An iconic series such as The Lord of the Rings is in some ways beyond meaningful critical assessment at this point, but it also proves its worth to its audience with the sheer number of memes that it continues to inspire. It is hard to get this kind of humor mileage out of a creative work unless there is a lot to be inspired by. Of course, it goes without saying that the LOTR fandom is particularly dedicated and that all those books and movies are, to put it mildly, meaty, but there wouldn't be so much to go on for all these years if we weren't being served up quality. It might not have been a part of the legacy that Tolkien envisaged, but it's definitely a positive contribution to all that comes with Middle-earth. At this point, it's hard to imagine loving LOTR without the added funny pictures as well.