 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007) |
Bored of the Rings is the title of a paperback parody of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. This short novel was written by Henry N. Beard and Douglas C. Kenney. It was published in 1969 by Signet for the Harvard Lampoon.
The parody generally follows the outline of The Lord of the Rings, including the preface, the prologue, poetry, and songs, while making light of what Tolkien made serious (e.g., "He would have finished him off then and there, but pity stayed his hand. It's a pity I've run out of bullets, he thought, as he went back up the tunnel... "). Names and words in the various languages are parodied with brand names which mimic their sounds. There are many topical references, some of which, like some of the brand names, are now dated. Regardless, it has the unusual distinction for a parody of having been continuously in print for the decades since it was first published (as of 2007[update]).
The book includes five features which would be illegitimate in a non-humorous publication:
- A laudatory back cover review, which on inspection was written at Harvard, possibly by the authors themselves.
- Inside cover reviews which are entirely contrived, concluding with a quote by someone affiliated with the publication Our Loosely Enforced Libel Laws.
- A list of other books in the "series", none of which exist.
- A double page map which has almost nothing to do with the events in the text.
- The first text a browsing reader is liable to see purports to be a salacious sample from the book, but the episode never happens in the main text, nor does anything else of that tone: the book has no explicit sexual content.
The Signet first edition cover, a parody of the 1965 paperback cover by Barbara Remington [1], was drawn by muppet designer Michael K. Frith. Current publications have different artwork, since the paperback cover art for Lord of the Rings prevalent in the 60s is now obscure to the point of being unknown. William S. Donnell drew the parody mapof Lower Middle Earth.
Contents |
Characters
| BOTR | Allusion | LOTR |
|---|---|---|
| Goodgulf Greyteeth, the good wizard | Good Gulf, a brand name used by Gulf Oil. Goodgulf was also "a discredited Rosicrucian" and "a 32nd Degree Mason and Honorary Shriner". | Gandalf The Grey |
| Boggies | From bog or boggart or boogie. | Hobbits |
| Dildo Bugger of Bag Eye | Dildo; bugger. | Bilbo Baggins of Bag End |
| Frito Bugger | Fritos, a brand of corn chips. | Frodo Baggins |
| Spam Gangree | SPAM, a brand of processed, canned meat; gangrene. | Samwise Gamgee |
| Moxie Dingleberry | Moxie, a soft drink brand; see also dingleberry. | Merry |
| Pepsi Dingleberry | Pepsi, a soft drink. | Pippin |
| Stomper, or Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt | Stomp, arrowroot, a kind of starch used, for example, in bland biscuits for babies and the elderly; Arrowshirt Arrow, a brand of men's dress shirts. | Strider or Aragorn, son of Arathorn |
| Gimlet, son of Groin | A tool or cocktail gimlet; groin. | Gimli, son of Glóin |
| Legolam | Leg of lamb. | Legolas |
| Orlon | Orlon, a brand of acrylic fiber. | Elrond |
| Garfinkel | Garfinckel's, a department store chain. | Glorfindel |
| Bromosel | Bromo-Seltzer, an indigestion-relief product. | Boromir |
| Farahslax | Farah, the company making "action slacks". | Faramir |
| Benelux, steward of Twodor. | Benelux, the union of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg; two door, describing a type of car (contrasted with Fordor.) | Denethor, steward of Gondor. |
| Eörache, daughter of Eörlobe | "Earache"; Earlobe. | Combining Éowyn, daughter of Éomund, and elements of Arwen |
| Tim Benzedrine | Benzedrine, a stimulant drug popular during the 1960s, notably with Harvard professor Timothy Leary. | Tom Bombadil |
| Hashberry, wife of Tim Benzedrine | "Hashbury", the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, or hash(ish)-berry. | Goldberry |
| Goddam | God damn, a common oath. | Gollum |
| Karsh, Narc of the fighting Otto-wah
Goulash, Narc of the Ohma-hah |
Yousuf Karsh, Canadian portrait photographer, Ottawa (tribe). | Uglúk, Grishnákh, Orcs, Uruk-hai |
| Cellophane and Lavalier | Cellophane, an inexpensive cellulose product; Lavalier, a jewelled pendant. | Celeborn and Galadriel |
| Birdseye of the Vee-Ates | Birds Eye, a company selling frozen vegetables (also obliquely references their competitor's trademark the jolly Green Giant).
