Wow, so fascinating! I had no idea that mid-century medieval went so deep. It makes a lot of sense though, especially since LOTR was written by Tolkien with heavy influences from his wartime experience depicting the horrors of WWI and touching on the bonds that were formed, creating hope.
“The link between the Red Scare and Californians in codpieces selling turkey legs may seem tenuous, but the evolution was pretty organic.” This made me laugh so hard. Wonderful piece! ❤️
Interesting piece, but as a note of art history I think it's important to remember the Art Nouveau movement and its influence on this aesthetic. Art Nouveau came out of France in the late 19th century, contemporaneous with the Pre-Raphaelites and sharing a similar aesthetic.
But Art Nouveau was primarily a decorative and commercial art form, and in some ways the first art movement to evolve out of the new possibilities of mass reproduction. It was also the movement that give birth to the poster as art. And it's impossible to overstate just how important the poster was to the aesthetic of dorm life from the 60s through the 90s. Alphonse Mucha was one of the most popular and widely reproduced of the Art Nouveau poster artists. An among Mucha's posters, none was ubiquitous as his poster for Job rolling papers. That particular poster also had a unique cultural position in that hanging it your dorm room was, from the 60s through at least the 90s, a well-understood way of saying "In this room we smoke weed."
The Art Nouveau style was also tremendously influential among commercial illustrators at the time, including those who did rock album covers. The font in Led Zeppelin's logo could have been, and probably was, lifted directly off an Art Nouveau poster. Art Nouveau was also tremendously influential in the acid and otherwise and psychedelically inspired arts.
So when the Lord of the Rings hit America, it didn't so much bring with it a new aesthetic style but was slotted in to an already existing and popular style. And the subsequent heavy association of that style with fantasy has decoupled it from its historical origins as it gradually morphed into the modern Ren Fair aesthetic.
The irony here is that an aesthetic of a "pre-capitalist, enchanted world" evolved more or less directly out of capitalist aesthetic, perpetuated by commercial artists, and possible only because of the possibilities of mechanical reproduction.
Art Nouveau in many ways also led to the British Arts and Crafts movement. Both played a strong role in the idea of returning to hand-craft, natural materials and appreciation of the natural world; they still do even to this day. Tolkien himself acknowledges its influence on his conception of Middle Earth...
In some ways. I think William Morris was definitely influenced by the Art Nouveau aesthetic, but I'd also say that the philosophy of Art Nouveau never extended much beyond "Look at all these neat places in Paris where you can now buy neat stuff." The real through line between the two in an American context is the importation of the Carnaby Street aesthetic, when it became fashionable to wear that velvet coat you'd pulled out of your grandmother's attic again. Of course, this was also dependent on having had a grandmother who could have afforded that velvet coat to begin with. Which is also always the subtext of any back-to-nature movement. The people who are always so keen to get back to nature usually aren't the ones who are already out in nature picking all that organic produce.
Love the vibe.... And, I remember it well! In a few months I'll be 74 yo. I've lived in a commune, hitchhiked across the country, and, when I got married in the mid-70s, I wore a cream colored Gunne Sax dress. The fantasy is still living in me, even though I hardly look the part now, except perhaps a Green Witch/Mystic Crone, but my heart still beats with the music and the idealism and the faith that it will grow once more! And there will again be dancing in the streets, and revolution in the air...
It didn't sweep the world like it had been imagined (because subsistence farming is dull and back breaking for one thing) but it's also because the reality of the LOTR story arc was completely ignored: They triumphed largely by strength of arms! Even the Shire was sold out from the inside, and its restoration came not from colorful garbage but sharpened steel. The characters in the books longed for bucolic afternoons in the fields, and evenings at the pub. But they weren't afraid to sacrifice everything they had in order to protect that way of life.
That aside, the era also spawned a powerful environmental movement that radically changed the course of the industrial world! Not only that, fantasy though it was, it inspired many to seek to change the system within, which they most certainly did when they later ran for office.
The world is objectively better for it on so many levels. Fantasy is just that; an ideal to inspire and spur imagination, not a template for actual policy. But it's not "less" because of it, it's actually more.
this is so interesting because my father was born in 1965 and was a huge lord of the rings fan. when he was younger he was much more radical, but with time his military background became a much more present part of his personality and he stopped being optimistic. I'm glad he raised me on things like that, because maybe if he no longer had faith maybe some part of him was hoping that the revolution would live on in me.
Love it! I attend a hippie festival every year where the 60s-70s medieval vibe is still around. It helps that everyone is camping, no one has service, and lots of people bring homegrown food or mead or *potions of various sorts* to sell/trade. Easy to channel your inner peasant (or hobbit) when everyone around you is covered in dirt and a little tipsy. I did not know the connection had such specific roots in LoTR and anti-war...really cool!
