The Rings of Power nonsense has brought to a head a split in the Tolkien world, but the roots of this division go back decades. It parallels the wider culture wars we see in society, with groups aligning across many issues and contrasting themselves with the other side. In this battle, we remain true to Tolkien’s work and they seek always to change it.
They see the Rings of Power as good, or even outright shill for it after receiving expenses-paid trips and screenings. Or they see Tolkien studies as a Primary World topic, to be re-interpreted with modern politics and compared to mythologies and stories Tolkien had no interest in or even knowledge of. Or they think Tolkien’s work needs to be updated, or corrected, or revised and always “for a modern audience”, because they believe Tolkien was wrong. Or they do not, deep down, really like Tolkien, and he is just a useful and popular vehicle for their own ideas and their careers, and maybe next year they will do Narnia or Shakespeare or Lovecraft.
They are pretentious wokists, greedy exploiters, narcissistic revisionists, and so many more.
We think back to the tragedy of Numenor and how its society became divided, between those steeped in arrogance and greed and the desire to dominate, and those who remained true to the foundation of their society and culture.
They have a thousand motives and a thousand names, but we have one motive and a name which has been staring us in the face.
We are simply The Faithful.