Memes / The Lord of the Rings

"Looks like Memes are back on the menu, boys!"

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One does not simply walk into the meme page.

Please add entries in the following format:

• The meme. ^ExplanationThe explanation behind the meme.
  • Further mutations and successor memes, if any.

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The Book

• "Frodo Lives!" and "Gandalf for President," both popular rallying cries from The '60s.
• "Tolkien is Hobbit-forming." Also, anything having to do with Hobbits.
• Political discourse: "Frodo failed, X has the ring" or "Y is like the One Ring, everyone wants it"... Strangely influential, perhaps because many poli-sci geeks see the Ring as an allegory for nuclear weapons or the corruption of tyranny.
• "Another piece of Mordor," often seen scrawled on ugly building projects under construction.
• "My prrreciousssss..."
• You shall not pass!
• It was this series that popularized the entire concept of telling a story in three parts.^note Re-popularized it, in fact, since the three-volume novel had been insanely popular in the Victorian era. Ironically, Tolkien intended it to be published as one work and hated that he had to split it up.
• "The yellow face, it burns us, precious!"
• Gollum Made Me Do It!
• Do not meddle in the affairs of X for (they/you) are A and B. (Originally "Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.")
  • Harry Dresden: "Fuck subtle."
  • Discworld: Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.
    • Discworld also has "Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, especially simian ones. They aren't all that subtle." ^ExplanationFrom Lords and Ladies, describing what happens if you call the Librarian a monkey instead of an ape.
  • Do not meddle in the affairs of fangirls, for you are hot and would go well with other men.
  • Do not meddle in the affairs of bards, for they aren't subtle at all and your name scans to "Greensleeves".
• This image of Saruman contemplating the palantir of Orthanc (dating all the way from 1993) became better known as the "wizard contemplating orb" meme...though it took a while for it to actually be identified as an image of Saruman.
• The Balrog Wing Debate^ExplanationThe text of Fellowship during the balrog's brief appearance has a few passages that seem to be describing it as winged (at one point outright referring to "its wings"). However, they're ambiguous enough that it could simply be metaphorical for its spreading shadow and presence, and it (along with several other balrogs) ultimately falls with no signs of being able to fly. Because of this, the question of whether balrogs do or don't have wings is one of the classic examples of a pointless nerd argument, where the ultimate answer comes down to personal taste. This is not helped by the fact that most adaptations do portray them as winged, meaning that wingless balrog advocates see their position as the Truer to the Text one. Consequently, many jokes center on the idea that the debate can instantly cause people to start fighting, the relative unimportance of it compared to the Flame Wars it's started, and the mere fact that Tolkien's language could be so unclear when describing such an iconic monster while details like the branch layout of mallorn trees get whole paragraphs focused on them.
• The opening narration of how the rings of power are secretly under the control of the One Ring is a popular format for various other applicable items that essentially had a good run that was suddenly ground to a halt by a bad instalment.
• The subtitle Return of the King has been used by many a fandom to celebrate the return of a popular character after they've been Put on a Bus.
• “By jove I have it!” ^ExplanationMany fans noticed Tolkien’s tendency to choose very “on the nose” names for his characters and places, and often joke about Tolkien struggling to pick a name only to pick the most obvious option available.

