The opinions that J.R.R. Tolkien left in writing on communism and nazism

British writer J.R.R. Tolkien is known for being the author of one of the greatest epic works of the 20th century, "The Lord of the Rings."

Eight reflections of the writer J.R.R. Tolkien in which he expressed his principles
'Namárië': The most spectacular version of the farewell song written by Tolkien

The political views of this writer are much less known than his work, since he wrote them down in private letters that were published after his death. Tolkien was Catholic and ideologically he can be described as a conservative close to traditionalism. Many people have wanted to see in his work an allegory of the conflicts of the time in which he lived, but he always rejected allegorical and political readings of his work.

He called communist propagandists "liars and traducers"

In a letter to Herbert Schiro written on 17 November 1957, Tolkien rejected some people's reading of orcs as communists: "To ask if the Orcs 'are' Communists is to me as sensible as asking if Communists are Orcs."

However, Tolkien's opinion of communists was as negative as the image he gave of the orcs in his work. In a letter written to his son Christopher Tolkien (who was then serving as a pilot in the RAF, the British Royal Air Force) on October 6, 1944, the British writer referred to "Red propaganda" presenting its authors as "liars and traducers" , and explaining the ultimate motivation of this propaganda: "hatred of our church is after all the real only final foundation". With this, Tolkien was referring to the specific case of Spain and the bloody anti-Catholic persecution unleashed by the left before and during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).

He considered Stalin to be a "bloodthirsty old murderer"

Almost a year earlier, on December 9, 1943, in another letter to Christopher, Tolkien called the Soviet dictator Stalin a "bloodthirsty old murderer." The British writer admitted that he smiled "a kind of sickly smile" when he heard that this dictator and mass murderer "inviting all nations to join a happy family of folks devoted to the abolition of tyranny & intolerance." Tolkien added: "I wonder (if we survive this war) if there will be any niche, even of sufferance, left for reactionary back numbers like me (and you)."

Tolkien's contact with Polish exiles in the United Kingdom

There is a detail in one of his letters that indicates that Tolkien had contact with Poles exiled in the United Kingdom during the Second World War (remember that Poland was invaded by Germany and the USSR in 1939 and many Poles managed to reach France and then the British Isles to continue fighting from there).

In another letter to his son Christopher, written on 18 January 1944, Tolkien mentioned that he was learning the Polish language and referred to a certain Poptawski (probably Popławski, perhaps a Polish officer in England), stating that he "will be wondering how I am getting on, soon." Tolkien added: "It will be a long time before I can be of any assistance to him in devising a new technical vocabulary!!! The vocab. will just happen along anyway (if there are any Poles and Poland left)."

Tolkien's opinion on the Communist Party newspaper

There is another interesting detail concerning the British writer's opinion on communism. It appears in a letter to his second son, Michael Tolkien (also an RAF pilot), written on January 12, 1941, when Nazi Germany and the USSR were still allies. Tolkien commented: "It is also plain that our dear old friends the U.S.S.R. are up to some mischief" (he is referring to the German-Soviet Border and Trade Agreement signed two days earlier, by which both dictatorships strengthened their 1939 alliance).

Tolkien then complained: "Meanwhile the 'Daily Worker' is cried in the streets unmolested." The "Daily Worker" was the newspaper of the Communist Party of Great Britain, loyal to Moscow, that is, to the allies of the Germans who were bombing the United Kingdom.

Tolkien called Hitler "a vulgar and ignorant little cad"

As can be seen in his letters, the British writer's opinion of national-socialism was as dire as his opinion of communism. After all, he was a patriot and his country was at war with nazi Germany. On June 9, 1941, Tolkien wrote to his son Michael, referring to "that ruddy little ignoramus Adolf Hitler", to whom he attributed a "demonic inspiration and impetus."

In another letter to Michael written between 23 and 25 September 1944, Tolkien defined Hitler as "a vulgar and ignorant little cad, in addition to any other defects", and showed his rejection of the nazis' act of declaring " he Poles and Jews exterminable vermin, subhuman."

Tolkien's rejection of anti-Semitism and nazi racial theories

Tolkien's rejection of Nazi anti-Semitism had already been made clear before the war. On July 25, 1938, in a letter to his editor Stanley Unwin (who had negotiated the publication of a German edition of "The Hobbit" with the Potsdam publishing house Rütten & Loening), he responded to a request from the German publisher to confirm the Aryan origin of the writing (since Tolkien was a surname of German origin). This confirmation ("bestätigung" in German), provoked rejection from the British writer, who expressed his rejection of the racist theories of the Nazis:

"Personally I should be inclined to refuse to give any Bestätigung (although it happens that I can), and let a German translation go hang. In any case I should object strongly to any such declaration appearing in print. I do not regard the (probable) absence of all Jewish blood as necessarily honourable; and I have many Jewish friends, and should regret giving any colour to the notion that I subscribed to the wholly pernicious and unscientific race-doctrine."

That same day, in a letter to the German publisher, Tolkien wrote an admirable paragraph rejecting the anti-Semitism of the Nazis:

"I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-iranian; as far as I am aware none of my ancestors spoke Flindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects. But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people. My great-great-grandfather came to England in the eighteenth century from Germany: the main part of my descent is therefore purely English, and I am an English subject – which should be sufficient. I have been accustomed, nonetheless, to regard my German name with pride, and continued to do so throughout the period of the late regrettable war, in which I served in the English army. I cannot, however, forbear to comment that if impertinent and irrelevant inquiries of this son are to become the rule in matters of literature, then the time is not far distant when a German name will no longer be a source of pride."

Bibliography:

• "The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien". George Allen & Unwin, London, 1981.
• "Oficial Poptawski". Śródziemie Wiki.