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Book geeks might recall Bored of the Rings, the Harvard Lampoon's 1969 paperback parody of The Lord of the Rings, which gets reprinted whenever Tolkein's epic gets hot again. In 1999 Russian paleontologist Kirill Yeskov took a more serious and complex approach to the history of Middle-Earth with his acclaimed novel The Last Ringbearer, which envisions a sympathetic, enlightened vision of the original trilogy's malignant nation of Mordor. As Salon's Laura Miller explains:

Translations of the book have also appeared in other European nations, but fear of the vigilant and litigious Tolkien estate has heretofore prevented its publication in English. That changed late last year when one Yisroel Markov posted his English translation of "The Last Ringbearer" as a free download. Although the new translation's status as a potential infringement of the Tolkien copyright remains ambiguous, it may be less vulnerable to legal action since no one is seeking to profit from it.

On his Livejournal page, Markov explains how he spent "several dozen lunch hours translating the work into English:"

I have been fortunate to establish communication with the author and have the translation vetted (and much corrected) by him. I now offer this work for your perusal. At 139,000 words, this 1 Mb PDF is about 80% of the length of The Fellowship of the Ring. Suggestions for corrections will be appreciated. Please mention how you heard about this translation when commenting. (I have to disappoint the fans of Sauron: His Majesty Sauron the VIII rates only a few mentions in this work, having been nothing more than an enlightened king. Nor does the Ring of Power rate more than a passing mention.)

Although detractors describe The Last Ringbearer as an unusually lengthy work of fan fiction, other critics have been more impressed by a book that serves as an intriguing treatment of the idea that history — even make-believe history — is written by the victors.

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