Though Tolkien despised allegorical readings of his work, they are doubtless of great use to the nationalists of Europe. Not merely as an extension of our pagan mythologies seen through a Christian lens, but as a manual for the way in which we must put prior grievances aside and unite in common purpose. The people of Middle Earth: Dwarves, Hobbits, Elves and Men, all have reasons to despise one another; betrayal and war mar their shared histories, and their cultural and ethnic differences are a contributing factor to the strife between them. They have distinct natures. Yet in the face of true evil, of destruction, their differences must be put aside if any of them are to survive another age. The forces of Evil rely upon their fractured nature, their conflict and hatred of one another are a tool; ripe for exploitation by the dark forces. In uniting against this common foe, the races of Middle Earth do not forgo their unique ethnic and cultural identities, but accept that in the face of evil they share a great deal. Their past grievances are not forgotten, but laid aside, for good, and for the greatest good. We as Europeans be we Germanic, Celtic, Gallic, Nordic, Slavic, Hellenic, Latin, Uralic, Dinaric; we have a complex shared history. Often have we brutalised, conquered, and killed one another. For the vast majority of our history this has been the case. But this can be the case no longer, if we too are to survive another age in any true sense of the word. This does not mean that we become an amorphous, post-ethnic blob, described only as "White", though that is one of the characteristics we broadly share. But infighting based upon characterisations of one or the other as the enemy, based in truth or otherwise; the "eternal anglo", "amerimutt", and "we are not like that in Germany" spring to mind. We may like to mock one another, as is our right, but we are not enemies.
We are brothers, of a shared history outside of conflict, of a broadly related ethnic and cultural origin. We must never again fall into further Brother Wars, be they petty or otherwise. They serve us no longer, and they have not served us for a long time. Too long has shire-posting been the dominant form of nationalist perspectives on Tolkien. We are not all Hobbits, though we should all recognise the aspects of the Hobbit in us all, including the archetype of ring-bearing Hobbits, their companions, and the average Shire-dweller. All Europeans populations contain a large portion of clueless, ignorant, comfortable, drunk and food-loving Hobbits. Were the situation not as it is, their innocence would be admirable, these, the salt of the earth of our nations. But the aspects of us that are Hobbit-like must be expressed through the exceptions to the Hobbit way of life: of the Bucklanders, and of Bilbo, Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin. We love our lands, we love our comforts, the fruits of the labours of our forebears. But we cannot rest to enjoy them, because they shall not be ours much longer if we do.
Inside of us too, perhaps most of all, resides hearts of Men. Ambitious, virtuous, courageous, ever in conflict between our higher ideals, and our base drive to power. This conflict forces us to never stray far into one aspect of our nature, never to be all consumed by power, and never to forgo all ambition due to our wariness of our own corruptibility. In the Dwarves we find our strength and resilience, but too we find our material greed. In the Elves we find our nature of reaching out towards the divine; and a longing to extend our mortality into eternity. Our Elvish-ness is to live with benevolence and gentleness, but not weakness. The domain of the arts, of poetry and music, harmony with nature and the elements
