> But fascist philosophy was all about superhumans making their own laws and morality. This is kind of a weird comparison. Tolkien may not have been arguing fo

> But fascist philosophy was all about superhumans making their own laws and morality. This is kind of a weird comparison. Tolkien may not have been arguing for fascism in his world, but his world had a definite morality and order. A subset of the themes in this order—namely, hierarchical races—is uncomfortably close to the order espoused by Nazi-flavored fascist rhetoric. So long as it's not prescriptive (as it is CLEARLY not—it is an extremely violent world, and not one better than our own), Tolkien should not be labeled a fascist. However, I wouldn't blame anyone who avoided reading the series because it is uncomfortably close to romantic ideals that are similar to romantic ideals held by racist fascists. I might also point out that british and german culture weren't so terribly different than you might think, especially preceeding World War I. I would also argue that it's not Catholic mythology, it's British mythology, including subtle Christian flavors (divine hierarchies, christ patterns, prophets, rebel patterns) including racial mythology. There are deep, deep common roots of race in german culture. And let's not forget, one of the main characteristics of fascism is systematic oppression, something that Tolkien is careful to avoid with humans in everything I've read.