Original hobbits come out to defend Rings of Power after backlash to new Lord of the Rings series

The cast of Rings of Power released a statement saying they 'stand together in absolute solidarity against the relentless racism' some actors were being subjected to.

He pointed out that some fans 'have no trouble believing in a dragon' but somehow can't accept 'that a black person could be a hobbit or an elf'.

Stepping in to defend the diverse cast of The Rings of Power are the original hobbits from Lord of the Rings, who have posed together with t-shirts bearing the message 'you are all welcome here' in Elvish.

Elijah Wood posted a picture to Twitter of himself flanked by Merry and Pippin actors Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd wearing the t-shirts.

The shirts also display a set of ears of all different shapes and colours, hammering home the message that everyone is welcome in Middle Earth and nobody should feel excluded because of their skin colour.

Sean Astin, who played Samwise Gamgee, later posted a picture of himself wearing a hat bearing the same message, making it clear that all four of the original hobbits reckoned JRR Tolkien's world was a place where everyone should feel at home.

There are actually three types of hobbit in Middle Earth, though by the time of The Lord of the Rings they had joined together and settled down in The Shire.

The hobbits we see in The Rings of Power are Harfoots, who Tolkien described as being 'browner of skin' than other types of hobbit.

The backlash against the hobbits in The Rings of Power is therefore not only racist, it's also flat out wrong from a lore perspective.

Heroes of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings Bilbo and Frodo Baggins are descended from another group of hobbits known as the Fallohides, though by that point in Middle Earth's history the three groups have essentially merged.

Stoor hobbits make up the third group, and the most famous example of one of these we've seen on the screen is Smeagol, who later became Gollum after being corrupted by the One Ring.

Since The Rings of Power is set in the Second Age, these three groups have yet to migrate and converge together and it's entirely lore-friendly for there to be black actors playing roles in Tolkien's wonderful world.

In other words, shut up racists.

New episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power release on Amazon Prime Video each Friday.