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The Last Ringbearer

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1999 fantasy book by Russian author Kirill Yeskov

The Last Ringbearer Russian print cover. The subtitle reads "A history of Middle-earth – through the eyes of the Enemy".<br>AuthorKirill YeskovOriginal titleПоследний кольценосецTranslatorYisroel MarkovLanguageRussianGenreParallel novel, high fantasy, dark fantasyPublication date1999Publication placeRussiaMedia typePrint (paperback), ebook

The Last Ringbearer (Russian: Последний кольценосец, romanized: Posledniy kol'tsenosets) is a 1999 fantasy novel by Russian paleontologist Kirill Yeskov. It is a parallel account of, and an informal sequel to, the events of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. It has been translated into English by Yisroel Markov, but the translation has not been printed for fear of copyright action by the Tolkien Estate.

Critics have stated that the book is well-known to Tolkien fans in Russia, and that it provides an alternate take on the story. Scholars have variously called it a parody and a paraquel. They have interpreted it as a critique of totalitarianism, or of Tolkien's anti-modern racial and environmental vision coupled with a destruction of technology which could itself be called totalitarian. The book says little directly on real-world politics, but can be read as an ironic riposte to American exceptionalism.

Premise<br>[edit]

Kirill Yeskov bases his novel on the premise that the Tolkien account is a "history written by the victors".[1][2] Mordor is home to an "amazing city of alchemists and poets, mechanics and astronomers, philosophers and physicians, the heart of the only civilization in Middle-earth to bet on rational knowledge and bravely pitch its barely adolescent technology against ancient magic", posing a threat to the war-mongering faction represented by Gandalf (whose attitude is described by Saruman as "crafting the Final Solution to the Mordorian problem") and the Elves.[1]

Macy Halford, in The New Yorker, writes that The Last Ringbearer retells The Lord of the Rings "from the perspective of the bad guys, written by a Russian paleontologist in the late nineties and wildly popular in Russia".[3] The book was written in the context of other Russian reinterpretations of Tolkien's works, such as Natalia Vasilyeva and Natalia Nekrasova's The Black Book of Arda [ru], which treats Melkor as good and the Valar and Eru Ilúvatar as tyrannical rulers.[4][5]

Plot<br>[edit]

...that amazing city of alchemists and poets, mechanics and astronomers, philosophers and physicians, the heart of the only civilization in Middle-earth to bet on rational knowledge and bravely pitch its barely adolescent technology against ancient magic. The shining tower of the Barad-dûr citadel rose over the plains of Mordor almost as high as Orodruin like a monument to Man – free Man who had politely but firmly declined the guardianship of the Dwellers on High and started living by his own reason. It was a challenge to the bone-headed aggressive West, which was still picking lice in its log 'castles' to the monotonous chanting of scalds extolling the wonders of never-existing Númenor.

— From The Last Ringbearer, chapter 2

The tale begins by recapitulating the War of the Ring. The Ring itself is a luxurious ornament, but powerless, crafted by the Nazgûl (a group of ancient scientists and philosophers who guide Mordor through its industrialization) to distract Gandalf and the Elves while Mordor built up its army. Aragorn is a puppet of the Elves, seeking to usurp the throne of Gondor by murdering Boromir before Gandalf removes Denethor. Arwen, being about 2700 years older, holds Aragorn in contempt, but uses their marriage to cement Elvish rule over Gondor. Faramir has been exiled to Ithilien, where he is kept under guard with Éowyn. The Elves have corrupted the youth of Umbar (using New-Age style mysticism), which they aim to use as a foothold into Harad and Khand.

After defeating the Mordorian army, the Elves enter Mordor to massacre civilians with the help of Men from the East, to eliminate the "educated" classes. Two Orc soldiers ("Orc" being a racial slur used by the West: the Orcs in Yeskov's book are humans), the medic Haladdin and Sergeant Tzerlag are fleeing the battle plain. They rescue Tangorn, a Gondorian noble who had been left buried in the desert for attempting to stop one of the massacres. They locate the mercenaries and kill the Elf Eloar.

Galadriel in front of her fountain "Mirror", which Yeskov asserts is a magical device. Drawing by Tessa Boronski, 2011

The last of the Nazgûl, Sharya-Rana, visits Haladdin and explains that the physical world, Arda, is linked to the magical world from which the Elves came by the power of...