Lord of the Rings & the fascist fantasy
The desire for the Return of the King, and the idolization of the pre-modern, pre-scientific world in Tolkien’s myth certainly share elements of fascist fantasy
I like to take on non-controversial topics that won’t get me into trouble with reactionary fandoms of famous fantasy authors.
So when I’m not critiquing the sentence structures of Brandon Sanderson, I like to explore the relationship between JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and fascism.
The most obvious connection is the Nazi affection for Wagner’s RING cycle…and the magical One Ring that gives LotR its title. But Tolkien denied this connection and I’m happy to take his word.
Less obvious but more interesting is what historian Timothy Snyder calls the “Politics of Eternity”. Fascist regimes rely on a fantasy of a better world that exists in an eternal state that only the regime can return the people to. For Hitler’s Germany that was the fantasy of the Third Reich.
It’s this “Politics of Eternity” that have lead many critics to connect Tolkien and fascism over the years. The desire for the Return of the King, and the idolization of the pre-modern, pre-scientific world in Tolkien’s myth certainly share elements of those fascist fantasies.
About half-way into this audio essay I make it very clear that I do not think Tolkien’s realm of Middle Earth could be put to that use. Old Tolkien was too wise and compassionate to be twisted in that way. Then I get into the detailed defence.
But I gave the more reactionary Tolkien fans plenty to react to before I got there! Still getting hate messages for this one.
Listen to the full audio essay by subscribing to the Science Fiction podcast
LINK : https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/
