ABSTRACT
This essay offers a new vantage for Tolkien scholarship and Adaptation Studies by engaging with LEGO sets based on Middle-earth. To date, Tolkien scholars have occasionally produced analyses of adapted fan fiction, art, music, radio, card games, massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), and comic books. 1 Following the release of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, numerous commentators have also considered Tolkien screen issues from a variety of angles. 2 Until now, though, there has been no account of the processes involved in the recreation of Middle-earth via plastic brick sets themed after Jackson’s Tolkien films. Produced by LEGO since 2012, I will examine the 25 sets on sale as of this writing (in early 2014) tied to The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–3), The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013).
