'The Rings Of Power' Accents Are "Lazy" And "Offensive," Says Linguist

The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power is by no means perfect, but it’s garnered a lot of praise from fans and critics alike. Episode four went down particularly well thanks to Arondir’s arc which continues to go from strength to strength, and the introduction of Adar. There is one aspect of the show that has received some criticism though. A linguist has called The Rings Of Power’s accents “lazy” and “offensive”.

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The Rings Of Power’s Harfoots have Irish accents, although according to dialect coach Leith McPherson (via Inverse), the characters speak with “an Irish base,” as opposed to locating the accent in any particular region of Ireland. The Irish accent has never been an easy one for Hollywood to master and some are suggesting that this regional vagueness has opened the Harfoots up to criticism.

Speaking to The Guardian, professor of linguistics Natalie Barber called the accent “lazy,” explaining that “it’s a real quick shortcut.” Barber said, “Accent is such a huge portion of who we are. To mock that, or to use that accent as shorthand for someone who is stupid, or whatever trait it is, is offensive. Irish people have faced discrimination for centuries based on their identity, so I’m not surprised this has caused upset.”

It’s a widely held opinion. The Irish Times’ Ed Power wrote, “[The Rings Of Power] features a race of simpleton proto-hobbits, rosy of cheek, slathered in muck, wearing twigs in their hair and speaking in stage-Irish accents.” Power added that The Rings Of Power often used the Irish dialect of the Harfoots as a “punchline.” Based on this backlash, perhaps we’ll see more care and attention put into a potential second season.