Lord of the Rings in Ukraine’s War: A full history
Lord of the Rings in Ukraine’s War: A full history
We dive into the history of Tolkien’s universe in Russia, stretching to the mid-20th century and extending to the current war in Ukraine. Whether through humor or escapism, fantasy provides relief.
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An isolated land in the East is shrouded in darkness.
An evil lord, worshiped as a deity, rules it.
Those who serve him live only by war.
And they bring nothing but death and destruction.
Ukrainians may associate this description with Russia, but it is an image of Mordor, a fictional country in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, inhabited by barbarians who serve the forces of evil known as ‘orcs.’
The word ‘orc’ has been widely used as a synonym for a Russian soldier since Russia launched the full-scale war against Ukraine. Such associations had existed long before, but they became a national narrative as a reaction to Russian atrocities and war crimes in 2022.
Information warfare plays a role no less important than it does on the battlefield. And military narratives are a part of it. The Ukrainians were not the first to use literary allegories as a means of morale and motivation during a war. But this is one of the first examples of popularizing fantasy heroes to capture the horror of modern warfare – by civilians, military and government officials alike.
The Ukrainians view their struggle as a battle between a free people and the embodiment of sheer darkness, reminiscent of Tolkien's tales. They see the Russians as inhuman, brutal invaders wreaking havoc on another nation's people.
In the early days of the war, these powerful images played a crucial role in uniting Ukrainians and strengthening their resistance.
“People are very fond of allegories. And The Lord of the Rings is a good source of material for that. The fantasy world is similar. There you face war and fear. And after reading this story, people want to have faith that there will be a happy ending,” Volodymyr Kushnarov, a true fan of The Lord of the Rings, told The Counteroffensive.
Volodymyr was still in primary school when his stepfather took him to a Kyiv cinema to see a new The Lord of the Rings movie. It sparked a deep interest in him – and as a student, he read three volumes of the book, returning to them again later while studying law.
His real fascination with Tolkien’s world, however, began when Volodymyr landed a job at a company that distributed Warner Brothers and Disney films in Ukraine. Ever since, the now-30-year-old has been collecting rare editions of The Lord of the Rings books. He even runs a TikTok blog where he immerses Ukrainians in the world of Middle-earth — a magical Tolkien creation.
Volodymyr shows an original edition of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ published in 1988 which he bought recently. Video was taken from his TikTok blog:
“For me, The Lord of the Rings and all other Tolkien's works… are a pure form of escapism, lore-digging and comfort-reading,” Volodymyr Kushnarov said to The Counteroffensive. “Same with movies, which most people are familiar with — in such tough times during the war you look for something familiar, known to you with a happy ending.”
The events of The Lord of the Rings unfold on the central continent of Middle-earth, a fictional world created by Tolkien. To the east lies Mordor, a land encircled by three mountain ranges, inhabited by orcs, goblins, trolls, and other malevolent creatures. The ruler of this land, Sauron, a former master of dark magic, created a ‘Ring of Power’ with which he planned to capture the free peoples of the West: Elves, Hobbits and people from neighboring lands.
Comparisons between Mordor and Russia go back to the Soviet era, when the regime considered Tolkien's literature politically threatening. The USSR banned Tolkien's books because they saw the orcs as an analogy for the Soviet people.
The Orcs were creatures without high intelligence. They saw the strength of their army not in quality but in quantity. They were at odds with the rest of the world, living in isolation. And the ring that Sauron used to conquer the free peoples of Middle-earth has been interpreted by some scholars, like Mike Fielden, as an allegory for the nuclear weapons that the U.S. and the USSR were manufacturing during the Cold War.
“More Men going to Mordor. Dark faces. And some have red paint on their cheeks, and red cloaks; and their flags are red, and the tips of their spears; and they have round shields, yellow and black with big spikes. Not nice; very cruel wicked Men they look. Almost as bad as Orcs, and much bigger,” this is how Tolkien describes Sauron's army.
For several decades, The Lord of the Rings was not translated in the USSR. The books could only be read in self-published form, where every effort was made to evade censorship. For example, Russian folklore elements, such as Russification of names and allusions to fairy tales, were added to the original text.
However, Tolkien himself was very unhappy that his works were being associated with real-life prototypes, as he considered his literature to be ‘apolitical.’ As early as 1966, the author's foreword to the second edition of The Lord of the Ring stated that the war for the ring was not a reference to WWII and that Mordor was not the Soviet Union.
“Tolkien does not object to such comparisons. It is the reader's choice. But he opposes the direct connection of the author's work with reality. And then everyone, when reading it, will see some individual events in their own life or history that they experienced,” Volodymyr explained.
Even after the Soviet Union collapsed, analogies with its successor Russia remained.
On the contrary, Russians themselves increasingly identified with Mordor and its inhabitants, the orcs. In the late 1990s, for example, Russian writer Kirill Yesskov published ‘The Last Ringbearer,’ which reinterprets The Lord of the Rings as a Cold War allegory, but from an orc perspective.
Yesskov completely reshapes J.R.R. Tolkien's original world, transforming the orcs from barbaric idiots into a technologically advanced nation fighting the ‘decaying West’ in every way. The novel won a literary award at around the same time that Putin came to power in Russia.
After the publication of the orc novel, Russian publicists Maxim Kalashnikov and Yuri Krupkov published a book called ‘Orc Wrath,’ in which they urged Russians to identify themselves as orcs. And in the 2010s, Russians created memes on the Russian social network VKontakte and in forums, jokingly comparing their country's capital and Russia itself to Mordor.
