The Far Right Doesn’t Own ‘The Lord of the Rings’

You can’t say you weren’t warned. Right there in the middle of my Times bio, it says, “If there were a Nerd Olympics, I might take the gold medal.” It means I’m ready to bend your ear over “Star Wars.” We can talk for hours about “Dune.” But if you really want to get me wound up, say something about J.R.R. Tolkien and “The Lord of the Rings.”

These days, however, Tolkien isn’t just relevant to nerd world. It feels strange to say this, but the proper interpretation of his work has geopolitical implications. Critical factions of the new right at home and the far right in Europe have latched on to Tolkien’s work. By “new right” I mean the post-Reagan right, a movement that embraces state power as a means of fighting and winning the culture war. But they’re getting Tolkien wrong, and the way in which they are getting Tolkien wrong matters for all of us.

Last month, Politico’s Adam Wren wrote an extended analysis of the way that the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy shaped JD Vance. On a 2021 podcast, Vance said, “I’m a big ‘Lord of the Rings’ guy, and I think, not realizing it at the time, but a lot of my conservative worldview was influenced by Tolkien growing up.” Vance named his venture capital firm, Narya, after a magical elven ring. His political ally and benefactor Peter Thiel named one of his companies Palantir, another magical object in “Lord of the Rings.” Vance also invested in Anduril Industries, a defense firm named after Aragorn’s sword.

(Full disclosure: One of my most prized possessions is a replica of Anduril. My wife, Nancy, commissioned a swordsmith to make it for me almost 20 years ago. She gets me.)

But Tolkien’s influence isn’t just domestic. In 2022, The Times published a fascinating analysis by Jason Horowitz of how “The Lord of the Rings” shaped the Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni and much of the Italian far right.

The connections are deep. When they were young activists, Meloni and her peers gave themselves nicknames based on Tolkien characters. In addition, Horowitz writes, “they gathered at the ‘sounding of the horn of Boromir’ for cultural chats. She attended ‘Hobbit Camp’ and sang along with the extremist folk band Compagnia dell’Anello, or Fellowship of the Ring.”