Great read, thank you! I'll share it with my 25yr old son who has become very disillusioned with the world and is wondering "what's the point". The cyclic nature of war and peace is evident throughout history and unfortunately a part of life that he must reconcile with. Perhaps he too can pick up his guitar and make a difference.
Great read, thank you for posting it! My dad was one of those 60s counter-culture guys -- he had long, wild hair, raced motorcycles, and carried a tattered copy of Lord of the Rings in his back pocket. Our family dog was named Strider, an homage to Aragorn. Now he works at a tech company, lovingly raises tomatoes, and collects woodworking tools. Alongside the Renaissance Fairs, a DIY medieval/renaissance group was also born in the 60s, the Society for Creative Anachronism. It lives on today, and self-organizes in groups around North America, Europe, Australia, and probably other areas of the globe. For some, it fuels imaginative creativity -- people recreate the arts of prior times (from all over the planet, not just Europe) and share them with their fellow enthusiasts. For others, it's an opportunity to explore martial games. I was once a member and it took me down a really fun rabbit hole of researching and recreating medieval-era clothing from France and England, during the late 14th and early 15th century. Very specific, I know, LOL, but so gratifying to get into at the time.
I agree with Roberta! That period was my coming of age - never a hippie but had many friends who were and never missed Renfaire! Thanks for the nostalgia!
Great essay! So glad you brought up Led Zeppelin’s references to LOTR! Also, the green Gunne Sax dress embedded into your piece reminds me of a prom dress I wanted in 1974!
Never read LOTR, but my children did in middle school.
I came of age in the 60's. I discovered folk music, Joan Baez etc.I wrote my first college paper as a freshman on the Childe Ballads. But I was brought up on fairy tales of Scandinavia in the Midwest of the US.
Antiwar, civil rights movements , led to communes, Whole Earth Catalog, and indeed granny dresses, flowers in your hair.
Some of those hippies are now old MAGA voters living in rural America while my grandchildren who are Gen Zs are fascinated with Dudgeon and Dragons.
Wow, so fascinating! I had no idea that mid-century medieval went so deep. It makes a lot of sense though, especially since LOTR was written by Tolkien with heavy influences from his wartime experience depicting the horrors of WWI and touching on the bonds that were formed, creating hope.
I was thinking about that as well and Tolkien’s ties to his own war experiences. It’s really quite poetic how the book was picked up in rebellion.
“The link between the Red Scare and Californians in codpieces selling turkey legs may seem tenuous, but the evolution was pretty organic.” This made me laugh so hard. Wonderful piece! ❤️
Thank you so much!! And thanks for reading 🩷
Interesting piece, but as a note of art history I think it's important to remember the Art Nouveau movement and its influence on this aesthetic. Art Nouveau came out of France in the late 19th century, contemporaneous with the Pre-Raphaelites and sharing a similar aesthetic.
But Art Nouveau was primarily a decorative and commercial art form, and in some ways the first art movement to evolve out of the new possibilities of mass reproduction. It was also the movement that give birth to the poster as art. And it's impossible to overstate just how important the poster was to the aesthetic of dorm life from the 60s through the 90s. Alphonse Mucha was one of the most popular and widely reproduced of the Art Nouveau poster artists. An among Mucha's posters, none was ubiquitous as his poster for Job rolling papers. That particular poster also had a unique cultural position in that hanging it your dorm room was, from the 60s through at least the 90s, a well-understood way of saying "In this room we smoke weed."
The Art Nouveau style was also tremendously influential among commercial illustrators at the time, including those who did rock album covers. The font in Led Zeppelin's logo could have been, and probably was, lifted directly off an Art Nouveau poster. Art Nouveau was also tremendously influential in the acid and otherwise and psychedelically inspired arts.
So when the Lord of the Rings hit America, it didn't so much bring with it a new aesthetic style but was slotted in to an already existing and popular style. And the subsequent heavy association of that style with fantasy has decoupled it from its historical origins as it gradually morphed into the modern Ren Fair aesthetic.
The irony here is that an aesthetic of a "pre-capitalist, enchanted world" evolved more or less directly out of capitalist aesthetic, perpetuated by commercial artists, and possible only because of the possibilities of mechanical reproduction.
Thanks again for a very interesting perspective.
Art Nouveau in many ways also led to the British Arts and Crafts movement. Both played a strong role in the idea of returning to hand-craft, natural materials and appreciation of the natural world; they still do even to this day. Tolkien himself acknowledges its influence on his conception of Middle Earth...
In some ways. I think William Morris was definitely influenced by the Art Nouveau aesthetic, but I'd also say that the philosophy of Art Nouveau never extended much beyond "Look at all these neat places in Paris where you can now buy neat stuff." The real through line between the two in an American context is the importation of the Carnaby Street aesthetic, when it became fashionable to wear that velvet coat you'd pulled out of your grandmother's attic again. Of course, this was also dependent on having had a grandmother who could have afforded that velvet coat to begin with. Which is also always the subtext of any back-to-nature movement. The people who are always so keen to get back to nature usually aren't the ones who are already out in nature picking all that organic produce.
