The first photos from the "Lord of the Rings" TV show have been released and people are going wild. To a novice like me, they appear to show an idyllic sun, but hidden in these glorious horizon shots are two huge pieces of Middle-earth lore.

Those unfamiliar with the film may just be excited by the news of its announced release date (September 2, 2022). However, this one picture proves to be the kind of thing that will make J.R.R. Tolkien superfans super excited about the upcoming series.

If you look closely at the explosion of light that looks like a solar flare in the distance, you can see what the internet believes to be "two trees in Valiner." In fact, they provided day and night light (one each) before the first age of Middle-earth, from which the sun and moon were born.

Oh, and an incredibly important gemstone as well. Silmarils, also known as "gems of the fornor," were made from these trees. This was before the first century, and these gems are among the most precious in the country.

These gems also appear in Tolkien's "Silmarillion" and have caused much strife.

This is consistent with earlier leaks suggesting that elements and text of The Silmarillion and Tolkien's Unfinished Tales were licensed by Amazon Studios for this film adaptation. (The TV series is called "The Lord of the Rings," but it would have little to do with the plot of this trilogy or the Peter Jackson film.)

If this bit of lore doesn't capture your imagination, let me tell you about a moment that clued me into its importance.

I asked my colleague Jordan Palmer (a Tolkien fan to the core) about the Valinor tree.

Also, Twitter user @lukeisamazing did a good job of building excitement here:

Except for rumors that Amazon's "Lord of the Rings" series will eventually show how Sauron became Sauron, It has mostly been the stuff of internal speculation and casting news.

For example, Amazon's budget for the series appears to be tremendously huge. The first season will reportedly cost $465 million. As for who will be on the show, it was recently announced that Joseph Maule (Benjen Stark) will be joining a cast so huge that one would think they were filming three seasons at once.