Who wrote Bored of the Rings?
Bored of the Rings was written by Henry Beard and Douglas Kenney for The Harvard Lampoon. It was published by Signet in 1969. Beard and Kenney later went on to found National Lampoon.
Questions about Bored of the Rings
Short answers, pulled from the story.
When was Bored of the Rings published and how long has it been in print?
Bored of the Rings was published in 1969 by Signet for The Harvard Lampoon. It has remained in print for over fifty years, an unusual lifespan for a parody.
How many languages has Bored of the Rings been translated into?
Bored of the Rings has been translated into at least twelve languages. Translations include the 1983 German edition Der Herr der Augenringe, meaning "Lord of the Eye Rings," and the 1983 Finnish edition Loru sorbusten herrasta, meaning "a rhyme about the lord of Sorbus."
How does Bored of the Rings parody The Lord of the Rings?
Bored of the Rings replaces Tolkien's mythic characters and places with commercial brand names and mundane references. Merry and Pippin become the soft drinks Moxie and Pepsi, Saruman becomes a laxative brand called Serutan, and Tom Bombadil becomes a stereotypical hippie named Tim Benzedrine. The book also breaks the fourth wall, with characters acknowledging that they are inside a long epic.
What writers did Bored of the Rings inspire?
Bored of the Rings influenced writers who worked on Saturday Night Live and The Onion, according to author Mike Sacks. Sacks also describes it as one of the earliest parodies of "a modern, popular bestseller."
What do Tolkien scholars say about Bored of the Rings?
Tolkien scholar David Bratman, writing in Mythlore, argues that the parodists "wrought better than they knew." His view is that Tolkien, across his many drafts, came very close to accidentally producing the parody version of his own novel, and only avoided that fate, in Bratman's assessment, remarkably completely.