Tag Archives: J.R.R. Tolkien

A new year means a new adventure in Middle-Earth

I love the Lord of the Rings films, but that’s about as far into the Tolkien waters as I’ve ever dipped my toe. But builder Josh is giving folks like me a taste of the deeper lore with this model inspired by the tale of Túrin from The Silmarillion. Here, Morwen bids farewell to Túrin as he ventures off towards the kingdom of Doriath. Josh’s use of round tiles and studs not on top techniques give a realistic rustic texture to the walls of this homestead. And the brilliant use of color for the foliage in the background reminds me of fall in Vermont. Good luck on your travels, Túrin. I hope Josh will update us on your progress. (I know I should just read the book, but it’s more fun this way.)

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The last (tiny) homely house east of the sea

Rivendell – the mention of the name already evokes a feeling of home. A location in J.R.R. Tolkien’s famous books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, it appears as a sanctuary, a last respite to characters who are on a journey into “the wilderness.” Builder Elias (Brickleas) built the Last Homely House in all its peaceful glory in microscale in just 100 LEGO parts. While the elven buildings are tiny among the large cliffs, they are instantly recognisable thanks to clever parts usage.

I love the way Elias uses books as the angled roofs, and one stickered book is actually very fitting here. It is the Red Book of Westmarch, the book that Bilbo Baggins wrote during his retirement in Rivendell. The battle droid torso also works very well, since its skeletal nature represents the open-air feel of those buildings. I found the small waterfalls very impressive, using Hero Factory claw pieces which perfectly hug the large wedge used as a cliff. Elias perfectly demonstrates that when building something with a small number of parts, use the best parts.

Cloudy with a chance of Minifigures

It’s nice to take break from huge builds and enjoy a LEGO creation that’s zoomed in a bit more. Hubba Blöoba invites to visit Middle Earth in this nifty little vignette. The Iron Forge 2021 seed part of the minifigure torso inspired this build, appearing as windows and…clouds? Sure, why not? The rolling green hills are also well executed, as is the forced perspective from the gate in the foreground leading to the seemingly distant burrow. Other cool details are the ox horns framing the front door, and the grill tile forming the slats in the fencing. Careful, though. This sort of creative part usage can be hobbit forming.

Jonesin’ for more Tolkien-esque goodness? Check out some other featured builds!

Ugly never looked so cute

Orcs are probably one of the ugliest creature in all of fantasy fiction. But this little guy created by Jme Wheeler is stinkin’ adorable as all heck. How can you not smile when you look at that face? I’d like to think of him as an innocent baby, who does not yet know evil. But I guess there is just something about the Brickheadz style that lends to the “cute” factor. Whatever the case, my favorite part of this particular build is definitely the loincloth.

Have an afinity for BrickHeadz? We’ve got lots of them in our archives!

Sauron looks pleased with his creation

Sauron, the evil creator of the One Ring at the center of the Lord of the Rings books and movies spends the majority of his screen time as nothing more than a giant flaming eye at the top of his dark tower of Barad-dûr, he does make a brief appearance at the beginning of the film version of The Fellowship of the Ring, in the physical form of a towering spike-armored figure with a mighty mace, which he uses to lay waste to countless enemies. Aaron Newman has built an amazing model of Sauron poised at the edge of a lava flow, holding up his creation, perhaps just after pouring his cruelty, his malice, and his will to dominate all life into the One Ring.

The distinct helmet and armor feature some of the new blades found in many of the Ninjago sets released last year, as well as a very nice ragged cape made from a couple of large capes. I am especially glad that Aaron chose to build his model in gray rather than black, as it would have been much more difficult to see all those great details.

Lond Daer, the Númenorean shipyard in Middle Earth

There have been many great LEGO creations from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit franchise over the years, including a recent epic collaboration which we were proud to feature here on TBB. The other ages mentioned in the book, however, tend to be overlooked. Well, there is a new collaborative project underway and Barthezz Brick has built an amazing model of the Númenórean ship-building port of Lond Daer.

