How did The Lord of the Rings end up so beloved by the right wing?

Elon Musk, JD Vance and Giorgia Meloni have all described JRR Tolkien’s fantasy novels as fundamental to their respective world views – but it’d be too easy to claim they’ve simply misunderstood them. As Peter Jackson’s film adaptations return to cinemas 25 years after they began, Xan Brooks dives into the world’s most complicated fandom