It was intended as a compliment!

Eh, history is written by invaders who win, especially in a European context; it's just utterly unexamined acceptance. Part of why I'm glad I grew up on Moorcock is that he was deliberately writing against the right-wing dynamics of the kind of fantasy that happens when people try to be Tolkien but don't have the Prof's depth of compassion or reason.

Hope you're improving over there, and eating plenty o' blackberries.