And a Russian president to rule them all? A recent symbolic gesture by Putin has been seen as a reference to Tolkien’s work. The Russian president indeed offered eight rings, and one to himself, to the leaders of independent states of the CIS. Gold, nine golden rings, it makes think of the rings of powers of Tolkien.
The reference is however surprising since the one who forges these rings and offers them to the human lords, in Tolkien, is Sauron, an evil character. Moreover, since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Ukrainian soldiers have compared Russian soldiers to orcs, and Russia to Mordor. More references to Tolkien.
With this gesture, Putin therefore seems to be spinning the tolkiendil metaphor but by attributing to himself the role of the big bad guy. 20 minutes asked William Blanc for his insight, medieval historian, medievalism and of Tolkien’s work.
In your opinion, is Vladimir Putin aware of the reference to Lord of the Rings what is in this gesture?
I’m not in Putin’s head but, yes, it seems obvious to me. The reference is too precise to be accidental.
So Putin assumes to identify with Sauron, a character embodying absolute evil in Tolkien’s work?
Yes, it is, in my opinion, quite conscious and voluntary. It is thus addressed to a certain Russian public which takes the Lord of the Rings as a work of Western propaganda. Tolkien’s books were banned in the USSR for a long time, even if they circulated under the coat of arms… From the Soviet point of view, the Lord of the Rings was a metaphor for the East-West conflict where the bad guys are the Russians, although Tolkien always refuted this analysis. However, Putin has a vision of the world inherited from the Cold War and his nostalgia for the time of the USSR is obvious.
How to analyze this reference to Tolkien in this context?
It’s a way for Putin to say “The bad guys aren’t who you think they are”, or rather “Do you see us as the bad guys? Ok, let’s play the bad guys then. He kind of flips what he thinks is a Russophobic metaphor.
Fantasy codes are increasingly used by political leaders. Implicitly quote the Lord of the Ringsis this also a way of addressing young people?
Probably yes. Fantasy has become a cool reference. Hillary Clinton compared herself to Cersei after her defeat in the presidential election… But unlike many reference jobs to Harry Potter or the Marvel universe, Putin’s gesture is more akin to state propaganda than to political communication. We are in a context of war.
Precisely, Tolkien was anti-war. This reference therefore seems inappropriate.
From your point of view, yes. For a reader of Tolkien it is obvious that the wearers of the nine rings ended badly, that Sauron is Evil incarnate… But for some Russians this is all anti-Russian propaganda and Putin’s reference is not to side of the plate. In 1999, a Russian novelist, Kirill Eskov, released a book in response to Lord of the Rings. A kind of fan fiction where he tells the same story as Tolkien but from the point of view of orcs and Mordor. He proposes to write another version of the story. This discourse has infused quite a bit in Russia.
Could Putin subsequently compare himself to Emperor Palpatine of Star Wars ?
Absolutely ! In the 1980s, Reagan used Star Wars references a lot, describing the USSR as the Evil Empire, or launching a military defense program with nods to George Lucas films. Putin could very well appropriate this metaphor and take on the role of emperor of evil by reversing the stigma.
Is this use of the reference to Tolkien usual?
At this level, no. War is omnipresent in Tolkien’s work and references to his books are often used for political battles, such as ecology in particular. But those who use these references are more likely to see themselves as nice hobbits…
Putin’s reference to Tolkien’s rings is all the same imprecise since he forgets that with Sauron’s one ring, there are ten and not nine rings. Not to mention those of dwarves and elves…
I believe that we are there in the geek detail which escapes the general public… I think that Putin is very clever in his reference to the rings since at the moment, on Amazon, there is a very popular series which tells the making of the rings to be able to. Moreover, in this story, which is very far from Tolkien’s work, we see a Sauron with more human, grayer, less Manichaean motivations. There is a justification for the actions of Sauron. Perhaps Putin identifies with this reading.