Bored of the Rings: A Parody

Written by The Harvard Lampoon

Narrated by Jim Meskimen

A quest, a war, a ring that would be grounds for calling any wedding off, a king without a kingdom, and a furry little "hero" named Frito, ready-or maybe just forced by the wizard Goodgulf-to undertake the one mission that can save Lower Middle Earth from enslavement by the evil Sorhed. Luscious Elf-maidens, a roller-skating dragon, ugly plants that can soul kiss the unwary to death-these are just some of the ingredients in the wildest, wackiest, most irreverent excursion into fantasy realms that anyone has ever dared to undertake.For everyone who has delighted in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy masterwork-or anyone who's just looking for a good laugh-Bored of the Rings is the "all-in-one-volume" comic extravaganza that will convince lovers and haters of fantasy that they've finally experienced it all, and that they'll never need to read another fantasy parody again.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Nov 26, 2012
• ISBN: 9781452680347

The Harvard Lampoon

The Harvard Lampoon debuted in February 1876 and is the world’s longest continually published humor magazine. Lampoon alumni include comedians Conan O’Brien, Andy Borowitz, Greg Daniels, Jim Downey, Al Jean, and B.J. Novak. Other alums have written for Saturday Night Live, The Simpsons, Futurama, Late Night with David Letterman, Seinfeld, 30 Rock, and dozens of other shows. The Harvard Lampoon is also the author of Nightlight and The Hunger Pains. Visit HarvardLampoon.com.

Reviews for Bored of the Rings

[hyper7_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very funny! A bellylaugh on every page.

[ailurophile-709426 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I believe that when I first encountered this book, it was about the time it was first published, in my mid-teens. At the time, I thought it was marvelously witty. Recently, I was given a copy as a gift on the occasion of the 68th birthday, and so had occasion to re-read it. Interestingly, I did not find it nearly as entertaining as I had remembered.What I found is that the humor was crude and forced. I was also annoyed the same gags being constantly repeated. The names of places and characters from LOTR were parodied by long-defunct brand-names that sounded similar. The songs or poems from the original source material were especially laden with these, and the occasional bit of song or verse that Tolkien had rendered in one of his constructed languages (i.e., Quenya, Sindarin or the Black Speech of Mordor) were generally just strings of old brand-names. Example: "A Elbereth! Gilthoniel" in Bored of the Rings comes out as "A unicef clearasil". I thought this was quite overdone. It might have been amusing at first, but it went on for 160 pages.Then there are the endless references to the meals that the adventurers make along the way. "After a hasty meal of frankincense and myrrh", "The company arose and, after a hurried breakfast of yaws and goiters", "an austere breakfast of eggs, waffles, bacon grapefruit, pancakes, hot oatmeal, fresh-squeezed orange juice, and goden cheese blintzes", "a frugal breakfast of loaves and fishes", "after a leisurely meal of apple cheeks and cauliflower ears", and more. It might have gotten a chuckle the first two or three times, but it went on throughout the book, and quickly became tiresome.While I can't give high marks to this book on its own merits, I do find it interesting to see how my tastes in reading have changed over the years. Just to be clear, I can still appreciate a good parody, but I think that this book fails in that.

[spurts-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's a parody/spoof; if you don't like Mad magazine or anything by National Lampoon -- don't read it. There are some really funny moments. I am a huge Lord of The Ring fan and suggest reading it in spurts versus wading in to read as a novel and getting numbed to all the humor. Then again, at time I first read, I had friends that seriously were offended because LOTR was such a holy grail for them that this book was almost sacreligious. I suspect Tolkien would get it.

[darthdeverell · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Harvard Lampoon's parody of "Lord of the Rings," though entertaining, is quite dated. Unlike LotR, which J.R.R. Tolkien deliberately wrote to evoke an older time, "Bored of the Rings" suffers from its dated humor and references. What's worse is some of the offensive and unfunny jokes. At one point, Frito (the stand-in for Frodo in this tale) dons blackface and performs a minstrel show to escape the story's version of the Ringwraiths. This scene, and several others, are neither funny nor do they advance the plot. Had they occurred in a modern book, I would have believed the authors were trying to earn some laughs through shock value. Perhaps most unfortunate of all is the manner in which the authors condense what took Tolkien nearly 1000 pages to write into the span of 160 pages. Approximately the first 100 pages are based on "The Fellowship of the Ring" with the other two volumes represented in the remaining 60 pages. A passionate fan of Tolkien's Middle Earth legendarium may gain some enjoyment from "Bored of the Rings," but most readers will find it tiresome and unoriginal.

[clicksclan · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Found this quite funny, more at the beginning than as the story went on.Some of the names were really runny, like Eorache and Dildo Bugger, but others I didn't really get. Not sure if it is because of how long ago that it was written.Felt they missed an opportunity to have Appendices, especially as they had a Foreword and a Prologue.Seemed to follow Fellowship quite closely but Two Towers and Return of the King kind of merged together, cutting out some bits I expected them to do.

