Oxonmoot 2024

Morgoth’s injection of his essence into Arda made it “Morgoth’s Ring”; the only way to remove him is to “disintegrat[e] the matter of Arda”. We reread Arda Marred as a parable for climate change, offering a new critique of how Tolkien’s legendarium responds to climate change as a c19-20 anxiety. It uses environmental bioethics and Timothy Morton’s ecological work to read Morgoth as a symbol for humanity’s mistreatment of the environment. Much like the invisible yet destructive effects of plutonium, Morgoth’s ‘corruption’ is a metaphysical, ontological, and philosophical hyperobject responsible for Arda’s fall; its effects, like humanity’s creations, outlives sentience in Arda. Building on Heidegger’s tool-being, it is only once environs have been marred that their true value is noticed. However, Tolkien noted that Morgoth cannot “annihilate” the world itself; the environs will recover, healing from Morgoth’s scarring of Arda’s body. The end is a beginning: an ecological feedback loop.

Literary Tarot decks are not a new phenomena, and in fact, there are several Tolkien inspired Tarot decks. The Major Arcana of Tarot already represent specific themes and meanings, and it is up the artists writing and illustrating the deck to translate the text inspiring the Tarot deck from story to card. A 2022 Tolkien inspired deck, written by Casey Gilly and illustrated by Tomas Hijo, was reviewed in Mythlore by noted Tarot scholar Emily Auger, who wrote that "their deck does not indicate any particular familiarity with their source texts" (Summer/Spring 2023, 247). In comparison, her review of the 1997 'The Lord of the Rings Tarot Deck and Card Game' from U.S. Game Systems admits that the deck "shows some effective dramatizations and elucidations of the qualities and characters of both the Tarot figures and symbols and of the stories aligned with them" (Spring/Summer 2013, 138). This presentation dives into the Major Arcana of both decks in terms of Tarot figures and Tolkien story.