Tolkien-obsessed New Right faction sees J.D. Vance as its secret 'dark elf:' analysis

To the New Right, J.D. Vance is more than a U.S. senator and more than the running mate of the Republican Party's presidential nominee — according to a new report, some consider him their secret "dark elf."

This is the strange truth revealed in a new Politico analysis of the political philosophies developed by libertarian "Lord of the Rings" fans who see Vance (R-OH) as their big chance to swap out the old elite with a new one.

"When Vance is talking about installing 'our people' in the government, it’s fair to assume that he’s not talking about enlisting the hobbits," wrote reporter Ian Ward. "He’s talking about promoting the dark elves."

Ward's analysis draws from the New Right political theories cited by Vance and expressed by internet philosopher Curtis Yarvin and the Silicon Valley venture capitalist Peter Thiel.

The goal of the New Right, according to Ward, is to find a powerful politician who can tap the resources of the populist movement to gain control of government and ferry in an age of ultra-conservatism.

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"It is, in effect, a plan to accomplish through elite rule what even the MAGA movement has failed to accomplish through democratic control," Ward wrote. "The creation of a social order built around conservative values, even if those values remain broadly unpopular with the American people."

For Yarvin, a neo-reactionary who blogs under the name Mencius Moldbug, it's not so much a "Game of Thrones" but of hobbits, zombies and elves — one of whom will become a “national CEO, [or] what’s called ‘a dictator.'"

Drawing from JRR Tolkien's classic trilogy, Yarvin casts the ruling class as elves, the middle class as hobbits, and the working and lower classes as dwarves, zombies and orcs, Politico reported.

"The elves are almost uniformly liberal, but Yarvin believes that mixed in among the elves are 'dark elves' — reactionary elites like Yarvin who oppose 'the regime,' sympathize with the plight of the hobbits and understand democracy for what it really is: a cover for a corrupt oligarchy," wrote Ward.

"The only way to realize a 'pro-hobbit' regime, Yarvin argues, is for hobbits to form an alliance with the dark elves to defeat the normal elves, and then to allow the dark elves — and eventually a single dark elf — to rule on their behalf."

Vance may be that single dark elf, Ward argued.

As proof, Ward contrasts Vance's working-class background presented in his memoir "Hillbilly Elegy" to his elite education, Silicon Valley fortune and high-ranking position in Congress.

While some argue this presents a conflict for Vance, Ward believes it to be an asset considering the first step toward the ultraconservative America the New Right desires is identifying and empowering a new elite class to rule over it.

"This new elite must be made up of people who are steeped in elite culture and reactionary ideas but who understand 'the people' and can credibly claim to govern on their behalf...They must think like elves but be able to talk like hobbits," Ward wrote.

"In other words, they must look like JD Vance."