Love the vibe.... And, I remember it well! In a few months I'll be 74 yo. I've lived in a commune, hitchhiked across the country, and, when I got married in the mid-70s, I wore a cream colored Gunne Sax dress. The fantasy is still living in me, even though I hardly look the part now, except perhaps a Green Witch/Mystic Crone, but my heart still beats with the music and the idealism and the faith that it will grow once more! And there will again be dancing in the streets, and revolution in the air...
It didn't sweep the world like it had been imagined (because subsistence farming is dull and back breaking for one thing) but it's also because the reality of the LOTR story arc was completely ignored: They triumphed largely by strength of arms! Even the Shire was sold out from the inside, and its restoration came not from colorful garbage but sharpened steel. The characters in the books longed for bucolic afternoons in the fields, and evenings at the pub. But they weren't afraid to sacrifice everything they had in order to protect that way of life.
That aside, the era also spawned a powerful environmental movement that radically changed the course of the industrial world! Not only that, fantasy though it was, it inspired many to seek to change the system within, which they most certainly did when they later ran for office.
The world is objectively better for it on so many levels. Fantasy is just that; an ideal to inspire and spur imagination, not a template for actual policy. But it's not "less" because of it, it's actually more.
this is so interesting because my father was born in 1965 and was a huge lord of the rings fan. when he was younger he was much more radical, but with time his military background became a much more present part of his personality and he stopped being optimistic. I'm glad he raised me on things like that, because maybe if he no longer had faith maybe some part of him was hoping that the revolution would live on in me.
My nieces are so lucky that my sister and I saved all Gunne Sax dresses from the 70s 😆 (We lived near the factory store.)
Love it! I attend a hippie festival every year where the 60s-70s medieval vibe is still around. It helps that everyone is camping, no one has service, and lots of people bring homegrown food or mead or *potions of various sorts* to sell/trade. Easy to channel your inner peasant (or hobbit) when everyone around you is covered in dirt and a little tipsy. I did not know the connection had such specific roots in LoTR and anti-war...really cool!
Sounds amazing!!!
Great read, thank you! I'll share it with my 25yr old son who has become very disillusioned with the world and is wondering "what's the point". The cyclic nature of war and peace is evident throughout history and unfortunately a part of life that he must reconcile with. Perhaps he too can pick up his guitar and make a difference.
Great read, thank you for posting it! My dad was one of those 60s counter-culture guys -- he had long, wild hair, raced motorcycles, and carried a tattered copy of Lord of the Rings in his back pocket. Our family dog was named Strider, an homage to Aragorn. Now he works at a tech company, lovingly raises tomatoes, and collects woodworking tools. Alongside the Renaissance Fairs, a DIY medieval/renaissance group was also born in the 60s, the Society for Creative Anachronism. It lives on today, and self-organizes in groups around North America, Europe, Australia, and probably other areas of the globe. For some, it fuels imaginative creativity -- people recreate the arts of prior times (from all over the planet, not just Europe) and share them with their fellow enthusiasts. For others, it's an opportunity to explore martial games. I was once a member and it took me down a really fun rabbit hole of researching and recreating medieval-era clothing from France and England, during the late 14th and early 15th century. Very specific, I know, LOL, but so gratifying to get into at the time.
I had to reread this aloud to my partner and he enjoyed it, too. A great read, very insightful and fluidly written
This is so sweet, I’m so glad you both enjoyed it!!
I enjoyed this so much more than I thought!! Never read or watched LOTR but loved this essay, it's so interesting!! thank you <3
Thank you so much Roberta!! 🤍🤍
I agree with Roberta! That period was my coming of age - never a hippie but had many friends who were and never missed Renfaire! Thanks for the nostalgia!
Great essay! So glad you brought up Led Zeppelin’s references to LOTR! Also, the green Gunne Sax dress embedded into your piece reminds me of a prom dress I wanted in 1974!
Never read LOTR, but my children did in middle school.
I came of age in the 60's. I discovered folk music, Joan Baez etc.I wrote my first college paper as a freshman on the Childe Ballads. But I was brought up on fairy tales of Scandinavia in the Midwest of the US.
Antiwar, civil rights movements , led to communes, Whole Earth Catalog, and indeed granny dresses, flowers in your hair.
Some of those hippies are now old MAGA voters living in rural America while my grandchildren who are Gen Zs are fascinated with Dudgeon and Dragons.
So excited to read more, and super glad I stumbled on your substack!! 🌿✌🏻
Such an amazing read. As a history teacher with a love for Tolkien and fantasy this was so amazing to learn. Thank you for writing this!