Lord of the Racists? UK University Course Claims Tolkien Demonised People of Colour in Fantasy Classic

When the headline 'Lord of the Racists?' began circulating, it sounded like another entry in Britain's endless culture wars. Reports claimed that a University of Nottingham course accused J.R.R. Tolkien of 'demonising people of colour' in The Lord of the Rings. But when you actually look at the course — titled HIST2056: Imagining 'Britain': Decolonising Tolkien et al — the story is much less sensational, and far more intellectually grounded.

The module, taught by historian and author Dr. Onyeka Nubia, appears on the University of Nottingham's official course listings and is publicly described on uoncourses.org and the Talis module catalogue. Its focus is not on denouncing Tolkien, but on exploring how British myths and fantasy have been used to imagine national identity — and how those myths might be 'decolonised' or reinterpreted through a modern lens.

According to the official syllabus description, the module 'examines myths, legends and British myth-making' and asks whether authors such as Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were 'retelling, reinventing, or fabricating British mythology.' Students are encouraged to 'decolonise and repopulate' these narratives, considering how ideas about race, ethnicity, and cultural difference shape depictions of good and evil, heroism, and belonging.

The module doesn't single out Tolkien as racist. Instead, it situates his work within a larger intellectual tradition — one that includes nineteenth-century mythographers like David MacRitchie and Godfrey Higgins, who linked race and history in early theories of 'British origins'. In this sense, the course asks students to place fantasy literature in dialogue with the imperial and post-imperial histories that produced it.

Nowhere in the syllabus or assessment outline — two 2,500-word essays, with weekly seminars and lectures — is there language accusing Tolkien of 'demonising people of colour'. That phrase seems to come not from the university, but from media interpretation, particularly from right-leaning outlets that framed the course as an attack on a beloved author.

Still, the course's premise touches on a real scholarly debate. Tolkien's descriptions of orcs, 'southern' peoples, and 'eastern' armies have long raised questions about racial imagery in fantasy. Some scholars argue his work unconsciously reflects the colonial mindset of early-20th-century Britain; others see his light-versus-dark symbolism as theological rather than racial.

By inviting students to revisit those tensions, Dr. Nubia's module does what a university course should: push readers to think critically about the stories that shape their culture. The class doesn't seek to cancel Tolkien — it challenges students to read him within the myth of Britain itself. And that's a far more compelling, and necessary, conversation than the outrage headlines suggest.