Tolkien Tuesday: The Best Lord of the Rings Memes This Week

LOTR is so baked into internet culture as we know it that almost every scene from the original trilogy has been memed at this point.

Few fandoms have demonstrated the same level of longevity and enthusiasm when it comes to producing silly memes about their beloved franchise. Devoted fans have been repurposing all of their favorite characters and scenes into jokes for going on decades now, and they show no signs of slowing down the memeification of Middle-earth any time soon.

With such rich source material to draw from, it's easy to understand why the franchise lends itself to meme culture. The films are packed with unforgettable moments, speeches, and scenes that can be adapted to fit almost all manner of overly specific situations for humorous purposes. There are some particular favorites, of course, such as Bilbo convincing himself that he should keep it or Gimli and Legolas's moment of friendship on the battlefield. Still, the genre of LOTR memes is by no means limited to the more mainstream favorites.

The dedication of Lord of the Rings enthusiasts has been such that many of the meme formats born within the fandom have escaped containment and become enjoyed by the general internet population. They adeptly combine humor and creativity in a way that remains endlessly entertaining to a large audience. The collection below highlights some of the finest examples, showcasing exactly why the trilogy and its many offshoots continue to be one of the internet's most reliable sources of memetic inspiration.