The Tolkien revival has grown up with the internet. When the Jackson trilogy began in 2001, memes, forums, message boards, and myspace were new and fresh, enabling fans to find each other and begin to create… humor, that is. The following is a sampling from those 25 years.
You’d need to be born before 1980 to get which TV detective this drawing references.
This little dog in chainmail has appeared in other memes, but this is his shining moment. “One does not simply walk into Mordor” is a catchphrase from the first movie uttered by Boromir at the Council of The Ring. It’s only gotten stronger with the years.
Another famous meme from the same meeting, when Aragorn joins the fellowship by saying “You shall have my sword” to which Legolas replies, “And my bow.”
There were likely thousands of short cartoons like this on the internet then. This one is by Jeremy Kaye.
A more recent meme by the mention of the car-sharing app. This one refers to the perennial question “Why didn’t the giant eagles just fly the ring into Mordor and destroy it, saving everyone a lot of grief?” Tolkien’s official answer to that was unsatisfactory; the gist of it was “They have their own concerns.”
Q: What was the hobbits’ favorite grunge band?
A: Hole
Have you heard J.R.R. Tolkien and Angela Lansbury teamed to create a Middle-Earth murder mystery show? It’s called Mordor She Wrote.
This cartoon by Clik-Chan was made after the Hobbit trilogy and parodies King Thranduil’s (as played by Lee Pace) awesome Queen Bitchiness pitted against another Elf King icon, David Bowie’s Jareth from the 1980s fantasy movie Labyrinth. Pace emerges as the victor.
Sleeping styles. Not sure when it was made.
Q: Who brought Scientology to the Middle-Earth?
A: Elrond Hubbard
Knock knock!
Who’s there?
Saruman.
Saruman who?
Sorry, man, I had the wrong address!
The Deviant.art artist The-Black-Panther created a whole series of these webcomics about the day-to-day dreariness and uncertainty of life under an evil overlord.
Cartoon by Travis Hanson
Q: Why did Saruman let his orcs smoke pot?
A: He wanted to make them Uruk-high
Q: How do orcs keep their food fresh?
A: Sauron-wrap
Thranduil makes another appearance here. Some characters are more “memeable” than others. The two dwarven women are complaining how Legolas stole Gimli away (in a romantic sense) after The War of The Ring. At the end of the trilogy, as you’ll remember, the two sailed off into the sunset on an elven boat. Tolkien meant they just had a deep friendship, but many female fans construe it as sexual. It’s more fun that way not to mention humorous.
The artist did a knock-up job on the dwarven ladies’ stylish beards and Tudor gowns.
Click on this complicated cartoon to see it larger. Gypsey-Rae, the artist, creates zentangle scribbles around everything, adding to the anxious, scribbly Aubrey Beardsley feel. The theme is one beloved with female Silmarillion fans — that of Morgoth (Melkor) seducing Sauron (then Mairon) to his side. Now “seduce” is the exact same word Tolkien uses when describing Morgoth’s machinations, but he means it its older definition: to attract powerfully. Fans aren’t so stupid to not realize Tolkien’s intentions; but taking the word in its more widespread definition is more fun.
(The song referenced is the annoyingly retro-sexist Paradise by the Dashboard Light, by Meatloaf.)
The creator also makes the point that the Valar and Maiar are both children of Eru (Tolkien’s supreme god) so the two fooling around together would be incest.
Q: Why did the writer of The Lord of the Rings get kicked out of the movie theater?
A: Because he was Tolkien.