Peter Jackson Films

The Fellowship of the Ring

• "But they were all of them deceived. ^Explanation Galadariel's exposition about the twenty Rings of Power was popular when saying some group or other was tricked by someone else, or to be combined with other Lord of the Rings memes, such as "for a second breakfast was made".
• "One Ring to rule them all."
• "All right, then. Keep your secrets."
• "I suppose you thought that was terribly clever?"
• "I am not trying to rob you! I'm trying to help you..."
• "After all, why not? Why shouldn't I keep it?"
• "It's quite cool." ^ExplanationSaid by Gandalf to Frodo before placing the One Ring in his hand from the fireplace. It's often used as a succinct explanation of why someone would want to watch the trilogy if it's, to grossly oversimplify, 10+ hours of people walking to a mountain.
• "If I take one more step, it'll be the farthest away from home I've ever been." ^Explanation In August 2020, someone uploaded the entirety of Fellowship onto YouTube (now unfortunately taken down but reuploaded here) now with the caveat that it repeats that line of Sam's every single time he takes a step towards Mordor, resulting in the video being over 9 hours long.
• "It comes in pints?! I'm getting one."
• "What about second breakfast?"
• Saruman magically summoning ^Explanation An image of Saruman communicating with Sauron by a Palantir in Fellowship of the Ring became a popular meme format in 2020, usually captioned on the line of "X magically summoning Y individuals to Z
• "So you have chosen... death."^ExplanationSaruman's response to learning that Gandalf refused his We Can Rule Together offer and escaped, which experienced an influx of use as a reaction image/quote starting in 2017.
• "That wound will never fully heal. He will carry it for the rest of his life."^ExplanationGandalf telling Elrond about the wound Frodo received from the Witch King's Morgul-blade, which became a popular response to especially sick burns.
• "Our list of allies grows thin."
• “I was there, Gandalf. I was there 3000 years ago.” ^Explanation Elrond bitterly reflects on the day Isildur failed to destroy the ring with the line. The line has become a joke to accompany anyone’s childhood memories or tasks that are no longer done (eg. lining up for the first Lord of the Rings movie, or removing and cleaning the ball in an old computer mouse).
• "Cast it into the fire! DESTROY IT!"
  • "No."^ExplanationIsildur, possessed by the One Ring, refuses to cast it into the fire despite Elrond's request, which is wildly popular, where one example is fans requesting franchises to stop rebooting movies, and them refusing to do so.
• "One does not simply Walk into Mordor!"
  • "One does not simply (verb) into (location)."
  • Now made even funnier by the fact that Sauron simply walked into Mordor.
• "You have my sword."
  • "And you have my bow."
  • "AND MY AX!"
• "I have no memory of this place..." has become a popular expression for anyone who attempts to make an account for a website and is told they already have one, among other things.
  • Screencaps from this moment are also used to illustrate general forgetfulness, like not remembering what you went into a room for or forgetting that a big test was today and you didn't study.
• (sigh) "They have a cave troll!"
• When its depressing melody played after Gandalf's fall during his duel with the Balrog, the song "The Bridge of Khazad-dum" became used by Youtubers when parodying horrific flashbacks.
• "Instead of a Dark Lord, you would have a queen! Not dark, but beautiful and terrible as the dawn! Treacherous as the sea, stronger than the foundations of the earth! All shall love me and despair!"

The Two Towers

• Pretty much everything Gollum says, particularly in The Two Towers where he got his first time to shine. "My preciousss..."
• "Manflesh."
• "Legolas, what do your elf-eyes see? THEY'RE TAKING THE HOBBITS TO ISENGARD!!" With the bonus of Orlando Bloom actually performing the song in costume on his very last day of playing Legolas in The Hobbit.
• "We ain't had nothing but maggoty bread for THREE STINKING DAYS!"
• "LOOKS LIKE MEAT'S BACK ON THE MENU, BOYS!" ^ExplanationIn The Two Towers, Merry and Pippin are captured by a group of orcs, who complain that they haven't had meat in ages and try to eat their captives in defiance of Saruman's orders to leave them unharmed. One orc who tries to kill the pair is killed in turn by his commander, who then utters this line. The scene became infamous among fans due to the implication that orcs have a concept of restaurants, which was incorrectly believed to be anachronistic with the medieval high fantasy setting. Consequently, it became a popular subject for parody, replacing "meat" with any number of things.
• "What about their legs? They don't need those!"
• "You have no power here!" is a popular macro, complete with the Saruman-possessed Théoden's laughing face.
• "Your fingers would remember their old strength better, if they gripped your sword..."
• "Poh-Tay-Toes! Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew..."
• "Stupid fat hobbit! You ruins it!"
• Theoden’s angry “Where was Gondor when the Westfold fell?” has become a memetic rhetorical question for people to ponder, or else an excuse to really shame Gondor.
• "And so it begins."
• "Is this it? Is this all you can conjure, Saruman?"
• "There is no curse in elvish, entish or the tongues of men for this treachery!"
• "A wizard should know better!"
• "What can men do against such reckless hate?"