V8 (beverage), a vegetable drink. |
Treebeard of the Ents |
| Sorhed, the evil wizard, ruler of Fordor | "Sore head"; four door, describing a style of car. | Sauron, ruler of Mordor |
| Serutan the wizard of Isinglass | Serutan is a laxative ("Natures" spelled backward);
Isinglass, a fish by-product used in clarifying wine, or isinglass (mineral), a transparent mica. |
Saruman, the wizard of Isengard |
| Gwanho the Windlord, an eagle | Guano, bird or bat droppings. | Gwaihir |
| Wormcast | Worm castings. | Gríma Wormtongue |
| Schlob | Slob or schlub. | Shelob |
| Ballhog | Ball hog, a sports team member who consistently and inappropriately keeps the ball during play. | Balrog |
| Narc | Narc, an undercover narcotics agent. | Orcs |
Places
| BOTR | Allusion | LOTR |
|---|---|---|
| the Nattily Wood the Evelyn Wood |
Natalie Wood, an American actress Evelyn Wood, popularizer of speed reading |
The Old Forest |
| Whee | an English interjection: see wikt:whee | Bree |
| the Ngaio Marsh | Ngaio Marsh, a New Zealand crime writer and theatre director | the Dead Marshes |
| Twodor | Two-door (car) | Gondor |
| Fordor | Four-door (car) | Mordor |
| Roi-Tan Roi-Tanners |
Roy Tanner or (much more likely) a brand of cigars |
Rohan Rohirrim |
| The Zazu Pits, a big trash-burning area in Fordor | ZaSu Pitts, an American film actress | The crater of Orodruin |
| Sol Hurok, a mountain range on the edge of Fordor | Sol Hurok, a world famous 20th century American impresario. | The Ephel Duath mountain range |
| Minas Troney | Minestrone | Minas Tirith |
| Gallowine | E & J Gallo Winery | Brandywine |
Places which are only in the map
| BOTR | Allusion |
|---|---|
| The Legendary Drillingrigs (a long way out to sea in the west) | drilling rig for petroleum |
| the Islets of Langerhans (small offshore islands) | Islets of Langerhans in anatomy |
| The Bay of Milhous (an inlet in the shape of a profile of Richard Milhous Nixon's head.) | 37th US President from 1968 to 1974 |
Translation
The German translation (Herr der Augenringe, Lord of the Eye Rings, metaphorically "Lord of the Eye Circles"), was done by Margaret Carroux. (In 1969 and 1970, she translated Lord of the Rings into German.)
Finnish translation (Loru sorbusten herrasta, "A rhyme about the lord of Sorbus", Sorbus being a brand of rowan-flavored wine manufactured by Altia) was translated by Pekka Markkula and published in 1983. It did not sell well until later. Following the release of the Peter Jackson film trilogy, it was republished in 2002.
Other uses of Bored of the Rings name
MAD Magazine's own Lord of the Rings parody Bored of the Rings was illustrated by Hermann Mejia and written by Desmond Devlin. The Fellowship of the Ring: The Feeble Shtick of Ka-Ching!, (April 2002); The Two Towers: The Two+ Hours, (April 2003); The Return of the King: Rehash of the Thing (April 2004). A few characters have the same names as the book parody or similar ones (Legolamb, Sorehead, and Spam Gangrene). Other characters include: Dodo Gaggings, Billboard Gaggings, Gandoof the Gray (or Gandoof the White), Argon, Gimmicki, Golfclub (aka Cheeseball or Jar-Jar Jr.), Baggybuns, Pimple, Peppercorn, Aspercreme, and the Slobbits. The parodies emphasize the films' tortured or illogical plot points and glacial pacing:
- Billboard: "Dodo, I want you to have this. It's magic Slobbit chain mail that will protect you from harm!"
- Dodo: "Nice timing! The only way this gift could matter more to me is if I'd gotten it back in the Shire! You know, like before I got stabbed?"
See also
- Doon, another parody by National Lampoon, but not by the same authors
- The Very Secret Diaries, another parody of Lord of the Rings
- Dmitri Puchkov, an author who intentionally mistranslated Lord of the Rings
External links
 |
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Harvard Lampoon |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
