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Giorgia Meloni, the Prime Minister of Italy and a self-professed super-fan, inaugurated a Rome exhibition dedicated to J.R.R. Tolkien, the renowned author of Lord of the Rings, on Wednesday, November 15. This event coincides with the 50th anniversary of Tolkien’s passing and the publication of the first Italian edition of The Hobbit. The exhibition, receiving strong backing from Meloni, was initiated and promoted by Italy’s Ministry of Culture.

At 46, Giorgia Meloni often speaks of her long-standing admiration for Tolkien’s narratives, which depict the struggle between good and evil. This sentiment is notably prevalent among the far-right. In her 2021 autobiography, Meloni reminisces about her time in the youth wing of the Italian Social Movement (MSI), a post-fascist group, where she and her peers would dress as characters from Lord of the Rings, gathering at the sound of Boromir’s horn.

Giorgia Meloni, who chose the character Samwise Gamgee for her costume, highlighted Sam’s significance, “He is just a hobbit, he works as a gardener. Yet, without him, Frodo would never have accomplished the mission,” she wrote. She admired Sam’s humility and selflessness, understanding that his actions, though unlikely to be celebrated in songs, were not driven by a desire for glory. Academics have often discussed the far-right’s fascination with Tolkien’s work. Middle Earth, a pre-industrial and feudal world, embodies the values of fraternity, chivalry, tradition and national identity, standing in contrast to impersonal industrialization. “He was a convinced Catholic who glorified the value of tradition, of the community and of the history to which he belongs… A true conservative, one might say,” remarked Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano in September.

The Ministry of Culture has sponsored the exhibition, titled Tolkien: Man, Professor, Author, at the National Gallery for Modern and Contemporary Art, from November 16 to February 11. The exhibition, which cost 250,000 euros, as reported by La Repubblica, aims to explore Tolkien’s life, academic work, narrative prowess and poetic strength. Despite his appeal to conservative groups, Tolkien also resonated with the American hippies of the 1960s, possibly offering a vision of a purer world, diverging from modern industrial society.

With AFP.