Earlier it was reported that in the second season of the series «The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power» Tom Bombadil will appear. It looks like he won’t be alone, as the set includes the Barrow-wights, the terrifying creatures that intersected with his story in The Lord of the Rings».
A first look at the Barrow-wights from «The Lord of the Rings» appears on the new cover of the latest issue of Empire Magazine. It features concept art by Einar Martinsen depicting spirits in red robes.
It is not known how the Grave Spirits will manifest themselves in the second season, but in «The Lord of the Rings» they posed a great threat at the beginning of Frodo and the Hobbits’ journey when they attacked them near the Barrow-downs (or Tirn Gortad). They attacked the friends after their first encounter with Tom Bombadil, who then forced the Grave Spirits to flee.
- Tolkien’s Barrow-wights come from the Old Norse Draugr, the living dead. Barrow — is the barrow they inhabited, and wight — is a modern derivation of wiht, an Old English word meaning «living thing» or «creature» (it does not mean «spirit» or «ghost»; it is cognate with «Wicht» in modern German, meaning «nasty person»). Tolkien probably borrowed them from Norse mythology.
Since Tom Bombadil himself is rarely mentioned in the «Lord of the Rings» adaptations, there is no time for the events at the Mound of the Spirits and the Grave Spirits. It is known that Tom, played by Rory Kinnear in «The Lord of the Rings», will not appear in his usual place, but will move to Rhûn in the Far East, where his paths will cross with the mysterious Stranger (who turned out to be one of the Istari, perhaps Gandalf himself) and his companion, the harfooted Nori. It is not yet known how the heroes will meet the Grave Spirits.
Sources: Gizmodo, Treasury of Middle-earth, The Lord of the Rings Wiki
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