So Ukrainians weren’t the first to draw parallels between Russians and the dark forces of Tolkien’s world. But they did heartily embrace it.
During the 2013-2014 Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine — triggered by former president and Putin ally Viktor Yanukovych’s rejection of European integration in favor of closer ties with Russia — Euromaidan came to be seen, both in Ukraine and globally, as a stand against Mordor.
The perception was partly shaped by the video ‘The Hobbit Uprising’, which went viral on social media. It was footage of the Revolution of Dignity alternating with scenes from the prequel films to “The Lord of the Rings” directed by Peter Jackson.
Taking advantage of Ukraine's weakening amid the bloody revolution, Russia sent in its troops, occupying Crimea and parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
At that time, Ukrainian soldiers, volunteers, and residents of the frontline territories started making comparisons between pro-Russian troops and Tolkien's characters.
In particular, such comparisons were facilitated by the description of orcs in the second volume of The Lord of the Rings as creatures who “had a great hatred for all things free, and they tortured and slew the prisoners with cruel sport.”
The Russians and its supporters invited comparisons by creating a camp called ‘Izoliatsia’ in the Donetsk region, where they tortured Ukrainian soldiers and civilians back in 2014.
At some point, such allegories went beyond the oral culture of communication and jokes on the Internet. In 2016, Google Translate crashed as the service translated the phrase ‘Russian Federation’ as ‘Mordor’ from Ukrainian to Russian. The company then assured that Google Translate is an automatic translator that works without human intervention, using only algorithms. So it was either a technical glitch or a hack.
In addition, the ‘rings of power’ have come to be seen as an allegory for the pipelines of Russia's Gazprom, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies. Through its gas, Russia seeks to extend its economic and political influence around the world. And the Eye of Sauron, which symbolizes absolute control and is an instrument of the Orc ruler's omnipotent power, has been associated with the gas flame itself.
However, the use of ‘Orcs’ for Russians and ‘Mordor’ for the Russian Federation became widespread during the full-scale war. The day after the invasion began, one of the first messages appeared on the Facebook page of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: “Orcs from Mordor suffer terrible losses!”
Millions of Ukrainians have since used these terms on social media, and officials have also been using them in their reports and statements. In March 2022, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov urged Ukrainians to “withstand the onslaught of Mordor.” Zelenskyy also used ‘orcs’ referring to the Russians. For example, when Ukraine became a candidate to join the EU, he said that Ukraine was no longer considered as a ‘border between orcs and elves.’
Zelenskyy has been referred to as a hobbit, a peaceful creature smaller than a dwarf. Ukrainians were called elves fighting orcs in Lord of the Rings. And goblins, the weakened descendants of orcs who fought on the side of Mordor, are associated with Belarusians. It was from Belarusian territory that Russia launched its offensive against Kyiv in 2022.
Whether through humor or escapism, Tolkien’s fans in Ukraine have found welcome relief in the fantasy world created by this series.
“Mankind will never pass this stage without wars. And that's probably why people like The Lord of the Rings. In the end, there's an irresistible force that saves everyone. All the characters, although they went through terrible things, survived,” said Volodymyr, the Tolkien fan.
NEWS OF THE DAY:
Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.
DUTCH ALLOW USE OF F-16S IN RUSSIA: Onno Eichelsheim, the commander of the country's armed forces, claims that no restrictions are imposed on the use of Dutch weapons if Ukraine adheres to the laws of war, local newspaper NOS reports. In total, the Netherlands has promised to deliver 24 fighter jets.
TELEGRAM CEO OUT OF CUSTODY: Pavel Durov, previously accused of complicity in drug trafficking, pedophilia, and fraud for refusing to cooperate with French investigators, has been released on €5 million bail.
He now has to report to the police twice a week and is banned from leaving the territory of France, Reuters reports. Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Telegram has become one of the most widely used platforms in the country. It is used as a platform for communication, dissemination of news, and appeals from officials to Ukrainians.
CIA: RUSSIA TO LAUNCH KURSK COUNTEROFFENSIVE: CIA Deputy Director David Cohen believes that Russia will try to launch the counteroffensive on its territory but for now, Moscow is focused on occupying the Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk, according to Reuters.
Pokrovsk is a major logistics and transportation hub. However, taking the city wouldn't be a strategic victory for Russia, Cohen says. According to U.S. estimates, Ukraine controls about 777 square kilometers of Russian territory, and its military operation shows no signs of abating. Ukrainian forces are digging in defensive positions, making retaking the Kursk region difficult for Russia.
U.S. SHELL PRODUCTION INCREASING: A Pennsylvania plant producing ammunition for Ukraine has increased its output by 50% and plans to further expand capacity soon, according to AP. 155mm artillery rounds are among the most crucial types of ammunition for Ukrainian forces in their war with Russia. These rounds enable Ukrainian ground forces to strike Russian military targets from a safe distance. Ukraine uses between 6,000 and 8,000 of these rounds daily, leading to a constant shortage.
DOG OF WAR:
Today’s dog of war is Patrick — a dog owned by the head of Mariana’s dormitory in Kyiv which likes watching others from the window. Не was trained to imitate the sound of an air raid alarm, so it warns the entire dormitory of danger every time :)
Stay safe out there.
Best,
Mariana
Fascinating!
Outstanding post. The allegory in Lord of the Rings gives extra definition to the evil of Putin’s Russia. (Mordor)