The Return of the King

• "Salted pork?"
• "Share the load."
• Any Pillar of Light can be shown to terrify the Men of Gondor, for example, Elsa building her Ice Palace.
• "X calls for aid!" "And Y will answer!" ^ExplanationThe originals were "Gondor" and "Rohan", respectively, but snowclones with any two groups are common.
• "The age of men is over. The time of the orc has come."^note Gothmog the orc captain's line at the fall of Osgiliath has proven to be fertile ground for snowclones. The most popular variation combines this line with the phrase "fuck around and find out," for when some idiot has used up the last of their luck, or the last of a dragon's patience.
• Denethor eating tomatoes.^Explanation John Noble's Jabba Table Manners while eating cherry tomatoes in Return of the King is treated by the fandom as unbelievably traumatizing.
• GROND ^ExplanationThe battering ram in question went viral in late May and early June of 2020. Grond memes quickly overtook unrelated Facebook shitposting groups.
• "I am no man!"
• "I don't think there will be a return journey, Mr. Frodo..."
• The conversation between Gimli and Legolas is frequently used to describe Enemy Mine and Rivals Team Up situations:
  • "I never thought I'd die fighting side by side with an elf."
    • "What about side by side with a friend?"
    • "Aye, I could do that."
• "My friends, you bow to no one." ^Explanation From the trope-codifier scene of Kneel Before Frodo, where instead of the Hobbits bowing to Aragorn, it was Aragorn and all of his coronation attendees who bowed to them. Used mainly for appreciation of various feats, for example watching The Lord of the Rings trilogy for 300 times in a single year.
• "This has more false endings than Return of the King!" ^Explanation Return of the King is known for having six different instances of Fake-Out Fade-Out. This meme is often used to describe movies that could have ended at two or more scenes, but go on for much longer than when the person assumes it should end.

Meta

• The North Yorkshire Police Department ^ExplanationIn early 2020, the North Yorkshire police department made a Facebook post asking if anyone had information about the original owner of a "distinctive" ring that was stolen in a burglary. Unbeknownst to the officers, the ring just so happened to be a replica of the One Ring prop, leading to thousands of comments about why returning the ring to its original owner is a really bad idea, and how "precious" it is. The North Yorkshire police eventually admitted that they need to watch more movies.
• "Aragorn kommer"^ExplanationAn old meme video from the Swedish fandom that gives Aragorn a pretty substantial Ron the Death Eater treatment mixed with a catchy song. Also lead to many to try and make their own versions. Today only a partial version of the video can be found here with the complete original sadly appearing to be lost forever.
• Gandalf Big Naturals ^ExplanationEspecially on Tumblr, it's become inexplicably popular to photoshop pictures of Gandalf with, well, big naturals.
• Late in 2022, reels and shorts of people at the gym training for events in the trilogy (such as defending Minas Tirith or storming the Hornburg) became extremely popular on social media, usually with some music from the trilogy playing underneath.

1978 animated movie

• Fluffy Balrog slippers.^ExplanationThe hilariously unscary depiction of the Balrog in this movie appears to be rotoscoped from a suit actor wearing bedroom slippers. The idea of Balrogs wearing slippers is often raised to mock the Balrog Wing Debate mentioned above.

1980 animated Return of the King movie

• "My favorite scene was the one where Sam starts a race riot." ^ExplanationThe scene with the iconic Villain Song "Where there's a whip, there's a way" features, well, more or less exactly that.

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One meme to rule them all...