The Lord of the Rings is, of course, one of the most popular novels and film franchises to have ever blessed popular culture. Tolkien’s work has continued to enchant audiences through the decades, right up until the present. Given the enormous popularity of these books and novels, it was probably inevitable that they would also become the subject for a significant number of memes.
The most hilarious ones, it seems, are those that, in one way or another, are incorrect in how they think about either the books or the movies. If nothing else, they show that the fandom for Tolkien definitely has a sense of humor.
Scumbug Tolkien
Relatedly, this meme makes the argument that Tolkien was rather silly for creating numerous languages for his Elves yet deciding to label a doomed mountain Mount Doom. Canny readers and fans will know, however, that Mount Doom is just something of a colloquial name.
In fact, it has not one, but two names in Elvish. Sometimes, it really does pay to do your homework when making a point about Tolkien’s use of language.
A Little Too Clever
It’s well-known that the Elves of Tolkien’s work are complex and fascinating creatures, even as they are also tragic. Readers over the years have noticed how different they seem in their different iterations, and this meme cleverly points out these shifting characterizations.
However, it’s also hilariously wrong in some important ways. Obviously, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion are three very different tales, each with different narrators and told at three different moments in Elvish histories, all of which help to explain the differences.
A Glorious Mashup
There’s no question that Christopher Lee was brilliantly cast as Saruman. As this meme points out, he was also unique among the cast in having met Tolkien himself. The true hilariousness of the meme, however, is that it’s just so gloriously mashed up.
Since Lee was approved to play Gandalf by the original author himself, the creator has juxtaposed this with Star Wars, in which Lee also starred, this time as the villain Count Dooku. It’s a gorgeously wrong meme if there ever was one.
It Burns Us!
Who doesn’t love a good pun? Well, actually, quite a lot of people, particularly when it’s really not that good after all.
On the other hand, it has to be said that any hilariously wrong meme that uses Captain America to make a reference to one of the most obscure bits of Middle-earth history deserves quite a lot of credit. However, in this case it’s probably true that Cap does deserve a good beating for that one.
Poor Sean Bean
By this point, it’s become an ongoing internet joke that the actor Sean Bean gets a raw deal when it comes to getting cast in fantasy shows and television series. After all, both of his most high-profile roles, Boromir and Eddard Stark, met truly tragic fates, the former slain by Uruk-hai and the latter by the duplicitous psychopath Joffrey.
This hilariously wrong meme has siblings Arya and Sansa making a reference to the popular line “One does not simply walk into Mordor." It’s hilariously layered, a testament to the cleverness of the internet.
One Does Not Simply Stop Watching
Anyone who knows a fan of Tolkien’s work, whether in novel or film form, knows that there’s a special form of devotion and attachment between fan and object. And, to be honest, it is pretty unthinkable to just stop watching the films after one has finished the first one.
How could a person not want to know what happens to the Fellowship after they become separated and go their separate ways? As Gandalf says, it’s too late to stop now.
The Boys Are Back In Town
For those who didn’t grow up when the films first came out, it may come as something of a surprise that people positively swooned over two things in that era: boy bands and the male heroes of Lord of the Rings— particularly the king in exile, Aragorn.
Obviously, what gives this particular meme its punch is that someone has drawn the connection between them. While obviously the three heroes aren’t a boy band, it would definitely be fascinating to hear what they’d sound like if they were.
Silly Ringwraiths
One of the most chilling scenes in the first film involves the black-clad Ringwraiths, those terrible servants of Sauron that hunt Frodo and his friends through the Shire and right up to Rivendell. In one scary scene, the Ringwraiths invade an inn and stab a cluster of pillows that they think are the hobbits.
Obviously, they’re wrong, just as the Ringwraith in this meme is wrong to think that hobbits and pillows are the same picture. One would think that such a powerful being would be just a little bit smarter.
Simply Ridiculous
The characters of Wallace and Gromit are two of the most beloved claymation figures to have ever been made. There’s a whimsy and light-heartedness to the cartoons that helps to explain why they are still so popular. However, it’s exactly its bright outlook that makes it such an incongruous mashup with Lord of the Rings, particularly the Battle of Helm’s Deep, which is one of the most traumatic and gruesome of the armed conflicts in the film.