The land of Middle Earth created by J.R.R. Tolkien and made famous through the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit books and later movies is full of fantastic characters and creatures.
Therefore it makes sense that the origami community has created amazing works of origami based off of this world and it’s inhabitants.
The Nazgul, Ringwraiths or Dark Riders from the Lord of the Rings are very iconic and make for a fantastic origami model, especially if they’re folded using evil looking dark black paper.
This Nazgul is designed by 晓 陈 and the entire model uses one sheet of paper. It also looks great no matter what colour of paper was used.
Nazgul, Designed and Folded by 晓 陈
Instructions not available
Jason Ku designed what’s probably the most famous origami Nazgul design. The next several photos are all his design but it’s very interesting to see how the model takes on a very different look and feel depending who folds it.
Nazgul, Designed by Jason Ku and Folded by nyanko sensei
Diagrams available in Origami Tanteidan Magazine #129
Nazgul, Designed by Jason Ku and Folded by Jackie Yang
Diagrams available in Origami Tanteidan Magazine #129
Nazgul, Designed by Jason Ku and Folded by Mariano
Diagrams available in Origami Tanteidan Magazine #129
I absolutely love the pose Matthew LaBoone folded this Nazgul in.
Nazgul, Designed by Jason Ku and Folded by Matthew LaBoone
Diagrams available in Origami Tanteidan Magazine #129
Here’s a great origami version of Gandalf riding into the battle at Helm’s Deep in the Two Towers.
Gandalf, Designed and Folded by 晓 陈
Instructions not available
Eric Joisel designed another great Gandalf model and Jordan Langerak was able to refold it himself just by looking at a photo of it!
Gandalf, Designed by Eric Josiel and Folded by Jordan Langerak
Instructions not available
Hosanna Tan designed an amazing origami Tauriel. Tauriel is the female elf that was added into the Hobbit movies. The entire model including the bow and quiver is folded from one sheet of paper.
Tauriel, Designed and Folded by Hosanna Tan
Crease pattern available from Hosanna Tan’s Flickr
Ents are the living trees from the Lord of the Rings. Just like the ents in the story come in many different sizes and shapes, so do origami Ents.
Ent, Designed by Andrey Ermakov and Folded by Adriano Davanzo
Instructions not available
Ent, Designed and Folded by Sergio Guarachi
Crease pattern available from Sergio Guarachi’s Flickr
Ent, Designed and Folded by Andrey Ermakov
Instructions not available
Ent, Designed and Folded by Andrey Ermakov
Instructions not available
Ent, Designed and Folded by Alex Satsukawa
Instructions not available
Hubert Villeneuve designed this elegant looking female elf.
Elf, Designed and Folded by Hubert Villeneuve
Instructions not available
Leo Lai designed some great origami versions of some of the main Lord of the Rings characters.
Legolas, Designed and Folded by Leo Lai
Instructions not available
Aragorn with Narsil, Designed and Folded by Leo Lai
Instructions not available
Finally we have this incredible origami Smaug from Kei Watanabe’s display at the Origami Tanteidan Convention.
Smaug, Designed and Folded by Kei Watanabe
Instructions not available
Be sure to check out all of these great origami artists if you enjoyed their work and let them know how awesome their origami is.
Also be sure to share this post on your social media if you enjoyed it. It really is a huge help.
Which one of these models was your favourite? Let us know in the comments.
