Allegory in Tolkien

[the guy who be short]

With a work as grand, as sophisticated, as absorbing as Tolkien's, there can of course be no question that there is much allegory. How could a non-allegoric world ever be so appealing to the masses Tolkien reaches to?

Of course, the Legendarium (and, to please Davem, the Hobbit too) is extensive, and could not possibly be limited to being representative of merely one allegory. I propose that there are several subtle meanings woven into the tale, and beseech you all to take up arms, preferably holding pens, and delve into these.


One of the characters that sticks in my mind as being clearly allegoric of the real world is Strider, or to give him his former name, Trotter. Trotter, it is clear, is simply a slurring of Trotsky, who this character represents.

Apart from the similarities of name, what else supports this theory? There is of course the obvious fact that Trotter is forced to live in exile. The return of the Trotter, as the last book was originally called, reveals Tolkien's Trotskyist sympathies - obviously, he wished that Trotsky could return to the USSR and wrest power from Stalin.

Who then is Stalin? The exiler, of course. This is represented by the House of the Stewards, in particular Denethor, the manic leader who, by means of the Palantir, communicates with and deals with those who should be his enemies, ie, the dark forces of Sauron, representative of fascism and capitalism.

So then, the entire tale of the Ring is simply a semi-allegoric, semi-alternative historic story. Trotter returns to Gondor - a vast land a world apart from the Shire, thus the USSR - to spread proletariat revolution and dethrone Stalinethor. Seizing power by means of this popular revolution, he restores fair rule and deliberately destroys the Palantir via which Stalinethor communicated with Sauron, showing his refusal to deal with capitalist powers. In the end, he nobly goes to war, despite the odds, to defend his ideal.

Obviously, then, the Lord of the Rings is simply a novel exploring forms of communism, the value of various government styles, etc. More specifically, it sets in print the alternative history Tolkien so wanted to happen.

What other examples of allegory have you found in this intensely allegoric world?