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Looking closer at the Lord of the Rings trilogy books and movies, The Hobbit, and everything else in J. R. R. Tolkien's beloved universe.

Film Trivia

Some of the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/top-50-movie-moments-of-all-time/lotterman?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best scenes in movies</a> are the ones that aren&#39;t even in the script - and there are plenty of them in The Lord of the Rings movies. Few film franchises are as expansive and vast as Peter Jackson&#39;s film adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien&#39;s classic books, so there&#39;s plenty of behind-the-scenes trivia to learn about these groundbreaking films (and even more if you include <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/the-hobbit-behind-the-scenes/jack-morgan" target="_blank">The Hobbit&nbsp;trilogy</a>). What cool facts should you know about the production of LOTR? Let&#39;s find out!

Often, it&#39;s the little things that make a movie not just memorable, but unforgettable. Whether onscreen, or behind the camera, <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/lord-of-the-rings-wardrobe-secrets/joey-kochick" target="_blank">the making of the LOTR films</a> changed movies and Hollywood for good and there are all kinds of fun BTS facts to know about The Lord of the Rings trilogy. For instance, did you know that while filming The Lord of the Rings new hobbit feet were created every single day (ears too!) because the&nbsp;material they were made from was too fragile to survive more than a few hours in filming conditions? Or that Viggo Mortensen wasn&#39;t initially cast as Aragorn - another actor was cast and even filmed for a few days!&nbsp;

Whether you want to one up your friends in your next geeky conversation or win at your next trivia night, this Lord of the Rings trivia facts list is for you. Vote up the&nbsp;LOTR trivia facts you find most interesting!&nbsp;

Peter Jackson&#39;s &#39;Lord of the Rings&#39; trilogy stands as one of the most-loved fantasy movie franchises of all time (not counting those pesky &#39;Hobbit&#39; movies). Fans watch and rewatch the movies and are still spotting new details like the Eye of Sauron gazes upon the One Ring. Here are some of our favorites details.&nbsp;

Early on in The Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf tells Bilbo, “There are many magic rings in this world... and none of them should be used lightly.&quot; If Gandalf is to be believed, then Middle-earth is riddled with rings, yet only a select few are detailed in Tolkien’s extensive body of work.Along with a few notable &quot;lesser&quot; rings, the series focuses primarily on the 20 Rings of Power. These 20 rings were divided up, with three going to the elves, seven to the dwarves, nine to the world of men, and one to the Dark Lord Sauron.Not all&nbsp;the&nbsp;rings&nbsp;from The Lord&nbsp;of&nbsp;the Rings&nbsp;are as volatile as the One Ring To Rule Them All.&nbsp;While some&nbsp;rings&nbsp;were made to be used as weapons (when wielded properly,&nbsp;of course),&nbsp;others, like the elven rings, were created with preservation and protection in mind.Let’s take a closer look at every ring from The Lord of the Rings,&nbsp;so that the distinctions between each can be thoroughly understood.&nbsp;

LOTR

When Peter Jackson adapted J.R.R. Tolkein&#39;s classic novels into&nbsp;The Lord of the Rings&nbsp;and&nbsp;Hobbit&nbsp;franchises, he took the wit and wisdom of the author and created some <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/the-best-lord-of-the-rings-fellowship-of-the-ring-quotes/movie-and-tv-quotes" target="_blank">fantastic&nbsp;dialogue</a>. Among that dialogue are some incredibly clever&nbsp;insults and funny one-liners bantered about by some great <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/why-gandalf-powers-not-used/ashley-reign" target="_blank">characters including Gandalf</a>, Samwise, and others.&nbsp;

You may not realize just how many times one character insulted another in&nbsp;The Lord of the Rings&nbsp;films, but it happened often. Granted, there are a few from the books that didn&#39;t make it to the movies, but there&#39;s&nbsp;a few of those included in here anyway,&nbsp;seeing as they are pure gold. Whether you are a <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/lord-of-the-rings-fan-art/jakebaumgart" target="_blank">fan of the films</a> or the books, you will likely snicker with glee as you read some of these amazing insults from&nbsp;The Lord of the Rings.

See some of your favorite quotes? Vote up the ones you think are best, and vote down any you don&#39;t find funny or clever.

Funny

Samwise Gamgee is one of the most wholesome and heroic characters in&nbsp;Lord of the Rings. The hobbit struggled but never gave up, and played a massive&nbsp;part in the destruction of the ring.&nbsp;We love to love Sam, and the actor who plays him, Sean Astin.&nbsp;What more could one ask for (besides second breakfast) than Samwise Gamgee memes?

