Secondary Ecology, Tertiary World: Middle-earth’s Ecology as Played by Aotearoa

Tolkien's self-declared love of nature (Letters: 165) is well-known and forms a thread that runs through all his work, to the point that Brian Rosebury (2003) posits that 'Middle-earth, rather than any of the characters, is the hero of The Lord of the Rings'. John Garth (2020) points out various links between the nature of The Shire and other Middle-earth locations and England, taken, as Tolkien wrote, from 'such life as I know' (Letters: 181). However, visual adaptations of Tolkien's work by Peter Jackson and Amazon have used locations in Aotearoa (New Zealand), to play the 'character' of Middle-earth on screen. These locations have their own plant species and ecologies that are often visually distinct from those found in Europe, particularly England. This paper explores the significance and possibilities of transposing Middle-earth into the ecology and landscapes of Aotearoa, the conjuration of a “new” Middle-earth, and how (if) it changes our own imaginations of Tolkien’s world.