“Give me the meat and give it to me raw.”

Lord of the Rings is gay with a capital “G”-for-Gandalf, and anyone who contests that is clearly not reading the same books or watching the same films that we are.

Several queer-coded relationships in Middle-earth, most notably that between Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee, have captured the imagination of LGBTQ+ fans for decades. And that fervour only intensified when Peter Jackson’s movie trilogy brought our loveable Hobbit boyfriends to life on screen.

New Line Productions

Okay, sure, their relationship is never clarified with words. But multiple kisses, lots of tenderness, and the way they both end up in the afterlife together all suggests these hairy little guys rubbed their giant tootsies together under the sheets when they went to bed each night.

During a 2013 interview with The Times, Ian McKellen, who’s been out since 1988, mentioned that he’s no longer the only out member of the cast like he was back when the films were first made. And during said discussion, he implied that the same could also be true of his own character, Gandalf:

“Now there are two gay dwarfs. There’s a gay elf. There are six openly gay actors. Who’s to say that Gandalf isn’t gay anyway? He seems to be quite asexual.”

Intentional or not, it could be argued that most of the characters seem asexual in the sense that lust is often relegated to mere symbolism, especially when it comes to everyone’s favourite ring. But the weighted looks shared between multiple leads of the same sex certainly hint at a more carnal longing, or at least open themselves up to a queer reading.

We haven’t even begun to discuss how Frodo defies typically “masculine”, action hero traits on film. So between all that and Legolas’ bleached gay crisis hair, it’s easy to see why queer fans love Lord of the Rings so much.

Whether the religious JRR Tolkien actually intended for these interpretations is irrelevant now. For those who are used to reading between the lines in order to see our own stories reflected back at us, Lord of the Rings is intrinsically queer, regardless.

New Line Cinema

But has that tradition continued on in Rings of Power, Prime Video’s pricy and long awaited prequel?

On a surface level, no, absolutely not. Despite drawing praise and ire alike for diversifying Middle-earth in terms of race, there’s no queer representation still, even now in the year of our Lord Sauron, 2022.

However, that hasn’t stopped thirsty gays from suggesting that Elrond, the elf played by Robert Aramayo, might be gay still.

Yes, his skin is moisturised for the gods – share your skincare routine already – and yes, he’s impeccably dressed in a way that usually eludes straight men. Plus, there’s definitely some Gay Best Friend™ vibes every time Elrond chats to Galadriel.

But the main reason fans suspect he might be gay has everything to do with the friendship Elrond shares with Durin.

From the premiere onwards, the Elf and the Dwarf King have continually shared bantz at the centre of this show’s most likeable friendship. Of course, Durin has a wife who he loves very much, but the affection these two men share for one another certainly has an air of FroSam around it. And who’s to say Durin can’t be bisexual?

Prime Video

Despite their differences, the respect Durin and Elrond hold for each other is rooted in a deep love that could be platonic, sure, but could also be something more. Every time we’ve seen them together, suspicions of this nature have grown right up until episode five when Durin just full-on said the following to Elrond:

“Give me the meat and give it to me raw”.

Name us one straight guy who would say this to his bestie and we’ll name you a straight guy who might want to do some reflecting.

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Of course, we’re joking. Well, sort of, because it’s impossible to ignore subtext this blatant when it fights so hard to become text. Surely, the writers’ room must have known exactly what they were doing at this point?

And that’s a problem of the baiting variety, assuming that the writers figured that this relationship would become a shipping favourite among fans. But perhaps we should give them the benefit of the doubt.

After all, there’s a small, teensy chance the writers didn’t clock this meaty reference, or maybe, just maybe, there might actually be plans to develop this further into something real.

Ben Rothstein/Prime Video

It’s entirely possible that Elron and Durin might actually share a secret sexy past beyond the friendship we’ve seen so far. This series does mark the first time that Elrond has actually met Durin’s wife, Disa, which confirms she wasn’t in the picture back when they first grew close…

So there might be hope yet for “Elrin” fans, as we’ve come to call ourselves. Or “Durond”, if you’re nasty.

But for now, the closest we’ve come to any kind of LGBTQ+ representation here is barely even implied. And unfortunately, that’s par for the course when it comes to Lord of the Rings.

One of the most often cited examples of queer coding in Fellowship of the Rings only happened because Ian McKellen directly proposed it to the actors on set:

“When I suggested to Sean that he take Elijah’s hand,” Ian explained in the DVD commentary, “it was because I thought that [it] might be missed by two resolutely heterosexual actors who might not appreciate that gay people, like myself, saw in a touch something, perhaps, more meaningful than others might.”

Two decades on, Lord of the Rings continues to overlook this core aspect of the fandom with Rings of Power, which is not gay with a capital “G” for Gandalf, Galadriel, or any other “G” names for that matter too. And that’s a shame, because in 2022, it could be, and it should be. LGBTQ+ fans have waited long enough.

Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power airs weekly on Amazon Prime Video from September 2, 2022.