobbit as either the main character or one of the most important characters.

In that regard, Nori does indeed fill the same hole that Frodo and Bilbo left. That’s because she is a Hobbit who, unlike most of the other Harfoots, craves adventure. She wants to see the world and learn more about how large Middle-Earth actually is. This mirrors Frodo, who had always wanted to see the elves of Rivendell but ended up going on an adventure that was far more perilous than he could ever imagine.

But the biggest parallel here is in relation to the Stranger. When Nori found the spot where the Stranger landed, she immediately thought that she was destined to help him because she believed that he was an important person and that he must have landed there because fate wanted Nori to help him.

Of course, at this point, we don’t know who the Stranger is, but there are theories that point to the possibility that he is like the wizards in the sense that he is also a Maiar that was sent to Middle-Earth to help the people defeat a great evil in the form of Sauron. And we all know that Frodo and Bilbo both became close to a wizard named Gandalf.

In that sense, Nori becoming friends with the Stranger, who could also be a wizard or a Maiar, is a direct parallel to Frodo and Bilbo traveling and helping Gandalf in their quests. This is why we do believe that Nori was meant to fill the place of Frodo and Bilbo, as the original storyline regarding the events surrounding the creation of the One Ring never included Hobbits.

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