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Tolkien ... Not an Anti-Semite

OK, I found the definitive answer to the Tolkien question. Michael Martinez points out that Tolkien wrote lots of letters in which he expressed disapproval of his fellow Englishmen -- and apparently wrote many letters about how there are Orcs serving in the British Army (I've got to find these letters, they sound very interesting) but never wrote a disparaging word about Jews.


Also, there was an instance after Hitler came to power, but prior to World War II, when the German government sent him a letter officially requesting that he establish his racial purity so they could authorize a translation of The Hobbit (the prequel of The Lord of the Rings).

Tolkien, who was a college professor at the time struggling financially to support his family could have just instructed his publisher to say

Yes, Tolkien is a German name
(which it is). Instead, he took the time to write the following:


Thank you for your letter.... I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-Iranian; as far as I am aware none of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy or any related dialects. But if I am to understand that you are inquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people....

So there you have it folks. Tolkien is not an anti-Semite.

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