Police earnestly looking for the owner of a ring recovered in a burglary case failed to realize the value of the item—at least, in terms of its place in pop culture.
The oblivion of a British police force to an epic fantasy novel and its award-winning film adaptations earned them a barrage of memes on Facebook from fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s work.
North Yorkshire Police posted pictures on Facebook on Wednesday, Jan. 29, of “a distinctive silver ring,” stating that it was found in a house burgled in February 2019.
Officers in York are trying to locate the owner of a distinctive silver ring and are appealing to the public for their…
Posted by North Yorkshire Police on Wednesday, January 29, 2020
The ring is a silver version of The One Ring created by antagonist Sauron, the title character of “Lord of the Rings.” He forged the ring to gain control of Middle-earth. In Tolkien’s fantasy epic, a fellowship gathers to destroy it in the volcano Mount Doom.
Social media users who saw the lost-and-found post were quick to point out who the owner was—in the fictional setting of Middle-earth, that is.
“Cast the ring into the oblivion of the evidence locker, where it cannot hurt anyone and will never be seen again!” urged Jenny Erlien Jennings.
One Mario Caruana advised, “That truly is a precious ring. Sadly, I wouldn’t translate that. It’s in the black tongue of Mordor and isn’t very nice. Best off throwing it into a river or mountain volcano or something. If unclaimed can I challenge you guys to riddles for it? I have a buyer with their EYE on it.”
“It has been lost before and the last time, it turned into a continent-spanning ball ache. I’d advise against getting involved,” said Facebook user Sam Richards.
Others also advised against giving the ring away to the wrong person. “If a bloke with a ‘split personality’ identifies it as ‘my precious’ dont believe him, honestly it’s not his,” said Andrew Thistlethwaite in jest.
The Facebook post has about 39,000 shares and 30,000 comments as of this writing.
The police took the reactions lightly amid the overwhelming attention. “Thanks for all the comments – we obviously need to brush up on our movie knowledge! However it is someone’s property and we would like to return it to whoever has had it stolen from them.”
Fans remained relentless on the officers’ ignorance, reminding them that it was not simply a movie. One Sriracha Walker commented, “How for the love of god do you not know this knowledge? I’m gonna have to call the police on the police, this is a crime. /ra
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