72 years after the first Lord of the Rings book was published, the series remains as culturally relevant as ever.

It seems like we can’t go five seconds without the stories of Middle-earth being referenced in the public sphere in one way or another. Only this week, the Pope was invoking Gandalf when talking about the need to regulate AI, and the UK Royal Mint announced that it would be releasing a coin to commemorate 25 years of The Fellowship of the Ring. Tolkien references are everywhere if we know where to look, providing constant, real-life Easter eggs to LOTR fans.

Without a doubt, the fandom has also had a significant role to play in keeping the world of LOTR in the public consciousness. They always have something more to say about it, particularly when it comes to the humorous side of things. Tolkien-related memes make up a non-negligible minority of all the memes that have ever existed, meaning that even those clueless to this epic series have probably been introduced to it more than a few times in their travels across the internet. The filthy little hobbitses are everywhere.

Millions of people are tuned in to the delights of LOTR, and with the way things are, many more may likely have the pleasure of discovering it in the near future. Using memes such as the ones below is just one of the more accessible ways to spread the word, and in our opinion, it makes it even more fun.