The world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth is no stranger to the realm of animation. There have been a number of different animated films and television specials produced over the years, ranging from Ralph Bakshi’s The Lord of the Rings in 1978 to the upcoming War of the Rohirrim film set for release in 2024. In recent years, thanks to the popularity of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films, as well as Prime Video’s The Rings of Power, the adventures of Middle-Earth on-screen have been told primarily in live-action. While there have been several video games that have also stepped up to the plate to diversify the medium of Tolkien adaptations, the world of Middle-Earth is also one that is prime for many more films and series to be told through animation.

The stories of Tolkien’s Legendarium broader and more numerous those of Sauron, the Rings of Power and the unexpected journeys of the hairy-footed little folk of the Shire. Across numerous ages, lands and peoples, the epic stories of Middle-Earth are nearly endless. They extend much further than the pages of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Some are referenced as examples of the lore and mythology of the world within those books, while others are more thoroughly explored through other texts like The Silmarillion, The Children of Húrin and the recently released The Fall of Númenor. The epic fantasy adventures of Middle-Earth allow for truly outstanding visual storytelling through animation. As such, here are six Lord of the Rings stories that should receive their own animated films or series:

6 Beren and Lúthien

The Cover of Beren and Lúthien
HarperCollins

The names of Beren and Lúthien will likely sound familiar to any fans of the franchise, even if the details of the story are a mystery. The tale of these two is referenced by Aragorn in The Fellowship of the Ring (both the book and the extended edition of the film). Based in-part on Tolkien’s relationship with his wife, the story of Beren and Lúthien is the chief romance of Middle-Earth. Set in the First Age, during the wars with the first Dark Lord Morgoth, the story of the mortal man Beren and the Elf princess Lúthien (also called Tinúviel by Beren) follows the two as they are forced to face countless dangers and trials as a test of their love for one another.

The story is considered to be one of the three “Great Tales” of the First Age of Middle-Earth. While Tolkien never published a specific book dedicated to the adventures of Beren and Lúthien, he did write several iterations of the story over the years. A basic version of the tale is relayed in The Fellowship of the Ring and is expanded somewhat further in the Appendices of The Return of the King. The bulk of the story, however, can be found in the various posthumously published works edited by Christopher Tolkien; specifically The Silmarillion and The Lays of Beleriand. The various iterations of the story were also compiled and released in one book titled simply titled Beren and Lúthien about five years ago.

Most of the excitement of Beren and Lúthien’s story comes from a quest bid to Beren by Lúthien’s father, the elf-king Thingol. Convinced that Beren, a mere man, is not worthy of his daughter's hand, Thingol tasks him with the hopeless errand of retrieving one of the three Silmarils from the crown of Morgoth himself. The ensuing events see Beren and Lúthien each encountering their own perils and dilemmas. They come face-to-face with immense dangers, even the future Dark Lord Sauron in the form of a werewolf, as they travel nearer to the fortress of Angband and the home of Morgoth. Their tale is one of tragedy, love, and heroics. Beren and Lúthien are some of the most dynamic and personal characters that Tolkien created, and to see their story told on-screen would be a real delight.

5 The War with Angmar

The Witch King in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
New Line Cinema

Moving into the more familiar time of the Third Age, the Angmar War was one of the chief conflicts of the age before the events of the War of the Ring. The Witch-Realm of Angmar, not to be confused with Morgoth’s fortress of Angband in the First Age, was located at the far North of the Misty Mountains, between the Northern Waste and Arnor, one of the great realms of men. This was in the Northwestern part of Middle-Earth, between the lands of Rivendell and The Shire. After the fall of Sauron at the end of the Second Age, his corrupted Nazgûl became some of the key threats to the ensuing peace. It was their leader, the Witch-King, who established the kingdom of Angmar and declared war on Arnor and the men that inhabited it.

