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Forest / Ecru premium weight 100% cotton certified organic TSPTR Baseball Jersey with water based ink print

Ten years after Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy was first published in 1954, an unexpected party discovered Middle-earth. America’s counterculture adopted the series and Tolkien found himself a hero of the hippie movement. Although always adamant that his books were not allegory, the counterculture interpreted his pro-ecological narratives and applied his art to their own agendas. Second-wave feminists understood Eowyn’s refusal to let her father determine her fate, as well as her fear of 'being kept in a cage' and unable to participate in “great deeds,” as resistance against the patriarchy. Mordor’s impersonal machines, existing in stark contrast to the Shire’s green pastures, spoke to environmentalists. The Shire’s uninvolved and distant authority – bringing about Middle Earth’s most peaceful, selfless, and content residents – resonated among anarchists. Even the drug culture identified with the hobbits’ love for pipeweed and mushrooms. But it was the anti-Vietnam movement which took up Tolkien’s work more than any other group. “Frodo Lives,” and “Go Go Gandalf,” became the countenance of the young American counterculture as they searched for truth and peace in a disordered world.

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