The debut of the first two episodes of Amazon's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power last week has brought some racist trolls out of the woodwork... leading to some original Lord of the Rings movie trilogy stars to speak out.
Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd took to social media on Wednesday, showcasing new hats and t-shirts with a powerful message written in the Elvish language Neo-Sindarin, which translates to, 'You Are All Welcome Here.'
The shirts, hats and other merchandise were created by Don Marshall, the self-dubbed, 'Obscure Lord of the Rings Facts Guy' who has nearly 600K followers on TikTok, which are currently available on his official website.
Speak out: The debut of the first two episodes of Amazon's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power last week has brought some racist trolls out of the woodwork... leading to some original Lord of the Rings movie trilogy stars to speak out
Wood posted a photo of him alongside Monaghan and Boyd, all wearing the shirts, which feature 'You Are All Welcome Here' written in an Elvish script.
Below the script there are illustrations of a number of different Elvish ears of various shapes and colors.
Wood simply tweeted, 'You Are All Welcome Here' while tagging @LOTROnPrime and Don Marshall (@DonMarshall72) with the #RingsOfPower hashtag and the link to Marshall's website to purchase the t-shirts.
Elijah's tweet: Wood posted a photo of him alongside Monaghan and Boyd, all wearing the shirts, which feature 'You Are All Welcome Here' written in an Elvish script
The tweet went viral early on Wednesday morning, and has since amassed over 14K retweets and 90K likes.
Boyd also posted the photo with a similar tweet, while Astin tweeted a similar post, though he was wearing a white hat featuring the same message.
The show's official Twitter also sent a message, which began, 'We stand in solidarity with our cast #YouAreAllWelcomeHere.'
Hat: Astin tweeted a similar post, though he was wearing a white hat featuring the same message
Billy: Boyd also posted the photo with a similar tweet
'We, the cast of Rings of Power, stand together in absolute solidarity against the relentless racism, threats, harassment and abuse some of our castmates of color are being subjected to on a daily basis. We refuse to ignore it or tolerate it,' the statement read.
'JRR Tolkien created a world which, by definition, is multi-cultural. A world in which free peoples from, different races and cultures join together, in fellowship, to defeat the forces of evil. ‘Rings of Power’ reflects that. Our world has never been all white, fantasy has never been all white, Middle-earth is not all white. BIOPIC belong in Middle-earth and they're hear to stay,' the statement continued.
'Finally, all our love and fellowship go out to the fans supporting us, especially fans of color who are themselves being attacked for simply existing in this fandom. We see you, your bravery and your endless creativity. Your cosplays, fancams, fan art and insights make this community a richer place and remind us of our purpose. You are valid, you are loved and you belong. You are an integral part of the LOTR family - thanks for having our backs,' the statement concluded, with an Elvish word Namarie, which translates to, 'Be well.'
Stand together: 'We, the cast of Rings of Power, stand together in absolute solidarity against the relentless racism, threats, harassment and abuse some of our castmates of color are being subjected to on a daily basis. We refuse to ignore it or tolerate it,' the statement read
The show of solidarity came after The Rings of Power debuted on Amazon Prime Video, featuring a number of actors of color in primary roles.
These include Ismael Cruz Cordova as the elf Arondir, dwarf Sophia Nomvete as the dwarf Princess Disa and Nazanin Boniadi as the human Bronwyn.
There has been speculation that racist trolls have been 'review-bombing' the show in the audience ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, with several of the cast members of color getting hateful messages.
Arondir: These include Ismael Cruz Cordova as the elf Arondir (above), dwarf Sophia Nomvete as the dwarf Princess Disa and Nazanin Boniadi as the human Bronwyn.
Cruz-Cordova quote-retweeted Wood's tweet, adding, 'We belong in Middle-earth' with two Black fist emojis and a red heart emoji.
Boniadi quote-retweeted both Wood and Astin's tweets with heart emojis, while another cast member, Benjamin Walker, thanked them both.
Marshall, overwhelmed by the support, sent out another tweet exclaiming, 'The Hobbits are wearing our merchandise! I am beyond words. Thank you so much!'
Belong: Cruz-Cordova quote-retweeted Wood's tweet, adding, 'We belong in Middle-earth' with two Black fist emojis and a red heart emoji
Heart: Boniadi quote-retweeted both Wood and Astin's tweets with heart emojis
Thanks: Another cast member, Benjamin Walker, thanked them both
He also thanked another Twitter user, @WizardWayKris, who teaches Elvish and provided the translation for the shirts.
Kris sent out a tweet of his own, adding, 'OMG... Uh..... Uhm....... The Elvish says "Si Uh.... Uhm.... The Elvish says "Sí de maedol." -> Sindarin for YOU ALL ARE WELCOME HERE.'
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power debuts the third episode of its eight-episode season on Thursday, September 8 at 9 PM PT.
Thanks: He also thanked another Twitter user, @WizardWayKris, who teaches Elvish and provided the translation for the shirts
Translation: Kris sent out a tweet of his own, adding, 'OMG... Uh..... Uhm....... The Elvish says "Si Uh.... Uhm.... The Elvish says "Sí de maedol." -> Sindarin for YOU ALL ARE WELCOME HERE'
Via Daily mail UK
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