Browse through the memes below and vote up your favorite Sam and Lord of the Rings memes!&nbsp;

Everyone goes into a film adaptation of a novel expecting some divergence. For the most&nbsp;part, director Peter Jackson was true to Tolkien&#39;s beloved tale and expansive universe&nbsp;when he made the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/everything-to-know-to-understand-lord-of-the-rings/zack-howe" target="_blank">Lord of the Rings</a>&nbsp;trilogy. Even so,&nbsp;there were things left out of the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/lord-of-the-rings-trivia-facts/coy-jandreau" target="_blank">Lord of the Rings</a> films, and&nbsp;a few of the lost details are rather massive.

While some devout readers&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/what-book-readers-hate-about-lord-of-the-rings-movie/stephanroget" target="_blank">hate the LOTR movies</a> for these changes, a number of the creative choices Jackson and co-writers&nbsp;Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens&nbsp;made are understandable. But some revisions make the story more convoluted, leaving fans to wonder what went into those decisions. Most people were probably okay without the ever-singing Tom Bombadil, but the final battle at the Shire was more sorely missed. With more than nine hours of screen time, it&#39;s amazing how many important details Jackson&#39;s&nbsp;LOTR&nbsp;trilogy is missing - and knowing the full story leads to a better appreciation of Tolkien&#39;s genius.

Fantasy

Tolkien's Middle Earth is one of the richest fantasy worlds ever conceived; so rich that few are familiar with the entire mythos. The Silmarillion&nbsp;describes the history before The Lord of the Rings, and acts as an encyclopedic record of how the world of <a href="http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Arda" target="_blank">Arda </a>came to be.As it turns out, there are a lot of&nbsp;things that happened before The Hobbit. Tolkien's most well-known tales — those that have been brought to the screen — stick to covering events from the <a href="http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Third_Age" target="_blank">Third Age</a>, and only allude to the millennia of lore that lead up to the destruction of the One Ring.Some of the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-best-characters-from-the-lord-of-the-rings-universe&nbsp;" target="_blank">greatest characters</a> Tolkien created aren't that well known. The general lack of knowledge regarding the extended LoTR&nbsp;universe&nbsp;has spawned some incorrect <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/lord-of-the-rings-fan-theories/nathan-gibson" target="_blank">fan theories</a>, and has left a lot of room for confusion among casual fans, even&nbsp;those who have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/what-book-readers-hate-about-lord-of-the-rings-movie/stephanroget&nbsp;" target="_blank">read The Lord of the Rings</a>.Here are the most important&nbsp;things to know to&nbsp;understand The Lord of the Rings, the creation of the world known as Arda, and all the magical creatures that inhabit it.&nbsp;&nbsp;

There are few fans more passionate and more opinionated than those that are fans of a book series that has been turned into a movie franchise. It should be no surprise, then, that the list of what book readers hate about <a href="http://www.ranker.com/tags/the-lord-of-the-rings" target="_blank">The Lord of the Rings</a>, the film franchise, is long. While <a href="http://www.ranker.com/review/peter-jackson/1786265" target="_blank">Peter Jackson</a>’s trilogy generally earned rave reviews for its faithful yet cinematic adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s novels, there are some members&nbsp;of the fanbase that take serious umbrage with some of the creative changes made in the process.Some of the things Tolkien purists complain about can include characters that were left out, story arcs that were altered, or events that they don’t feel were given justice. The works of JRR Tolkien are absolutely massive in their scope, so it was never a possibility that Peter Jackson would adapt absolutely everything. To most, he did an admirable job, but some think he could have done a slightly better job of adapting their favorite series. Check out the issues&nbsp;Tolkien purists have with the films and vote up the ones that resonate with you.&nbsp;

J.R.R. Tolkien&#39;s masterpiece novel <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-the-hobbit-characters/ranker-entertainment" target="_blank">The Hobbit</a> has delighted generations of readers since its release in 1937. Many bookworms cite this exciting and magical story as their gateway into the world of fantasy and sci-fi. The book brought the timeless land known as Middle Earth into creation, and is responsible for influencing so much of what modern fantasy has become today. It was only a matter of time before Hollywood sought to make a live-action film adaptation of it, and it seemed only natural that Peter Jackson should direct it after his amazing success&nbsp;with the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Unfortunately for fans of the series, Jackson decided&nbsp;to fix what wasn&#39;t broken and transformed this lean, 200-page novel into a 10-hour groan-fest. Jackson&#39;s questionable choices included adding pointless characters, shoehorning in awkward subplots, and forcing cartoonishly absurd action sequences at every opportunity. The book vs. movie debate pretty much answered itself, as the three-part cinematic version left many fans utterly confused at all the stark differences. Let us know which of The Hobbit&#39;s worst scenes were the most unnecessary additions to an already perfect story.

