The Lord Of The Rings' Black Aragorn sparks racist outrage

Brand new artwork of The Lord of the Rings’ Aragorn, which depicts the character as a Black man, has unfortunately sparked outrage online.

As reported by Newsweek, the artwork, which was created by artist Irvin Rodriguez, was shared by the official Magic: The Gathering Twitter account on Sunday (28 May). It tweeted: “And Aragorn gave it a new name and called it Andúril, Flame of the West.”

"And Aragorn gave it a new name and called it Andúril, Flame of the West." pic.twitter.com/zi1JQBCHjb

— Magic: The Gathering (@wizards_magic) May 28, 2023

For context, Magic: The Gathering is releasing an official Lord of the Rings set - titled Tales of Middle-earth - on 23 June. The set will feature the 1 of 1 Ring card - a card featuring the One Ring which is going to be so rare, only one will ever be printed. This new artwork is seemingly what will be featured on the Aragorn card.

Sadly, a vocal group of people online have been expressing their anger at the artwork - one simply said, “I hate this so much.” Others have branded it as “trash”, and some reacted to it using racial slurs.

Despite this though, many are thrilled about the new artwork - with many defending it and telling those spreading negativity to “grow the hell up”.

“I’ll forever be in love with Aragorn, whether Viggo [Mortensen]’s portrayal or in this art or any other depiction. Because he is defined by his resolve, his wisdom, and his love for all the peoples of middle-earth - not his skin colour. Some of you ‘fans’ should take lessons from him,” Twitter user @Niphette tweeted. “You love a character for who they are, not what they look like. Do not pretend you care this much about skin colour as if that's the only thing that makes this him. Aragorn is amazing because of what he's done and what he stands for. It hurts that I have to see this with LOTR,” @scrufynerfherd_ wrote.