Tag Archives: The Return of the King

Meat and more are back on the menu in LEGO Isengard

After weeks without elevenses or second breakfasts, with naught but Ent-draughts to sustain them, you can feel the joy when Merry and Pippen discover Saruman’s private food stash. MorlornEmpire (secondary account of Eli Willsea, aka ForlornEmpire) recreates the scene in a delicious LEGO vignette. The builder is no stranger to Lord of the Rings vignettes, and again he showcases his eye for screen detail with dynamic composition at miniature scale. The lattice roof is my favorite feature, providing a nice contrast from the color and textures on the stone walls. Look carefully and you’ll see that the floor is flooded, but not so high as to ruin those barrels of Old Toby.

Merry & Pippin Find The Food Stash

The scene was created for the Middle Earth LEGO Olympics 2024 for a final round duel against Isaiah Kepner, who ended up winning the competition with his tribute to Rohan’s Golden Hall feast.

Birds of a feather save Sam and Frodo together!

With all the winged beasts transformed into sets for the LEGO Harry Potter line, let’s hope that the creatures of Lord of the Rings can get the same treatment soon. And the place to start would certainly be with a minifig-scale Great Eagle, just like this one built by Shaun Sheepa. The texturing here is a real treat! quarter-round tiles, rock textures, and even this fairly awkward wing piece all come together to give the Eagle quite the plethora of plumage. And the magmatically-colored base pops nicely underneath the brown bird, while reminding the viewer of the “peak” of the tale’s drama around Mount Doom. Just hold on, Gandalf. Frodo and Sam have got to be there somewhere….

Great eagle!

A Steward stews in Gondor

It took a random conversation in the grocery check-out line this weekend for me to realize just how happy I am that Lord of the Rings has returned to LEGO. While I admit, I’ve never been a die-hard Ringer, I appreciate so much that Tolkien’s work inspires others like no other fantasy tale. Case-in-point, check out this beautiful Gondorian hall by Nathan Smith. Depicting the scene where we are first introduced to Steward Denethor II, the build is deafeningly empty. Ornate walls and pillars cast in white, black, and tan lead from Gandalf and Pippin to the “empty” throne beneath the city’s emblem, the White Tree of Gondor. The brickwork here is gorgeous, from the inset panels in the arched ceiling to the design of the White Tree using Technic bits and bobs. Even details like the statues in white to the left of the hall are so intricate and effective in the design, while still not being 100% visible from this angle. The triumph here is how all these aspects combine together to emphasize the gaping chasm in this hall where a king should reside.

The Empty Throne (version 1)

“Smile pretty for the camera”

As we all bask in the latest LEGO Lord of the Rings news, it’s a perfect time to celebrate other amazing Middle Earth constructions. Case in point, this tribute to the Mouth of Sauron by Marcin Otreba. This scene-stealing Return of the King character is perfectly captured here with his ornate armor and trademark spooky grin. Look closely, and you’ll see those creepy teeth are actually repurposed Battle Droid heads from the Star Wars prequels, which makes this build a loving homage to early 2000s blockbuster movies of all kinds.

Mouth of Sauron