Tolkien Universe

Peter Jackson&#39;s&nbsp;The Lord of the Rings&nbsp;trilogy is one of the rare Hollywood&nbsp;examples of everything going right on a production despite so much that could have gone wrong. The movies were a phenomenal success, and the trilogy is among&nbsp;the most critically lauded franchises. That includes the first three&nbsp;Indiana Jones&nbsp;and&nbsp;Star Wars&nbsp;movies. LOTR still stands&nbsp;an amazing achievement in film, but it wouldn&#39;t have been nearly as successful&nbsp;had it not been for its roster of incredibly talented actors.

With people like Sir Christopher Lee, Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Sir Ian McKellen, and many others, the cast of the LOTR films were pretty high caliber. Because there were so many talented people working on the films, there are plenty of interesting tidbits you may not know about&nbsp;The Lord of the Rings&nbsp;cast.

Star Wars

As you make your way through the maze of life, sometimes you are presented with tough choices. One seriously difficult decision is picking a favorite between the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-best-of-the-fantasy-worlds?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">fictional universe</a> of <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/star-wars-the-force-awakens-facts/jacob-shelton?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Star Wars</a> and the fictional world of <a href="http://www.ranker.com/tags/the-lord-of-the-rings?ref=internalCrossLinking_tag">The Lord of the Rings</a> - it is a nerd Sophie's choice if ever there was one. But what if you didn't have to decide? What if all your favorite Star Wars characters crash-landed in Middle Earth and had to learn to make their way in a world with elves, hobbits, and talking trees? The Ranker staff held a summit&nbsp;and came up with these Star Wars/Lord of the Rings mashups to hopefully make any fan of either franchise smile.Could Qui-Gon and Anakin exist together in the Horse Era of Jedi history? Would Gollum befriend an Ewok or two? You know Yoda would make a comfortable home in Bag End. When the Force comes to Mordor, will the fact that Christopher Lee exists in both worlds mean that Dooku and Saruman can never meet for a Dark Side throw down?What matters is this: if the cast of Star Wars ended up in Mordor, Gondor, Hobbiton, Rivendell, or anywhere in between, what would they get up to? Would they learn to love life in their new lands or pine for the days of zipping around a galaxy far, far away and delighting in all Coruscant, Naboo, and Alderaan had to offer? Our&nbsp;Star Wars and Lord of the Rings pictures should give you an idea of how Han, Leia, Anakin, and the rest would do, intermingling with Gandalf, Frodo, Aragorn, and the whole&nbsp;LOTR gang. Vote up the images that fill you with the joy of ten thousand midi-chlorians and then go work on your Aragorn and Princess Leia fan fiction.

Fan Theories

Whether you&#39;re reading&nbsp;The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings,&nbsp;or&nbsp;The Silmarillion, there&#39;s one thing you can count on. Gandalf will be there to lend some sage advice and help the heroes on their quests. While he&#39;s initially regarded as Gandalf the Grey, he returns from the dead as Gandalf the White. No matter what you call him, he&#39;s a powerful wizard who&#39;s remained in millions of people&#39;s imaginations for generations. It only makes sense for him to be at the center of various fan theories and conspiracies over the years, especially on Reddit. These are the best Gandalf fan theories we could find.&nbsp;

Some make a lot of sense. Others take a bit of imagination, but if you&#39;re willing to suspend your disbelief, then they add interesting wrinkles to&nbsp;The Lord of the Rings&nbsp;lore. Let us know which ones you consider canon by voting for your favorite theories while punishing the ones that seem too ridiculous by banishing them to Mordor. And if you&#39;re wondering why there aren&#39;t too many theories on this list, well, there is so much&nbsp;Lord of the Rings&nbsp;backstory out there written by Tolkien that most decisions and &quot;plot holes&quot; have an explanation if you look hard enough.&nbsp;

J.R.R. Tolkien&rsquo;s The Lord of the Rings trilogy&nbsp;and The Hobbit adventure that preceded it&nbsp;are full-fledged mythologies&nbsp;and histories&nbsp;unto themselves, making&nbsp;it a little strange to discuss the impact of real-world mythology and history on Tolkien&rsquo;s saga. But the list of historical references in The Lord of the Rings is long&nbsp;and the impact of influences on his&nbsp;writings, including Norse mythology and Tolkien&rsquo;s&nbsp;own WWI experiences, is&nbsp;undeniable.

