How The Lord of the Rings became a symbol for Italy’s far right

On the surface, Lord of the rings it is often read as a story about an epic battle between good and evil.

But in the decades since it was first published, the series has taken on different meanings, including for neo-fascists in Italy who have adopted the tale as a powerful symbol of their faith.

Although the relationship between JRR Tolkien’s fantasy epic and the Italian right is not new, it is a phenomenon that has re-emerged with new vigor since the politicians. Giorgia Meloni was elected prime minister of the country.

Meloni’s party has roots in neo-fascism; he is also a proud devotee of Middle Earth lore.

Italy-based journalist John Last has taken the time to investigate their relationship Lord of the rings and the Italian fascist movement. He spoke to Tapestry host Mary Hynes about how the Italian prime minister’s love for Tolkien is deeply interwoven with his politics.

You have suggested it Lord of the rings it has different meanings, depending on where you are in the world. Tell me how epic this is understood in parts of Europe as opposed to North America.

When you think about it Lord of the rings in a North American context, you might think of the hobbits as a group of harmless protagonists, and it’s a fairly straightforward story of good and evil. But in Europe, there is an interesting intellectual history that connects Tolkien’s work and his great work, Lord of the ringswith this darker intellectual tradition associated with fascism and the far right.

And the group didn’t notice Lord of the rings is a simple folk tale of the country, fighting the war of good against evil, but they see in the same story many themes of progress, modernity, the identity battle for the past, and the future that takes place in North America. t really think about when we read this text.

At the heart of the relationship in Italy between the far-right and the love of Lord of the rings, is an ideology called traditionalism. What do I mean, if that’s my view?

So to put it very simply, what traditionalism believes in is the idea of ​​a primordial ancient tradition that is fundamentally opposed to modernity. And one way to understand this is that the typical narrative of modernity, of progress since the French Revolution is progress. Like, we have progressed; things are getting better.

What traditionalism does is reverse that logic. That said, every step towards progress – representative democracy, egalitarianism, women’s emancipation – is all a step away from this pure tradition that rules society, that gives meaning to life.

Likewise, this vision of history is one of apocalyptic long-term decline, where we are steadily moving towards a worse society, where we will be further removed from the ancient traditions that bind us.

And of course, with the racial element, this idea that there was once a kind of purity for our society that comes from racial homogeneity that has been miscegenated. [interbred] over time in a way that makes our society worse.

And traditionalism has always been marginal to fascism and right-wing thinking in Europe. It was never a central theme. But one of the things that has had a huge impact is the philosophy of fascism, the way fascists and neo-fascists think about their place in the world, think about history, and think about the ideology that society is based on. at.

And if we bring this back to At Lord of the Ringswhen you look at Middle Earth, where do you see traditionalism?

It is in Aragorn’s claim to the magical kingdom, for example. It is a traditionalist idea; that the monarchy comes from birthright, comes from an ancient lineage and no, no amount of dislocation can change that.

It is in the elves and the fact that they have a kind of primordial wisdom, which the hobbit immediately recognized. Whenever he saw an elf, he was very happy, wasn’t he? And that’s because hobbits are close to that tradition, but don’t have it, while elves do it, right?

And there is in Mordor the reverse of that. You can see that Mordor and Mordor’s agents, like Saruman, are involved in industrial activities. They burn trees, make plants, and this is a traditionalist idea.

Traditionalism arose at a time when factories were a relatively new phenomenon, and they were synonymous with city life and all that. So basically this is a reaction to the world.

Is it clear to you, from what you’ve read, what you’ve gathered, what you’ve researched, how much of this is in Tolkien — is in the original [text] – and how many wallpapers have been created by decades of fascists trying to find a new heroic narrative?

There is a long-running debate among Tolkien experts about how much of this stuff is in the text. There must be racial essentialism. Many of Tolkien’s early critics spoke of how there were class differences between orcs and hobbits and the races of men.

But let me tell you this: if Tolkien saw what the neo-fascists in Italy thought of his book today, he would have been disappointed. He never really liked Hitler, and the Nazis. And unlike many conservatives of his time, he did not see the fascist project and see hope or see the kind of fulfillment of his ideology.

Tolkien was a little more conservative. He cares about the Shire, and the idea is a small communitarian, simple life. This grand narrative of statehood endorsed by fascists and neo-fascists is fundamentally different from the simple Shire type.

The prime minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, has a long history with Lord of the Rings. His party, the Fratelli D’Italia, brothers from Italy, is rooted in neo-fascism. Is Meloni clear about why he likes the saga, as someone on the right side of the political spectrum?

People on the right side of the political spectrum are rarely explicit in public about anything these days, especially when they are prime ministers of Italy. But he has said that this text, for him, is not an illusion. It’s a kind of manifesto.

And of course, he has long seen the world in mythological terms. He modeled himself after some of these characters. He organizes and collects the images. His final speech about the election campaign last fall, he was introduced by a line from Aragorn, from the book.

You have given a lot of thought to this for a long time – the relationship between Lord of the rings and the right side. Has it changed the way you approach the series? Is there a part of you that can roll with him and say, I’m going to binge and turn off my critical faculties for the night?

No, unfortunately. But one thing I will say is that I do not know that Lord of the rings, for me, at least never that. I always involved myself on a deeper level, as I did for others. There must be a title that encourages you to think about this wonderful fantasy world in a deeper way.