Several commentators have pointed to the parallel with Tolkien’s work, which the Kremlin refutes, citing a “simple memory”.
Reference “conscious” to Lord of the RingsWhere “mere memory” innocent ? Vladimir Putin presented eight rings to ex-USSR leaders allied with Moscow, sparking different interpretations as references to theTolkien’s work have been swarming since the start of the attack in Ukraine.
After a summit in Saint Petersburg of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), an alliance of several former Soviet republics, the Kremlin on Tuesday handed over nine gold rings bearing the inscription “happy new year 2023and the IEC emblem.
A ring was given to the eight foreign heads of state present (Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan), as well as a ninth to Vladimir Putin. Commentators immediately drew a parallel with the book The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien, in which the master of evil, Sauron, offers nine rings to human rulers who then become his servants, the “Nazgûls”.
Only difference: in the novel, Sauron secretly creates an additional ring, the unique ring, which allows to control all the others.
Putin as Gollum, Zelensky as Frodo
On Telegram, Russian political scientist Ekaterina Schulmann believes that these nine rings are a “joke“visibly”consciousfrom the Kremlin. She notes that the CIS emblem on said rings is reminiscent of the “Eye of Sauron” shape depicted in the Hollywood adaptation of the book.
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On Russian radio Kommersant FM, journalist Dmitri Drize, less enthusiastic, points out that the idea of a “fellowship of the ring“between the nine leaders”is not really our subject given the current circumstances“. In fact, significant differences divide some of the heads of state present, in particular the Armenian leaders Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani Ilham Aliev, opposed on the question of theseparatist enclave of Nagorny Karabakh.
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Dmitri Drize notes that only Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian president, one of the few categorical allies of Vladimir Putin in his offensive in Ukraine, was seen with the small ring on his finger.
“Just a memory”
Tuesday evening, the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, wanted to cut short the interpretations. “It’s just a souvenir for New Years, there’s nothing special about it“, he declared, while specifying that Vladimir Putin will not wear his gold ring.
Since the Kremlin offensive in Ukraine, the Ukrainian government has regularly compared Russia to “Mordor”, the kingdom of Sauron, and Russian soldiers to “Orcs”, the soldiers of Sauron.
Kremlin critics, especially in Ukraine, have compared Vladimir Putin to Gollum, a figure corrupted by the One Ring, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Frodo, who decides to take the One Ring as a burden to destroy it.