When is The Rings of Power series set? Read more on Lord of the Rings timeline

Middle Earth is returning with the latest adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s fantasy drama, featuring elves and hobbits and everything in between, with The Rings of Power.

Reported to come with a hefty price tag of $1billion (£869million) across five seasons, the Amazon Prime series features jaw-dropping landscapes and epic battles.

It stars His Dark Materials’ Morfydd Clark and Game of Thrones’ Robert Amarayo as elves Galadriel and Elrond, previously portrayed by Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving in Peter Jackson’s popular trilogy.

Other cast members include Sir Lenny Henry, Benjamin Walker, Nazanin Boniadi, Owain Arthur and A Discovery of Witches’ Trystan Gravelle.

But while we know The Rings of Power is a prequel to both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, when exactly does it take place?

Here is everything you need to know about the timeline of The Lord of the Rings.

When is The Rings of Power set?

There are four ages of Middle Earth, with each of Tolkien’s ages featuring an epic battle against evil.

In The Lord of the Rings, which is set in the Third Age, Frodo Baggins is seen grappling with Gollum over the One Ring, which is eventually destroyed as it plunges into the fires of Mount Doom.

Along with the all-powerful piece of jewelry, famously referred to as ‘my precious’ by Gollum, the Dark Lord Sauron, who rules over Mordor, was also defeated.

Before the events of The Lord of the Rings, which became a famous film franchise directed by Peter Jackson, the adventures of Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit took place.

Still set in Third Age, the fantasy drama sees Bilbo, who is played by Martin Freeman in the trilogy, battle for the Lonely Mountain, which has been captured by villainous dragon Smaug.

However, The Rings of Power is not set in the Third Age, and instead follows events in the Second Age.

This means the latest Tolkien adaptation happens thousands of years before The Hobbit and LOTR.

How many years will The Rings of Power cover?

The Rings of Power will cover the entire Second Age, covering the forging of the rings, the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, the epic tale of Númenor, and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men.

And it’s a considerable amount of time – as the Second Age spans roughly 3,500 years.

Over the course of the eight-part series, and thousands of years, the Elven realms of Lindon and Eregion, the Dwarven realm Khazad-dûm, the Southlands, the Northernmost Wastes, the Sundering Seas, and the island kingdom of Númenór, will all be explored.

Starting during a time of relative peace, The Rings of Powers will gather pace as powers grow, kingdoms rise to glory and fall to ruin and the mettle of unlikely heroes is tested.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is available to stream on Amazon Prime