Though this war began nearly 1,300 years after the climactic end of the Second Age, it was still over a thousand years before the events of The Lord of the Rings. The war was one of the longest and bloodiest of the Third Age, and it ultimately resulted in the further destruction and decimation of the world of men. While the Witch-King and his legions are eventually defeated with the help of the Elven heroes Elrond, Glorfindel and Círdan, the northern realm of Arnor is nearly entirely decimated. The number of Dúnedain and the men of the North are greatly reduced. The last King of Arnor is killed, and the rest of the Dúnedain turn to lives as Rangers, of which Aragorn would be one a millennium later. The immense destruction of the Angmar War is still visible at the time of The Lord of the Rings, primarily in the ruins of the tower Amon Sûl, otherwise known as Weathertop. The story of the Angmar War would allow for a somewhat familiar approach to telling a Middle-Earth story on-screen while still introducing plenty of new settings and characters.

Related: No, The Rings of Power is Not Ruining Lord of the Rings

4 The War of the Dwarves and Orcs

Thorin battles in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Warner Bros. Pictures

The War of the Dwarves and Orcs was another one of the key wars of the Third Age, though it was much closer to the events of the Lord of the Rings than the Angmar War, as it is only a couple of hundred years prior. Some of the key moments of the 6-year war have already been seen in flashbacks during Jackson’s Hobbit films. Specifically, Thorin Oakenshield recalls how his grandfather was slain by the white Orc Azog before Thorin led his Dwarven legions to victory. In Tolkien’s writings, the war begins as a result of the Dwarven King Thrór’s attempt to reclaim the kingdom of Khazad-dûm. He journeys with only one other companion to see what danger awaits in the Mines of Moria, and upon his arrival the occupying orcs remove his head. Naturally, this angered the Dwarves and, led by the newly crowned King Thráin and his son Thorin, they embark on one of the most relentless wars in Dwarven history.

All seven of the major Dwarven Houses band together to bring war to the orcs of the Misty Mountains. They waylay orc and goblin kingdoms all along the mountain chain, with many great battles and skirmishes unfolding in quick succession. One of the chief motivators was revenge against the orc-lord Azog, who was responsible for the death of Thrór. The ultimate conflict of the war comes upon the eastern gates of Moria. The Battle of Azanulbizar marks the end of the war, as the orc forces are defeated and Azog is slain. Though Jackson already pulled from this story for his Hobbit films, that adaptation greatly differs from the events of the source material. Telling the stories of this war in a new animated adaptation would serve as an exciting new way to explore the Dwarven culture of Middle-Earth on-screen.

3 The Evil of Melkor

The War of Wrath against Morgoth in The Rings of Power
Amazon Studios

The evils of Melkor were the cause of many of the greatest conflicts in the early years of Arda and Middle-Earth. Stemming back to the creation of the world itself, it was the dissonance of Melkor that resulted in the corruption and darkness that existed. There are so many different stories driven by Melkor that could be told, and nearly all of them would make for a fantastic animated experience. Whether it be the creation of Arda and Middle-Earth, the War of the Powers, the stealing of the Silmarils, or pretty much any conflict during the Years of the Lamps or the Years of the Trees, any story involving Melkor is sure to be an interesting one, to say the least. That’s not even to mention the grandest and most epic stories about the fight against Melkor, those that would come in the First Age after he was renamed Morgoth.

The numerous wars and conflicts between Morgoth and the free peoples of Middle-Earth and Beleriand are the center of essentially every major story of the First Age. The aforementioned adventures of Beren and Lúthien are directly intertwined with the evils of Morgoth, as are the other two “Great Tales” of the First Age, The Children of Húrin and The Fall of Gondolin. There are countless heroes that fought against the darkness of Morgoth, and it would be nearly impossible to tell the stories of all of them within one film or even a trilogy of features. This is a story that would certainly need to be told through an extended series, and even that might not be able to cover all of it. However, there is just so much incredible material to be found in the conflicts with Morgoth that it would be a shame to not try and adapt some of it. Considering how spectacular and fantastical many of the stories of the First Age are, to tell them through animation would allow the creative teams to capture the immense scale and grandiose nature of it all more accurately.

