Having once described Adolf Hitler as a ​“ruddy little ignoramus”, JRR Tolkien would have been puzzled to learn that his magnum opus has become totemic of Europe’s extreme right.

Last week Meloni, the leader of Italy’s hard right Brothers of Italy party, posted a tribute to the ​“great” British author to mark the anniversary of his birth in 1892. ​“He raised many of us with his stories packed with values and meaning, teaching us to believe and to dream,” she said.…