New Lord of the Rings series trailer starring two Welsh speaking actors debuts during Superbowl

A trailer for Amazon’s new Lord of the Rings series prominently featuring two Welsh speaking actors has debuted during the Super Bowl in the United States.

Owain Arthur will play dwarf Prince Durin IV of Khazad-dûm, while Morfydd Clark takes the starring role of elf Galadriel in the series. Both actors are given screen time in the trailer for the series that is reported to have cost over half a billion pounds.

Much of the trailer is given over to Morfydd Clark as Galadriel who is shown fighting and climbing up an icy cliff-face.

Amazon debuted the first official trailer for the much-hyped return to Middle Earth during the third quarter of last night’s Superbowl, getting the hype train well and truly underway before the series lands in September.

A third Welsh speaker, Trystan Gravelle, also has an unspecified role in the series, and Lloyd Owen (London-born to Welsh parents) also part of the cast.

It had previously been confirmed that the show would take place thousands of years before the film series, during the so-called Second Age, when the Rings of Power were forged by Sauron.

The first series was shot in New Zealand but will shift to filming in the UK for the second series, which has already been commissioned.

Morfydd Clark, who is from Penarth, had previously said that homesickness had still had an impact on her during the pandemic.

“You know they say you’re only as happy as your unhappiest child?” she said. “I know I must make the most of being here. But you can’t. This isn’t quite my world and I know that my world isn’t doing this.”

She added however that having two other Welsh-speaking members in the cast, and a costume designer who spoke Welsh, had helped her feel at home in New Zealand.

Filming wrapped on August 2nd. The highly-anticipated epic fantasy series will debut on the streamer on Sept. 2, 2022, with new episodes dropping weekly after that.