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The appointment of J.D. Vance as Donald Trump's running mate and vice-presidential nominee came as a surprise for most within and without the political establishment.
The Ohio-born, former Marine and self-described hillbilly was an unknown figure to most but was well-known in Silicon Valley, where he was close to billionaire Peter Thiel.
It was Vance's ties to the Silicon Valley elite, and especially his mentor-potégé relationship with Thiel, that reportedly fueled his rise to power within the GOP.
Like Trump, Vance rose to power as a political outsider. He's currently serving his first term as senator, gaining his first public office position in 2022.
After the nomination became public, Vance's eclectic personality sparked curiosity. The nominee is a best-selling author, a Bitcoin enthusiast and a venture capitalist.
Even less known is the fact that Vance is an avid fan of “The Lord Of The Rings,” the classic novel by J.R.R. Tolkien which helped shape the medieval fantasy genre throughout the first half of the 20th century.
Vance has expressed his fascination with Tolkien and “The Lord Of The Rings” in several media appearances. During a podcast interview in 2021, Vance said that Tolkien was his favorite author.
"A lot of my conservative worldview was influenced by Tolkien growing up," said Vance in a conversation with Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), quoted by Politico.
Tolkien was a British philologist and writer who developed the concepts, characters and stories behind “The Hobbit” and “The Lord Of The Rings” saga, which consists of three books. Tolkien wrote the most famous books of the saga during the 1930s and 1940s, but spent most of his life developing the history, lore and fictional languages of Middle-Earth, the fictional world where the novels take place.
Tolkien had a massive influence on other fantasy writers throughout the 20th century and his work experienced a revival in the early 2000s when director Peter Jackson adapted “The Lord Of The Rings” novels into a three-part film series produced by New Line Cinema, which is owned by Warner Bros Discovery Inc (NASDAQ:WBD).
The movies were among the highest-grossing films of the decade and enjoyed wide popularity, particularly among young men. As a high school student at the time, Vance was probably influenced by the widespread fanaticism that the movies propelled.
Vance's appreciation of Tolkien's work became clear in 2019 when he named his venture capital firm Narya, which is the name of one of the "rings of power" that Gandalf, a main protagonist, wears in the story.
Perhaps it's not coincidental that Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel, under whom Vance worked for years, also chose to take inspiration from Tolkien to name his enterprises.
Vance worked for Mithril Capital, Thiel's venture capital firm between 2015 and 2017. In Tolkien's books, Mithril is a fictional metal that looks like silver but is lighter and stronger than steel. Thiel's software enterprise, Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) is also named after a “The Lord Of The Rings” artifact. In Tolkien’s legendarium, a "Palantir" is an indestructible crystal ball with magical properties.
Anduril Industries, Thiel's defense startup, is named for "Andúril," the fictional sword that the character Aragorn wielded.
According to Forbes, it was Thiel who in 2021 invited Vance to join him at Mar-A-Lago, where they both met Trump, according to the New York Times. It was reportedly in this meeting when Vance began to soften up to Trump's views, after having described himself as a "never Trumper."
Thiel broke ties with many of his Silicon Valley peers when he became one of Trump’s largest donors during the 2016 presidential campaign. Thiel has also donated to a PAC that handled Vance's Senate campaign in 2022.
According to Politico, Vance's fanaticism with the Tolkien narratives helps to explain his worldview and political vision. In the books, a relentless and adamant form of evil crystallized in the antagonistic dark lord Sauron threatens to destroy all life in Middle-Earth until a group of underdog heroes band together to defeat it.
The existence of an unnuanced form of evil that needs to be dominated is also within the core beliefs of many sectors within Catholicism, the religion to which Vance converted in 2019.
According to Politico, Vance said in 2021 he believes, "The devil is real and that he works terrible things in our society."
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