<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/jrr-tolkien-trivia-facts/luke-y-thompson" target="_blank">Tolkien</a>&nbsp;lived through one of the most tumultuous periods in modern history and&nbsp;had&nbsp;a life story of his own worthy of a book or two.&nbsp;Some of what he learned and experienced was bound&nbsp;to influence his writing. On the record, Tolkien was generally shy about admitting direct influences and allegories,&nbsp;but the historical parallels are too obvious to ignore.&nbsp;

Behind The Scenes

Ten years after the&nbsp;Lord of the Rings film trilogy, New Zealand director Peter Jackson returned to make the cinematic version&nbsp;of&nbsp;The Hobbit. As a Lord of the Rings prequel, The Hobbit&nbsp;is a single book, but filmmakers decided to divide it&nbsp;into three movies, leading to plenty of behind-the-scenes moments and surely a few bloopers. <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/the-hobbit-movie-details/raelyn-giansanti" target="_blank">The Hobbit films</a>, subtitled An Unexpected Journey&nbsp;(2012),&nbsp;The <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/full-cast-of-the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-actors-and-actresses/reference?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Desolation of Smaug</a>&nbsp;(2013), and&nbsp;The Battle of the Five Armies&nbsp;(2014), featured the return of such characters as Gandalf,&nbsp;Legolas,&nbsp;Gollum, and the Elves, with a focus on title character Bilbo&nbsp;Baggins, played by Martin&nbsp;Freeman.&nbsp;

The Hobbit BTS stories suggest that plenty of effort, and lots of new digital tricks, went into making&nbsp;the&nbsp;series a fitting prequel to one of the greatest film trilogies of all time.

<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/jrr-tolkien-trivia-facts/luke-y-thompson?ref=nodelyrel&amp;pos=2&amp;a=0&amp;l=1340377&amp;ltype=n&amp;g=1" target="_blank">JRR Tolkien</a> is possibly the most influential&nbsp;fantasy writer&nbsp;of all time. However, he was also a product of his time, and from a <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/historical-references-in-lord-of-the-rings/stephanroget" target="_blank">modern perspective</a>, there are tons of weird racist moments&nbsp;in The Lord of the Rings - both the novel and the movie series. That doesn&#39;t mean people shouldn&#39;t enjoy Tolkien&#39;s work&nbsp;- it has plenty of <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/lord-of-the-rings-trivia-facts/coy-jandreau?page=4" target="_blank">elements that are worth celebrating</a>&nbsp;- but it&#39;s important to recognize the bigoted&nbsp;viewpoints&nbsp;that slipped into his beloved tales.&nbsp;

Racism in The Lord of the Rings&nbsp;isn&#39;t as simple as one character using a real-world racial slur to casually disparage&nbsp;an entire group. If the issues&nbsp;were that overt, everyone would&nbsp;have put the series down&nbsp;a long time ago.&nbsp;Perhaps unintentionally, Tolkien brought real-world prejudice&nbsp;into his work, and examining the instances of bigotry in The Lord of the Rings&nbsp;and its related works&nbsp;helps us recognize similar&nbsp;unconscious biases that exist in our society today.

Out of all of the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/best-fantasy-book-series/ranker-books" target="_blank">great fantasy novels</a> in English literature, Lord of the Rings is perhaps the most well-known and popular. The enduring success of the series doesn&rsquo;t just come down to the great story told within the novels, but benefits from the vast mythology Tolkien managed to build up. The&nbsp;incredible universe he created opens up the possibility for plenty of fan theories about the Lord of the Rings.

After all, the few pieces of writing he published set in the world of Middle-earth were barely enough to scratch the surface in terms of the overall history of the narrative. Plenty of questions were left completely unanswered, leaving their cinematic adaptations with a <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/biggest-lord-of-the-rings-plot-holes/ashley-reign" target="_blank">few lingering plot holes</a>. On top of that,&nbsp;Tolkien was known to purposely include unsolved mysteries to keep his readers guessing, not the least of which is about&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/why-gandalf-powers-not-used/ashley-reign" target="_blank">Gandalf&#39;s powers</a>.&nbsp;

This means that fans have had to come up with their own Lord of the Rings theories to try to fix some of the plot holes, and explain the parts the Tolkien left open to interpretation.

