I see the "Rohanites" are now famous! I think that if I ever run away, I'll start a band called Lush & the Rohanites. Weird electro-pop. For children.
Anyhoo,
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What does Tolkien’s portrait of the affairs in Middle- Earth say about his views on patriotism as a whole
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I've always appreciated Tolkien's nuanced portrayal of patriotism with regard to Faramir and Boromir. When Faramir rejects the Ring - it can, in one sense, be seen as highly unpatriotic:
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"But fear no more! I would not take this thing, if it lay by the highway. Not were Minas Tirith falling in ruin and I alone could save her, so, using the weapon of the Dark Lord for her good and my glory. No, I do not wish for such triumphs, Frodo son of Drogo." - The Two Towers.
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(Let me know if that quote is off, btw, I still have not been reunited with my books, and am relying on Wiki)
But Boromir had already taught us, at that point, that patriotism can be meaningless, if not downright destructive, if you lose perspective. Faramir is able, to use a
very over-used phrase - "think outside the box." There's something about the nature of the Ring that Faramir knows he can't afford to overlook, and that, perhaps, is true patriotism - thinking beyond the norm when you are called to do so.