Elon Musk Really Doesn't Get 'The Lord of the Rings'

J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of nan Rings novels—and nan associated “legendarium” of characters, histories, myths, maps, and constructed languages—have served arsenic a bedrock of alleged “nerd culture” since their publication successful nan mid-1950s.

With its clear-cut characterizations, and (more-or-less) cleanly delineated lines betwixt Good and Evil, Tolkien’s imagined Middle-earth—a immense and geographically variegated realm teeming pinch elves, dwarves, wizards, dragons, orcs, and halflings—can beryllium reasonably called archetypal. It is nan benignant of modern story that tin beryllium adapted to immoderate time, place, aliases scenario. Well, almost any.

Recently, nan US Department of Homeland Security has taken to “Shire-posting.” That is: utilizing quotes and imagery from Tolkien’s books (and head Peter Jackson’s blockbuster movie adaptations) arsenic portion of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s enrollment efforts. One meme, posted to X connected Wednesday, quoted nan characteristic Merry (played by Dominic Monaghan successful nan films) informing his friend, “There won’t beryllium a Shire, Pippin”—a reference to nan peaceable hobbits’ verdant homeland being encroached upon by nan forces of nan evil wizard Sauron, and his designs to bring nan full of Middle-earth to heel.

Such mythic myopia seems wide of late. Elon Musk took to X this week to take sides British far-right fig and anti-immigration agitator Tommy Robinson, pinch recourse to Tolkien’s tale: “The hobbits,” Musk waxed, “were capable to unrecorded their lives successful bid and tranquility, but only because they were protected by nan difficult men of Gondor.”

Gondor, for anyone who was excessively engaged being cool successful precocious schoolhouse to pore complete nan made-up histories of Middle-earth, was a kingdom of brave warriors called Númenóreans, besides known arsenic “men.” It is possibly worthy mentioning that, by nan clip of nan Lords of nan Rings unfolding, nan throne of Gondor is absent, and nan kingdom itself has fallen into disrepair nether nan shoddy attraction of a bunch of lazy, corrupt stewards. The alleged “hard men” of Gondor person go cowards, and quislings. More to nan point, it’s mostly accepted that Tolkien’s hobbits past (and thrive) because of their humility and noble earnest virtues. Not because they had reliable feline warriors moving defense for them. Plenty of Musk’s reply guys pointed retired that his station propagated a full misreading of nan novel.

Throughout Trump’s 2nd term, various authorities agencies person drawn from a good of popular civilization references—from Pokémon to Halo—in a transparent effort to look relatable, aliases “based.” (“Based” is an honorific typically bestowed by nan correct connected anyone aliases thing brazenly sexist, racist, aliases different “un-woke.”) But The Lord of nan Rings posts scan arsenic particularly egregious—or conscionable stupid—because they look truthful antithetical to Tolkien’s work, and nan worldview it expresses.

I americium not super-familiar pinch Tolkien’s extended appendices and each nan hefty tomes of non-canon Middle-earth arcana, but arsenic enthusiastic scholar of Tolkien arsenic a boy (who had a psychedelic poster for nan Lord of Rings books connected his chamber wall), I don’t look to callback immoderate scenes of Frodo, Samwise, Gandalf, Galadriel, and nan pack ripping astir successful an unmarked van, wearing face-smothering cervix gaiters, hassling immigrants astatine carwashes, and kicking down lodging analyzable doors successful precocious nighttime raids. If anything, specified scenes carnivore much nonstop comparison to “The Scouring of nan Shire,” nan penultimate section of The Lord of nan Rings, which sees nan hobbits returning location from their epic escapade to find their sleepy state tyrannized by ruffians and two-bit rent-a-cops, each successful nan thrall of a decrepit wizard.