This model has so many details worth mentioning, including some very nicely built arrow slits in the tall tower in the back, which starts with a fairly common technique using cheese slopes but repeats the pattern in an interesting way. The buildings on the right also show a neat architectural design for the arched windows made from loosely connected plates, and this minifig neck bracket to attach tiles on top. Click to see more of Lond Daer

Happy Birthday, Bilbo and Frodo! It’s Hobbit’s Day!

Bilbo and Frodo Baggins were born 78 years apart, but with exactly the same birthday, on the 22nd of September. It is their birthday today and thus they make a mark on our Gregorian calendar – declared as Hobbit Day! And to commemorate the festivities, builder Thorsten Bonsch gifts us with a vignette that’s worthy of a weary hobbit to rest and unwind with a warm and cozy corner of home tucked in a corner of the Shire. Thorston’s clever techniques with 1×1 plates for the arc of the fireplace and a tessellated centrepiece for the floor using an assortment of cheese slopes in a variety of colors, all lit with perfect lighting, makes this a breathtaking and picturesque scene.

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.

At the far end of Bagshot Row at number 10 is the house of Fredregar “Fatty” Bolger, the son of Odovacar Bolger and Rosamunda Took. Patrick B. has captured Fatty with his wife and a furry friend outside his beautiful house at Bag End — another Shire creation for his “ExploringTheShire” project he started a year ago.

Like many a member of the online LEGO community, Patrick has credited fellow builders in the comments on Flickr to acknowledge where he has “borrowed” Jonas Kramm’s cobble design and appropriated the watering can design from Simon NH. I love how the online LEGO community reminds me very much of Hobbiton in more than a few regards.

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.

Last summer, we featured a lovely microscale LEGO hobbit hole by Austrian builder Patrick B. Recently, he’s shared a full-size minifig-scale version of Bag End, full of verdant landscaping and lovely touches like a beehive and snail.

See more details and the interior of this LEGO Bag End

A hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.

Following quickly on the tiny heels of the excellent microscale Rivendell, Austrian LEGO builder Patrick B. has crafted the Hill from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, also in microscale. Patrick’s tiny scene is complete with Bag End under a large tree and Bagshot Row beneath. Each of the round doors has a unique color, and the path leads across a bridge to the Green Dragon Inn, which Patrick also built in minifig-scale recently. I particularly love the fences, but don’t miss the tiny boat built from a paper minifig hat.

A woodland home with Tolkien’s bear essentials

Thorin and Company, along with Gandalf, seek the aid of Beorn after their Misty Mountains adventure — calling in at Beorn Hall, on the western borders of Mirkwood. Paul Rizzi has based his LEGO version of Beorn’s Hall on the description and illustrations from J.R.R. Tolkien’s writing rather than anything seen on the big screen. There’s a lot of detail in this huge build, the beehives on the far left, the tall oak trees, and the landscaping around this woodland home.

A closer look shows some of the detail used to give a lot of character to the Hall. There are different textures represented with the wooden main structure, a stone opening, the green landscaping, and vegetation on the roof. It’s no surprise to learn Paul won a prize for this creation at Brickfair Virginia earlier this month.

The LEGO Balrog shall not pass!

The LEGO Balrogs we’ve featured here on The Brothers Brick over the years have been large and monstrous, with flames flying and wings flying everywhere. Jonas Kramm takes a subtler approach with a considerably smaller Balrog built almost entirely from black. The black only serves to make the creature more sinister, making the contrasting orange flames on the Balrog’s back and his flame-whip even more striking. The Balrog is an ephemeral creature wrapped in darkness and fire, and the absence of explicit wings also adds to the evil look of this creature from the depths of Middle Earth.

While rather more gaudy, you might also enjoy the massive LEGO Balrog by Chak hei Mok and a looming Balrog by Aaron Newman.