The elf warrior, who went toe-to-toe with a Balrog in J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings, was confirmed to be coming to the show at San Diego Comic Con

If you just heard about a thousand raucous nerd-shrieks from the direction of California, it could be because The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power showrunners just announced that a major Tolkien character and fan-favorite elf would be coming to their Amazon Prime show. That’s right, according to Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne (and liveblogged to you via Popverse), Glorfindel is coming to The Rings of Power.

But for those reading this that aren’t as familiar with the Lord of the Rings legendarium, that name might not mean a whole lot. Well don’t worry, we’re here to explain to casual fantasy fans exactly who Glorfindel is, and why you should be shrieking as well.

Who is Glorfindel in Lord of the Rings?

Born in the First Age of the world, Glorfindel was a resident of the Elven city of Gondolin. A mighty warrior under the banner of King Turgon, Glorfindel was a participant in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, or Battle of Unnumbered Tears, against the forces of original Dark Lord (and Sauron’s boss) Morgoth. When Morgoth’s forces stormed Gondolin, Glorfindel put himself in between the escaping refugees and one of Morgoth’s deadliest allies in the form of a Balrog.

Yeah, a Balrog. The big Heavy Metal, flames-a-spurtin’ creature that klled Gandalf in the Fellowship of the Ring movie. Glorfindel fought bravely against the beast, allowing his fellows to escape, but in the end, the Balrog proved to be too much. Glorfindel was killed, and his story ended forever.

Just kidding! Being the absolute badass that he is, Tolkien knew that a little thing like death wouldn’t slow down one of the OG elf-warriors. That’s why he continued Glorfindel’s story even after death, writing that our boy “was released from Mandos, and Manwë restored him.”

(If those names don’t mean anything to you, don’t worry about it for now. He got Gandalf’d, is the point.)

After Glorfindel’s return from death, he would go on to play an important part into the Second and Third Ages. It was Glorfindel, believe it or not, that made the famous “no man can kill” prophecy about the Witch King of Angmar, setting up the most killer one-liner for the character of Eowyn centuries later.

Has Glorfindel appeared in any other Lord of the Rings adaptations?

He has indeed! As you can see in the image at the top of this article, our boy Glorfy makes a brief cameo in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. Though the character is not named during the films’ runtimes, actor Jarl Benzon is credited as the character in the credits and appears at both the Council of Elrond and the Coronation of Aragorn. And yet, that’s not quite all of him that made it into the movies.

In the original Fellowship of the Rings novel, it is Glorfindel that brings an ailing Frodo into the House of Elrond after Strider manages to save him and the rest of the Hobbits from the Nazgûl at Weathertop. In the Peter Jackson films, this same event happens, but the character of Glorfindel is swapped for Liv Tyler’s Arwen. It was a smart move for the filmmakers (otherwise the movies would be pretty low on female characters), and technically weaves the novel Glorfindel’s actions, if not his actual person, into the fabric of the movies.

When is Glorfindel coming to The Rings of Power?

Sorry gang, but we don’t know. At the Rings of power panel, showrunners said of Glorfindel’s appearance: “50 hours is a long time, there’s a lot of space for a lot of surprising characters.” They were talking about the entire show, of course, so that doesn’t really narrow it down. one might be tempted to assume that, with the second season a little over a month away as of this writing, our elf friend won’t appear until at least season 3…

But then again, Glorfindel is the kind of character that you shouldn’t underestimate.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 comes to Amazon Prime Video August 29.