[cynara_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Hated it, hated it. Not funny, not insightful, not a fun read. I can enjoy coarse, but obvious....

[emdugas · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Like Spaceballs, a necessary (and hilarious) antidote to the epic forces that shaped our youth.

[thedivineoomba · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The back cover says it all. "This paperback edition, and no other, has been published solely for the purpose of making a few fast bucks"Add to the fact that this was originally published in 1969 - and you get all the wonderfulness of a ganja smoking Googulf, with a foul mouthed Boggies (er hobbits) and well, something that makes fun of everything that is great in the orignal - you get a fast paced, story that is not high in literary value (But possibly written while high). Don't read this if you take your J.RR Tolkien too seriously. Or maybe you should. Whatever.

[moriquen · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

What a pity. I really wanted to like this book. I like a good parody every now and then, but I haven't found it in this book. (Although I thought I would.) I didn't get really far into it, but I quickly felt that it wouldn't get any better and I would just get BORED with it.

[steevc_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Amusing enough. Goes all out for laughs, but doesn't always get them

[theoclarke · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When I first read this 35 years ago, I thought it brilliant: a true 5★ book. Now, however, I find it endearing, and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny, but it no longer entrances me as it did. That said, the introduction is a masterpiece and the conceit of a false extract promising salacious reading remains a delight. Ultimately, however, the value of this copy lay in the catalysis of recalling joy past. It is the taste of madeleines.

[sonicquack · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Firstly, it must be noted that this book was written some forty years ago. Four decades back the expectations of humour were quite different. Bored of the Rings is very much a slapstick affair, with the extraordinarily rare piece of wit slipped in. Over 200 pages of slapstick and absurdity is hard to manage, after a certain point it becomes quite stale. Bored is a clever parody, of that there is no doubt, just in today's culture it has become quite a tough read.

[tadad_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Funny at first, but it got old before the end.

[molave_14 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ribald, irreverent, roll-in-the-muck funny. Harvard Lampoon's version of the storming of Isengard by the Ents was memorably uproarious.

[nderdog · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An entertaining tongue-in-cheek mockery of a classic.

[ladyaraminta · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Generated a smile, but rather short, I'm sure more could have been made of the parody.

[bozon_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Somewhat dated now, but immensely funny take off on the trilogy.

[boeflak · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Hilarious, if a bit outdated. And where it's outdated, it's only because of the vicissitudes of U.S. business. It's not as funny when one of the fellowship is named Esso or that Gandalf becomes Goodgulf if one no longer recognizes those as gasoline brands. But Frido and Dildo still work marvelously for Frodo and Bilbo.

[myopicbookworm · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In many ways this is not so much a spoof of Tolkien as a parody of the genre of sub-Tolkienian fantasy as a whole. It took me a while to spot some of the more American jokes ("Nozdrul" doesn't work in a British accent). But the obsessive care with which the authors parody not only the map, but even the author's statement from the U.S. paperback edition of The Lord of the Rings, is entertaining, even if they, like many of Tolkien's readers, give up after a few chapters and throw the ring into a mud pool. The humour is uniformly puerile, but it still made me laugh. Favourite line: "As the great quadruped staggered tailfirst into the black East, there came from deep in the surrounding forest the sound of some great bird being briefly, but noisily, ill." MB 19-iv-07

[lilinah_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I guess it seemed funny to someone at the time. I read it when it was published and it just seemed dumb to me.

[donal_7 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"Do you like what you doth see?", said the voluptuous elf maiden as she provocatively parted the folds of her robe, revealing the shadowed glories within."Gulp!", said Frito.30 years after reading this book, I still remember these words from the inside cover...Unfortunately, this scene appears NOWHERE in the book! :)What DOES appear is one hell of a continuous belly laugh for any lover of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings!

[hadden_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is an excellent example of satire by the Harvard Lampoon. They have come close to ruining Tolkien's works by showing the Ring's characters as well known buffoons, such as Strider as "the Lone Ranger" and Goldenberry as a stoned hippie, and Boromir as the man with pointy shoes. A bit dated from the 1960's but still causes me to laugh out loud while reading this tome.

[tripleblessings_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this as a teenager, shortly after I first read Tolkien, and I thought it was the most hilarious thing ever! Read it many times. Years later, I'd say the humour is rather sophomoric and palls after a few chapters, but it's still fun.

[erixworx · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Freakin' hilarious!

[wenestvedt_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As much as I loved the Tolkein stories, this was a welcome anodyne after too many thousand pages of earnestness, made-up languages, nasty evilness, and noble sacrifice.