Related: The Hobbit: Revisiting 1977’s Animated Film

2 Aragorn the Ranger

Aragorn in Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings
United Artists

Although the chief accomplishments of Aragorn’s life are already thoroughly explored in the numerous films based on The Lord of the Rings, very little (if any) of his story before those events has been told on-screen before. There is a lot more to Aragorn’s story than what is seen in the primary story of this series. The early years of Aragorn’s long life were filled with tragedy and discovery. His father was slain by orcs when he was only a toddler, which led to Aragorn being raised in Rivendell by Elrond. It wasn’t until he was nearly an adult that Aragorn’s true heritage was revealed to him, and he came to terms with being the heir of Isildur and the rightful King of Gondor.

It would be a long time before Aragorn would grow into that King, though. First, he was the Chieftain of the Dúnedain, the Rangers of the North. As such, he would learn to live in the wild and assist the realm of men subtly in whatever way he could. Often traveling under different names, such as Strider or Thorongil, he would fight in numerous wars. He traversed the plains of Rohan as well as the lands of Gondor, often proving to be a valuable asset in whatever war was being fought at the time. He grew as a leader and earned the respect of men wherever he went, without giving his true name or heritage. During this time, he also befriended the wizard Gandalf the Grey. At the behest of Gandalf, Aragorn would continue his journeys across Middle-Earth, providing aid wherever he could. The two of them would together search for Gollum to question him about his history with the Ring before the primary events of The Fellowship of the Ring were set in motion.

News recently came out that, during the bidding war over the Lord of the Rings television rights, Netflix pitched the Tolkien estate on a live-action Aragorn prequel series, among other Lord of the Rings shows. While people online reacted to that news somewhat negatively, there is no arguing that Aragorn is one of the more interesting and dynamic characters from The Lord of the Rings, and his story before the main series is worth exploring. Doing so through animation would offer a certain level of separation from Jackson’s films that could be beneficial. Or, if a prequel story about Aragorn was meant to be more in-line with Jackson’s films like how The War of the Rohirrim is, perhaps Viggo Mortensen could return to voice the character.

1 The Istari

Gandalf in Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings
United Artists

The Istari, or wizards, of Tolkien’s mythology make for some of the most complex and unique characters in the series. The Five Wizards each have their own distinct missions and ideas regarding how they influence Middle-Earth, though they are all tasked with stopping the rise of Sauron in the Third Age. The most well-known of these wizards is Gandalf the Grey, who was an active player in most major events of the latter Third Age. Saruman the White and Radagast the Brown have also been depicted on-screen before, with Saruman being the wisest of the group and Radagast holding a particular love for nature and animals. The other two wizards, the Blue Wizards, are a bit of an enigma among Tolkien lovers.

While it would be tempting to have an animated series focused solely around Gandalf, as he’s the most beloved of this group of characters, the character has already been given the spotlight in numerous on-screen adventures, including six live-action movies, and The Rings of Power heavily implied in its finale that The Stranger was in-fact Gandalf himself as well. So Gandalf has already gotten plenty of love. Alternatively, it could be interesting to get an anthology series of sorts about the Istari, with the first episode depicting their arrival (either as a group or individually, depending on which Tolkien text you prefer) in Middle-Earth with the following episodes showcasing their various journeys across the lands. If that route was taken, then Gandalf would still get a little attention while time could still be dedicated to Saruman, Radagast, and the Blue Wizards as well.

The Blue Wizards, in particular, could allow for a new creative voice to enter the Lord of the Rings arena. Since their story is so sparse, with little about them being known beyond their names, Alatar and Pallando, and the fact that they adventured into the East. That under-explored narrative leaves an immense playground to tell a story within. It’s implied that they failed in their fight against Sauron in the East, but it isn’t known if they truly fought until the end, if they abandoned their quest somewhere along the way, or if they ended up joining the Dark Lord, as Saruman did. Telling a story about the Blue Wizards would allow a new voice to come in and weave whatever story into the world of Middle-Earth they wanted, while still existing within the confines of what Tolkien wrote. Additionally, a tale about the adventures of the Blue Wizards would also explore new lands in Middle-Earth, as very little of Rhûn and the other lands to the East have been seen on-screen before.