About

The Lord of the Rings is a film trilogy consisting of three fantasy adventure films based on the three-volume book of the same name by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The films -- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) were directed by Peter Jackson and starred Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins. Set in the fictional world of Middle-earth, the three films follow the hobbit Frodo Baggins as he and the Fellowship embark on a quest to destroy the One Ring, and thus ensure the destruction of its maker, the Dark Lord Sauron.

The Hobbit Trilogy, a set of three films that are a prequel to The Lord of the Rings, starring Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins and once again directed by Peter Jackson, have become new and fundamental additions to this subculture. The Hobbit Trilogy -- comprised of The Hobbit (2012), The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug (2013), and The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies (2014) -- is based off J. R. R. Tokien's novel, and tells the story of how Bilbo Baggins, an introverted Hobbit, became entwined in the perilous journey of the Dwarves in reclaiming their homeland from the ferocious Dragon Smaug.

History

The Lord of the Rings^[1] originated from a book series under the same name written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien^[2]. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit, but eventually developed into a much larger work. The books were published as three separate volumes, each consisting of two books, over the course of a year from the 21st of July 1954 to October 1955.

Various adaptions of the books such as western animated films were produced, but ultimately it is the aforementioned early 21st century film series that has gained a loyal following and has successfully embedded itself into pop culture.

Amazon Prime Series

On February 13th, 2019, Twitter was introducted the @LOTRonPrime^[22] account. The account first tweeted a quote of Tolkien's “I wisely started with a map” (shown below). The tweet gained 3,500 retweets and 14,200 likes in a month.

On February 15th, @LOTRonPrime^[23] tweeted a line from a verse written about the rings of power in the book (shown below). The tweet was accompanied by a map. The tweet gained 4,400 retweets and 12,000 likes in a month.

On March 7th, the account tweeted "Welcome to the Second Age" and attached a link^[24] to an interactive map of Middle Earth (shown below). The tweet accumulated 2,800 retweets and 8,600 likes in a day.

The tweet indicates that the series will be a prequel of the trilogy and might be centered around Sauron's coming-of-age or even the last alliance of elves and men. According to Radio Times^[25], "in November 2017, Amazon Studios won the rights to produce at least five seasons of a Lord of the Rings TV series."

Reception

The two trilogies have been widely praised. Each film has been commercially successful and critically acclaimed, with the former trilogy winning 17 out of the 30 Academy Award nominations it obtained. Both of the trilogies are praised for their innovative special and visual effects^[11].

The first film, The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring boasts a rating of 91% on Rotten Tomatoes^[8], received an 8.8/10 on IMDB^[9] and a metascore of 92 on Metacritic^[10].

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers has a score of 96%, 88/100, and 8.8/10 from Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, and IMDB respectively^[13][14][15].

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King received scores of 95%, 94/100 and 8.9 from Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, and IMDB respectively^[17][18][19]. This final installment to the trilogy is also the film that won the most awards^[11].

Impact

Since The Fellowship of the Ring's release in 2001, The Lord of the Ring's fanbase -- apart from becoming a staple in cosplay conventions as the high fantasy equivalent of Star Wars -- have created multiple memetic macros, videos, and phrases. One of the earlier memes, Figwit, a nickname given to an unnamed elf in the first movie, spawned fansites like Figwit Lives!^[12], and Fans of Figwit. Another notable meme, an exploitable three pane macro called 'What Do Your Elf Eyes See?' gained popularity on Macrochan and even forums such as Facepunch.

The movies were so successful, that the company LEGO has manufactured a series of their trademark plastic-brick toy sets based on the movies.

Fandom

The Lord of the Rings fandom has a very strong presence online. TheOneRing.net is the most popular fan news-site for any and all happenings related to Middle-Earth and the team behind the tale^[21]. A Lord of the Rings Wiki exists that currently has 5,763 articles covering material from the books themselves to the live action movie adaptions^[3]. Searching 'Lord of the Rings' with DeviantArt's search bar yields 122,283 results, while 'The Hobbit' yields 98,193 results^[4][5]. The Lord of the Rings tag on Tumblr is highly active and yields blogs that are dedicated to the series^[6]. Tumblr's tag for The Hobbit also yields high amounts of activity^[7]. The official Facebook page for the Lord of the Rings film trilogy currently has 13,858,380 likes^[16]. There are roughly 53,400 fan fictions submitted to the Lord of the Rings category on FanFiction.net. This makes it the fourth Book series with the most deviations on the site, surpassed only by Harry Potter, Twilight, and Percy Jackson^[20].

Related Memes

One Does Not Simply Walk Into Mordor

“One Does Not Simply Walk into Mordor” is a memorable quote from the 2001 fantasy epic film Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Variants of the phrase are often used in image macros featuring Mordor, a fictional location from The Lord of the Rings franchise, or the character Boromir, who originally says the line in the film.

They're Taking The Hobbits to Isengard

They’re Taking the Hobbits to Isengard is a video remix series inspired by a scene from the 2002 fantasy film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

What do Your Elf Eyes See

What do Your Elf Eyes See is an exploitable image macro that is taken from the film The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers.

You Shall Not Pass

“You Shall Not Pass” is a catchphrase used in reference to a famous quote attributed to Gandalf in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Fellowship of the Ring” from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It is an often used reaction image to express an over dramatic refusal to certain situations.

You Have No Power here

“You Have No Power Here” is a memorable quote from the 2002 epic fantasy film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers that is often used in online conversations to dismiss someone as having influence or relevance in a particular setting.

Search Interest

External References