(Prague) Thousands of Czechs have signed a petition to name the streets of the island of Rohan in Prague after the characters of the novel The Lord of the Ringsnoted Monday AFP on the website broadcasting the text of the petition.
The island located on the Vltava, north of the historic center of Prague, bears the name of a notable person known in Prague, Josef Rohan, whose surname is a namesake of one of the kingdoms in the saga created by JRR Tolkien .
Prague City Hall has announced a project to name new streets in the district after philosophers such as Immanuel Kant, Edmund Husserl and Jacques Derrida.
But more than 10,000 signatories to the online petition requested that the new street names instead reflect the ambiguity of the island’s name.
“The docks of Rohan should bear Rohan names,” insists the petition.
“How did Immanuel Kant contribute to the war against Saruman’s hordes? », They add, in reference to the evil mage of the novel.
“Where was Husserl when the Westfold fell? » they ask.
The petitioners also want a street to be named after Tolkien’s shieldmaiden, Éowyn, to “address the justified complaint” that no women’s names are planned for these new streets.
Tolkien’s three-volume fantasy work was adapted as a film trilogy by director Peter Jackson in 2001-2003.
Sharing the petition on his Facebook page, Zdenek Hrib, Prague city councilor from the Pirate Party and former mayor of the city, hailed the initiative as “a commendable step”.
Czechs are known for their passion for the fantasy universe: during a national census carried out in 2021, more than 21,000 of the 10.5 million Czechs registered as Jedi, the guardians of peace and justice in the saga Star Wars.