Bored of the Rings

The Harvard Lampoon

With the recent release of the first film in Peter Jackson's adaptation of Tolkein, it seemed like the perfect time to give Bored of the Rings a re-read. The Harvard Lampoon folks turn their attention to the Lord of the Rings trilogy and send it up with their usual blend of dead fish, toilet humor, Wizard air fresheners, third-grade satire, and fat, cheap cigars.

No doubt legions of Tolkein fans are offended by this book's very existence. I think it's worth a few chuckles here and there, but it relies a little too much (as do most Lampoon satires) on the usual mishmash of sexually suggestive humor enjoyed by twelve-year-olds and the same bad puns you now find in newspaper headlines. Not that it was all that great to begin with, but it's not wearing well as time goes on. Still, it's an artifact of American popular culture, as scary as that thought is, and so it does have some historical value.