Fan art comes in all forms, from the traditional to the bizarre to the “wait, did somebody build a life-sized Gundam?” The world of artwork already boasts a depth rivaled only by the Mariana Trench, and somehow when fandom enters the mix, that sheer volume of variety takes on exponential growth. Now, to be fair, the subject of today’s focus isn’t particularly outside the realm of expectations or anything like that. It’s just fun to talk about fan art, andTheLord of the Ringshas been enjoying its own little renaissance in that regard.
A new challenger has entered the arena of fan works, and it’s managed to reach that sweet spot of both funny and catchy that occasionally eludes eventhe master parody artistWeird Al himself. ThisLord of the Ringsfan decided to create his own little homage to the first book in the legendary fantasy trilogy by way of a 90-second long retelling of the tale set to a knee-hopping beat. Playing both parts himself, the creative musician performs the song via the framing device of author J.R.R. Tolkien defiantly explaining the story to his publisher, and it’s a yuk fest all the way through.
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Coming from YouTuber and musical stylist Tom Cardy, the song starts out purely in the comedy territory as his version of Tolkien does a little spoken word in a style vaguely reminiscent of “Rapper’s Delight.” That’s not the funny part, of course. The hilarity comes from his focus on how much walking the book involves (peppered with some NSFW language). Some viewers might feel a bit nostalgic for a similar (albeit non-musical)LOTRgag seen inKevin Smith’s Clerks II, but Cardy goes above and beyond by including some of the stops Frodo and the rest of the hobbits make along the way in perfect rhythm with the addictive beat.
After a bit of hearing the word “walk” enough times for it to no longer sound like a word anymore, things slowly begin to branch out as Tolkien gradually gets louder and shout-ier. At this point, it becomes a bit clear that Cardy appears to beaHarry Potterfanas well, as he makes several references to the Wizarding World including calling the Nazgûl “Dementors” and even bringing up the prison Azkaban.
Finally, after the video slowly builds up with new instrumentation joining the fray over time, Cardy hits a climax where the publisher suggests the all-too-familiar “plot fix” of having theFellowship simply ride a bunch of birdsto their destination. Tolkien is, naturally, not cool with this, and busts out a guitar to sing one last prolonged “waaaaaaaalk” layered over himself shouting “they’ll walk if I tell them to!”
It’s just one more example of the passion elicited in fans byThe Lord of the RIngsand countless other delightful nerdy things. From creative songs like this to genuinely clevership upgrades forStar Wars, fans have shown that their love knows no bounds. Heck, the song is so good that it almost makes the viewer forget about its blatantdisregard of Tom Bombadil. Almost.
