Lord Of The Rings & The Far Right: A Controversial Connection, Explained

Politics can take just about anything and make it polarizing. Case in point: "The Lord of the Rings." What does a fantasy world have to do with right and left political viewpoints in the 21st century? Nothing — that is, until enough people read between the lines, adopt the messaging, and collectively decide that it has a modern political meaning. The most recent example to make the headlines comes via MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, who pointed out that vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance named his venture capital firm after an item from "The Lord of the Rings." The name of the company, which Vance launched in 2020 and left in 2022 to run for office, is called Narya Ventures.

Narya is the name of one of the Three Elven Rings. It is initially worn by the Elven smith Celebrimbor. Eventually, it is given to the bearded Elven shipwright Círdan and then to Gandalf, who wields the Ring of Power during "The Lord of the Rings." (You can see that hallowed piece of jewelry in the San Diego Comic-Con trailer for Season 2 here.) Maddow added that Narya is easy to remember since it spells Aryan with the last letter placed at the front of the word.

The news anchor also said that Vance supporter and billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel named his analytics company Palantir Technologies. The palantíri are the seeing stones of Tolkien's world. In Peter Jackson's movies, Saruman uses one to communicate with Sauron, while Aragorn threatens the Dark Lord through a seeing stone.

One report highlighted the different perspectives that people have of "The Lord of the Rings" and Middle-earth depending on where they live in the world. For instance, in the case of far-right groups in Italy, the narratives that stand out in Tolkien's writings aren't necessarily the battle of harmless innocents like Hobbits against the forces of evil (as is often the perspective in North America). Instead, it is the battle of the traditions of the past against the disruptions and destruction of modernity.

For some, modernity implies forward progress and the thought that things are getting better in the world. For traditionalists, the concept indicates corruption and a need to return to past customs and beliefs with deep, often ancient meanings. This struggle between the past and the future makes sense. European politics has a much longer memory than its North American counterparts, like the United States or Canada. It consists of centuries of right and left-leaning movements swaying the tides of history one way and then another.

The question that is firing up the internet community is whether accusing a "Lord of the Rings" fan of having far-right leanings by default is fair — and the best answer may be, well, it kind of depends on the individual. On the one hand, there are certainly examples that can back up the thesis. On the other hand, Middle-earth's fandom is massive and includes a lot of different demographics, including non-extreme conservatives, political moderates, and left-leaning, liberal supporters. It also has plenty of apolitical fans who aren't interested in connecting their nerdy interests with politics of any kind.

Tolkien influencer donmarshal72 posted a well-balanced response to the debate in which he appeared to peg the politicization of Tolkien's world as both justified and taken too far. For instance, they used race in Middle-earth as an example of a political dog whistle, saying some are "using the term orc to refer to anybody who has brown skin and the term dwarf to use as a derogatory term for Jewish people."

At the same time, the former journalist added that Maddow and her team are looking for connections that will play well online. "The Lord of the Rings" is a pop-culture treasure trove of buzzwords that will fire up the online algorithm and bring in traffic, cash, and profits. The influencer ended his video with a call to fix the country, adding, "The best way to do that is by acting like Samwise Gamgee and choosing kindness."