“the most improper job of any man, even saints (who at any rate were at least unwilling to take it on), is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, and least of all those who seek the opportunity.”
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/j-r-r-tolkien-from-a-letter-to-christopher-tolkien
Found the whole letter.
Tolkien was clearly against industrialisation and the modernity. He prefered the shire which is anarchist, the have no government. Seeing the ring as a metaphor of absolute power is a fair reading and the only way to save middle earth is to destroy the symbol of ultimate power. There are anti authoritarian themes throughout the legendarium.
Sauron is the ultimate dictator who wants to order the world as he wishes. Using power to overthrow him will lead to a new dictator rising up. The power needs to be destroyed for peace to be possible.
His view on kings seemed to be: you can sit on a throne but leave us alone.
Analysing tolkiens work through an anarchist lens makes more sense than one might think
“the most improper job of any man, even saints (who at any rate were at least unwilling to take it on), is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, and least of all those who seek the opportunity.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/j-r-r-tolkien-from-a-letter-to-christopher-tolkien Found the whole letter. Tolkien was clearly against industrialisation and the modernity. He prefered the shire which is anarchist, the have no government. Seeing the ring as a metaphor of absolute power is a fair reading and the only way to save middle earth is to destroy the symbol of ultimate power. There are anti authoritarian themes throughout the legendarium. Sauron is the ultimate dictator who wants to order the world as he wishes. Using power to overthrow him will lead to a new dictator rising up. The power needs to be destroyed for peace to be possible. His view on kings seemed to be: you can sit on a throne but leave us alone. Analysing tolkiens work through an anarchist lens makes more sense than one might think
I love this quote
Makes me wonder why he was allegedly a monarchist. Don’t mean that as a gotcha, it’s just funny I’ve seen anarchomonarchism attributed to him