Halbrand

"Halbrand" is a concept which has only appeared in an adaptation of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.

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Halbrand
Southlander
"Halbrand" in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Biographical Information
Other names	Low Man
Titles	King of the Southlands Lord Halbrand Friend of Morgoth Dark Lord
Position	Smith King
Location	Sundering Seas, Armenelos, Tirharad, City of the Elven-smiths, Plateau of Gorgoroth
Affiliation	Southlanders, Guild of Weaponsmiths, Gwaith-i-Mírdain
Language	Westron
Notable for	Identity used by Sauron
Physical Description
Gender	Male
Hair color	Dark-brown
Eye color	Greenish-blueish
Weaponry	Númenórean sword with intricate golden murals on the blade, a pommel depicting a white horse, and a cross-guard that is bent towards the blade.
Gallery	Images of Halbrand

Halbrand was a name and identity that Sauron took for himself during the late Second Age of Middle-earth. Halbrand was invented by Amazon Studios for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, where he was portrayed by Charlie Vickers.

History

The Halbrand poster for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

Halbrand was once the supposed King of the Southlands before Orcs drove him out alongside many others. Halbrand fled with them onto a ship sailing through the Sundering Seas. However, a nameless thing known only as the worm destroyed the ship forcing him onto a raft alongside Abigail, Astrid, Doble, Eamon, and two others. Eventually, after drifting for some time, they came upon the Elf Galadriel, but the encounter was short lived, as the worm returned to finish them off. Halbrand broke a section of the raft, abandoning the others before pulling Galadriel onto the raft, asking her where she wanted him to take her.

Soon afterwards, a storm came upon them and lightning struck the raft, causing Galadriel to fall into the water, being dragged down by a weighted pole. However, with some slight hesitation, Halbrand rescued her, before they both lose consciousness. Eventually, their raft is discovered by Captain Elendil, who brings them to the capital of Númenor, where they are presented to the Queen Regent Míriel. When Galadriel aggressively makes demands of Míriel, Halbrand intervened before things could escalate further, warning Galadriel to not make any enemies there.

With Galadriel restricted to the palace grounds, Halbrand explored the city, where he met a Smithy, who told him that he must get a guild crest in order to work for him. Halbrand later encountered a group of guildsmen while eating and gets them drunk. In the process, he stole a guild crest belonging to a man named Tamar. Upon turning a corner assured of his victory, Halbrand is immediately made aware that the guildsmen followed him. Despite trying to give back the crest, the guildsmen begin taking blows at him, provoking Halbrand into violently retaliating, severely wounding them, yet upon being caught, he allowed himself to be arrested.

Galadriel soon visited him, giving him a scroll from the Hall of Lore identifying the insignia he wore as the emblem of the Kings of the Southlands. Halbrand revealed to her that he picked up the insignia on a dead man believing that it suited him. Yet Galadriel refused to listen to him.

Eventually, Halbrand was released and sets out to begin a new start at life working as a blacksmith's apprentice, presumably attaining a guild crest to be able to do so. Yet, he is forced by Galadriel to join the Númenórean expedition to Middle-earth to retake the Southlands from Orcs.

Upon arriving at Middle-earth, Halbrand rode with the cavalry across the Ephel Dúath to the village of Tirharad. Though they deal easily with the Orcs, their leader, Adar flees with Galadriel pursuing him. While riding, Halbrand seized a spear from a corpse, and maneuvering through through the forest, he ended up riding towards where Adar was heading. Useing the spear to trip the horse, Halbrand dismounted Adar, who attempted to provoke him into killing him. Halbrand was only just prevented from doing so by Galadriel. Later, Halbrand returned the favor by preventing Galadriel from doing the same during her interrogation of Adar.

Afterwards, Míriel introduced Halbrand to Bronwyn and the villagers of Tirharad as the promised King of the Southlands. Shortly after, Tirharad is destroyed when Orodruin violently erupted. In the ensuing chaos, Halbrand received a serious wound to his abdomen, and was brought to the Númenórean camp outside of the affected region. Upon Galadriel's arrival, it was revealed that his wound required Elvish healing. While Halbrand declared that he still intended to retake the Southlands, he rode alongside Galadriel to Eregion.

At the City of the Elven-smiths, Halbrand recovered quickly and meets Lord Celebrimbor in his workshop, learning of Mithril and the struggles of the Elves. Halbrand managed to get Celebrimbor to overcome his despair, and to work on saving his race.

However, Galadriel confronted him about a genealogical scroll that revealed that the last King of the Southlands had died thousands of years ago with no heirs. Halbrand was thus forced to reveal his identity as Sauron, ruining his chance at receiving aid from others in redeeming himself of his past evil deeds. Halbrand effortlessly blocked Galadriel's subsequent attack, entering her mind to try to prove to her that he desired to redeem himself to heal Middle-earth and everything he did as a servant of Morgoth.

Nevertheless, Galadriel refused to believe that he was redeemable and Halbrand fled Eregion, returning to the Southlands, newly-renamed to Mordor.

Halbrand in Mordor from The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

Etymology

The show's writers have never revealed the etymology behind the name Halbrand. It has been speculated that it could possibly be a Sindarin name comprised of the element brand ("towering; tall and massive") and the Noldorin hall ("exalted, high"). But it seems more likely that the name is derived from Old English brand ("fire-brand, torch; sword"), since the Southlanders do not generally seem to have used Elvish names.

Genealogy

There is a genealogical scroll that appears face up within the final episode, Alloyed, at the following time stamps: 39:15, 40:26, 40:27, and 40:28. If a translation of it has been made, then please replace this note with it.

Inspiration

In Scene 22, the words that Halbrand, having already revealed himself as Sauron, says to Galadriel are almost the same words that Galadriel says to Frodo in the chapter 'The Mirror of Galadriel', the seventh chapter of the first book of The Lord of the Rings novel.

Halbrand's apppearance as Sauron in the sea in Galadriel's mind seems to be inspired by Sauron's dark form as seen in The Lord of the Rings film series and The Hobbit film series by Peter Jackson.