If you&#39;ve ever watched or read&nbsp;The Lord of the Rings, you might have found yourself asking, &quot;Why&nbsp;is Gandalf so weak?&quot; The Hobbits, Elves, and other mortals who embark on adventures with the legendary wizard&nbsp;find themselves in plenty of situations where it seems a little Gandalf power&nbsp;could save the day. As it turns out, there may be a really good reason why Gandalf doesn&#39;t appear to use magic as often as&nbsp;he could.&nbsp;

While wizards&nbsp;in the traditional sense are able to use their magic pretty much any way they want, Gandalf&#39;s backstory is a little different. To understand it, you need to know that the divine hierarchy of Middle-earth begins&nbsp;with <a href="https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Eru_Il%C3%BAvatar" target="_blank">Eru</a>, who is the God&nbsp;and creator of <a href="https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Arda" target="_blank">Arda</a>, the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/lord-of-the-rings-moments-left-out-of-the-movies/zack-howe" target="_blank">LOTR world</a>. Beneath Eru, you have the <a href="https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Valar" target="_blank">Valar</a>, who act as rulers of Arda. <a href="https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Maiar" target="_blank">The&nbsp;Maiar</a>, spirits&nbsp;as old as time,&nbsp;serve&nbsp;the Valar, and Gandalf is&nbsp;one of the Maiar selected by the Valar to descend to Middle-earth in the form of an Istar or wizard.&nbsp;Tolkien explains this in&nbsp;<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=5t4vfhasRVcC&amp;pg=PT433&amp;lpg=PT433&amp;dq=#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false" target="_blank">Unfinished Tales</a>:

<blockquote>
Emissaries they were from Lords of the West, the Valar... whereas now their emissaries were forbidden to reveal themselves in forms of majesty, or to seek to rule the wills of Men and Elves by open display of power, but coming in shapes weak and humble were bidden to advise and persuade Men and Elves to good, and to seek to unite in love and understanding all those whom Sauron, should he come again, would endeavor to dominate and corrupt.
</blockquote>

Tolkien makes it clear that Gandalf and the other Istari aren&#39;t really wizards of their own accord but divine, angelic beings&nbsp;on a mission. Their job isn&#39;t to go around performing miraculous feats of magic, but to help those who seek to oppose evil.&nbsp;That said, of the five Istari who were sent down, not everyone remains true to their cause.&nbsp;Gandalf does, however, which is why he sticks far closer to his companions from Middle-earth&nbsp;than Saruman, who uses his magic for evil.&nbsp;

Before Peter Jackson decided to take on J.R.R. Tolkien&#39;s&nbsp;The Lord of the Rings, it had only existed in animated form. Most fans thought a live-action adaptation was impossible, given the scope of the work, but he managed to pull it off. His film series was so well-received, it&#39;s unlikely anyone will ever try to top it, and he even went on to adapt&nbsp;The Hobbit&nbsp;into another successful film trilogy.

It&#39;s been a few years since the Lord of the Rings&nbsp;trilogy made it to film, but how much does the average fan really know about it? So much went into making the movies, there are still quite a few <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/lotr-movie-details-that-fans-loved/mrennie" target="_blank">details</a> you maybe didn&#39;t know about the Lord of the Rings&nbsp;films.

Fan Made

J.R.R. Tolkien's classic saga&nbsp;The Lord of the Rings and its many sequels and companion novels&nbsp;have spawned decades upon decades of fans. Luckily for us, a lot of those fans are incredibly artistically talented and have been cranking out the LotR&nbsp;fan art for years. This Lord of the Rings art by fans helps bring a world described only in words to life with lush visualizations and detailed depictions of the landscapes of Middle Earth.Every character has been given their due and the mediums of these works of art vary wildly (one person even painted shoes!). There is the fantastical, the daring, the dangerous - and it's all captured here for friends of the Fellowship like you. Lucky for you- this list is a lot shorter than binge watching all the movies again! Grab your best friend and get ready to summit Mount Doom - but first, check out this amazing&nbsp;Lord of the Rings&nbsp;fan art!

Since the 1960s, wannabe wizards and hobbits have been whipping up their own&nbsp;robes and frock coats to play in the world of The&nbsp;Lord of the Rings. But in the early 2000s, one very special group of talented seamstresses, embroiderers, dyers, cutters, and designers made that world real, and not just on screen.&nbsp;

Costume designer Ngila Dickson has offered extensive behind-the-scenes stories on&nbsp;the&nbsp;Lord of the Rings&nbsp;wardrobe secrets that brought thousands of costumes - and an entire fantasy world - to life.

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The Lord of the Rings&nbsp;movie franchise has spawned countless other attempts at fantasy franchises. And as seen on the subreddit <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/lotrmemes" target="_blank">r/lotrmemes</a>, it&#39;s always inspired countless memes. Here are some of our favorites.

31 Of The Funniest 'Lord Of The Rings' Memes In All Of Middle-earth

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The Lord of the Rings&nbsp;movie franchise has spawned countless other attempts at fantasy franchises. And as seen on the subreddit r/lotrmemes, it's always ...