The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has caused a lot of controversy since its first episode was released - but one thing that really has confused and annoyed viewers is the accents. The big budget Amazon Prime Video series, which is based on the Second Age of JRR Tolkien's Middle-Earth, has angered a lot of devout book fans who aren't happy with some major changes.
But it has been a big hit with critics and is attracting millions of viewers - with the explosive finale leaving many in disbelief due to a big reveal over the identity of the dark lord Sauron. Aside from the dramatic storylines and stunning shots, one thing that has been getting peoples' attention is the accents of the characters, which all seem to come from different regions of the UK and Ireland.
Each race of creature in the world has a very distinct voice - but some people have accused them of being cliched.
The battle hardened Dwarves all have strong Scottish accents and the elethereal elves speak in received pronunciation (RP).
The evil orcs are all cockneys and the doomed people of the Southlands are actually northerners.
But the most controversial accents come from the Harfoots, who are the small hairy-footed folk from which the Hobbits of the Lord of the Rings descend from, as they are Irish.
The series' dialect coach Leith McPherson said the Harfoots have "an Irish base to their accent", but they do not speak as though they’ve walked out of a "particular cross street in Dublin".
"It's familiar, but different," she told Inverse. "It's not like an entirely new dialect never heard on Earth before, but it is intended to have an otherness."
However, Natalie Braber, professor of linguistics at Nottingham Trent University, thinks the use of the non-specific Irish accent was "lazy" and a "real quick shortcut".
She told the Guardian : "Accent is such a huge portion of who we are. To mock that, or to use that accent as shorthand for someone who is stupid, or whatever trait it is, is offensive."
"Irish people have faced discrimination for centuries based on their identity, so I’m not surprised this has caused upset."
Another point that viewers have made is that none of the Harfoot actors, including Lenny Henry, are actually Irish.
Writing in the Independent, James Moore questioned why the show creators 'spoiled' the series with 'stereotyped accents'.
He wrote: "The harfoots (proto hobbits) are the worst. These are not the (mostly) friendly farming folk – trying to live under the radar while indulging in fine food, pipe smoking and good booze – that we know from Jackson’s films (and the books).
"No, in this adaptation the harfoots are child-like migratory fairy folk who yomp around in rags when they’re not getting blackberry juice all over themselves. And they all speak with cod-Irish accents – even though none of the actors playing the main parts are actually Irish (and, no, I’m not either). But the accents they put on sound cliched to say the least."
A number of people online have claimed they feel 'offended' by the accents used in the show.
On a Reddit thread, one viewer admitted: "As someone who has Irish & Scottish family, I'm offended at how Rings of Power has portrayed & stereotyped the Harfoots & Dwarves, even though they're going for "inclusivity"."
A Scottish person wrote: "Probably just to further make each race and kingdom feel different in another way.
"I’m Scottish myself and have a very Glaswegian accent and it honestly doesn’t bother me, I don’t sit their shouting at the screen because dwarves sound close to people of my country same way I don’t bother much when they sound American or the likes."
Another added: "Tolkien always wanted his work to repsent a kind of mythology for the United Kingdom, so it makes sense for different races to represent different parts of the UK. I live in Dorset in the southwest UK and we all sound like hobbits from the Peter Jackson trilogy, for example."
While one person, who was fed up of the whole debate, said: "Are we criticizing the accents of a fictional race in a fictional world, really?"
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