They Shall Not Pass!

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Andsigil

Given Tolkien's conservative beliefs, I doubt he was very admiring of Spanish socialists and communists.

Perhaps other inspirations, certainly.

I'd never simply assume Tolkien would be afraid of 'reds under the bed', his views and his writing are much more subtle than that. He even expresses his own beliefs as vaguely anarchist in one letter. As a middle class Englishman, Tolkien would not have taken extreme views. However, the value of 'freedom' was one Tolkien would have admired, not least because as a Catholic he also stood well outside the British establishment view but also because of what was happening in Europe in the mid 20th century. This was the 1930s and no matter whether you were conservative or not, there was another axis people stood upon, whether you were pro or anti fascism - and people and politicians of all sorts of persuasions took stances that are surprising to our modern views (e.g. Churchill was all for appeasement at first, and that was not his only unwise viewpoint). And remember Tolkien had already lived through one war.

Given the context, and Tolkien's own complexity and resistance to being labelled, it's not at all to be dismissed that Tolkien might have been inspired by a catchphrase that was used in both a fight against a fearsome, regimented and totalitarian enemy, and in the trenches of WWI by the French. In fact it fits very well with his general dislike of oppressive regimes. It also can't be dismissed as coincidence, given that it is not just some throwaway phrase Gandalf utters, but used as a Word of Command several times.

Not to dampen Rune's 'find', but it seems a lot of other readers have picked up on it too as there's plenty online about this. I think whether you can see it or not depends on whether you can understand and accept the rich political complexities (far less affected by media stereotyping) that infused the society and times Tolkien lived through.