Why Is Elrond Building The Fellowship Like A Baseball Team? 'Moneyball' And 'The Lord of the Ring' Crossover Memes Explained

Moneyball meets The Lord of the Ring crossover memes? You heard that right, memes in which the Lord of Rivendell, Elrond, employs some unconventional strategies to build a Fellowship able to bring the ring to Mordor is what this is all about. Four merry hobbits? Check. A wizard pushing 55 (thousand) years? Check. A ranger with some huge potential? Check. Forget the eagles, we don't have the budget for them.

Learn all about how the majestic crossover between The Lord of the Ring and Moneyball started and see the best versions of the meme in our brief explainer.

What Is ‘Moneyball x LOTR’ Crossover Meme?

The crossover meme ties in Moneyball screencaps and dialogue with The Lord of the Rings references.

The Lord of the Rings, based on fantasy novels of the same name, is a famous movie trilogy: in the first part of the trilogy, character Elrond, Lord of Rivendell, selects the Fellowship of the Ring, a group of warriors and adventurers tasked with escorting Frodo and Sam to Mordor, where they will attempt to destroy the One Ring.

Moneyball is a 2011 biographical drama about the Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane, portrayed by Brad Pitt, who employs an unconventional approach to assemble a competitive baseball team.

The meme works because the Fellowship is at first glance also quite an unconventional team of misfits, but one in which every part serves a specific purpose. Just like Billy Beane might have built!

Where Did 'Elrond Putting Together the Fellowship Roster' Meme Start?

The format started in late December 2023 after X user @ToLey88 captioned a "Let him cook" reaction image, "Saruman seeing that Elrond spent 4 Fellowship roster spots on hobbits."

The joke was then picked up by X user @HeylKatme, who quoted the post with cover art for Moneyball and wrote, "Elrond putting together the Fellowship roster." And thus the meme was born.

'Moneyball' x LOTR In Memes

Now if you want to make some fire memes while the format is hot, the best advice we could give you is to watch Moneyball, or at least the parts where Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill's character discuss team prospects. Here's the trailer for the film that will give you some idea.

We also assume that you've watched The Lord of the Rings already. If not, you know what you are doing during New Year's break.