Let Frodo, Sam, Gandalf, and other beloved inhabitants of Middle-earth guide your tarot practice with this epic tarot deck and guide, inspired by the iconic The Lord of the Rings novels.
Join the Fellowship of the Ring with the only official The Lord of the Rings tarot deck! Featuring original artwork inspired by classic tarot iconography, this 78-card deck comprises both major and minor arcana and depicts fan-favorite characters, creatures, and scenes from The Lord of the Rings novels. Packaged in a collectible gift box, it’s the perfect gift for The Lord of the Rings fans and tarot enthusiasts alike!
75+ BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED CARDS: Features stunning, exclusive artwork of everyone from heroes like Sam Gamgee and Legolas to sinister antagonists Gollum and Sauron!
HELPFUL GUIDE: Learn the basics of tarot with the included bonus guide, with handy explanations behind the meaning of each card as well as a few simple spreads for easy readings.
COLLECTIBLE GIFT BOX: The Lord of the Rings Tarot Deck and Guide comes packaged in a handsome, collectible gift box.
This deck is published by Simon & Schuster in the US and by Titan Books in the UK. You can see the unboxing and flickthrough videos on TikTok.
I love Tomas' artwork. His Labyrinth deck is one of my favourites (and I'm very much looking forward to next year's Dark Crystal deck to complement it!) Casey Gilly, the author of this deck, has written several other already published or upcoming decks, including the aforementioned Dark Crystal deck and one of my most anticipated for next year, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer deck! All of this is my longwinded way of saying that we are in very good hands with this deck.
The box is standard S&S/Titan, a little larger than the cards with a lid that fits down over it from above. The cards sit in a well underneath the LWB.
The LWB itself is one of my favourite things about this deck; in keeping with the theme, it's printed on both sides of one massive sheet of paper designed to look like parchment.
It's designed to fold out exactly the way the author wants it to; the first thing you see is a welcome to the deck, then it jumps straight into the Majors. Each card has a small, full colour image, a description linking the Major to the LotR character, and upright and reversed meanings.
The first side has all the Majors and the suit of Rings, which are Pentacles; Swords, Cups and Wands are on the other side. Minor cards don't have the image or description, just the upright and reversed meanings.
At the end of the sheet, under the Wands, there are sections on caring for your deck, performing readings, three spreads all named for LotR concepts (The Trilogy, Second Breakfast, and The Road) and then info about the author, illustrator and publisher. The sheet is designed so that if you open it in sections, you'll get a complete suit all at once.
The cards feature a beautifully coloured, fully reversible back design.
The images are all hand drawn and feature all the iconic characters. Images are not based on the movie; Sam and Legolas have dark hair and Aragorn is clean shaven, among other differences. Aces and Court cards are illustrated (along with two random Sword cards) but the rest of the minors are pips, as in the Labyrinth deck.
I love the feel of these cards. They have a lovely creamy background and they shuffle and slide easily, no stuttering or catching. They're a good size to fit comfortably in my hands. However (and this is very much a me issue) I'm mildly face blind and I can't always tell which of the beautifully drawn characters is which straight away. I can still read the card by meaning of course, and I can figure the characters out if I take a minute, but it does interrupt my flow a little - especially the few characters who were only mentioned by name and didn't physically appear in the movies/novels, like Bullroarer Took. However I love the way the images look; the style is perfect for LotR, very Old English in the angles and colours.
As a pip deck, this is not the best for a complete beginner, but for anyone who knows at least the basics and/or is a fan of Lord of the Rings, this would be a great deck. I've used the deck in readings and found that it's good for quick readings; it's accurate but doesn't go as deeply as some decks. That works perfectly well for me!
I'm really enjoying this deck and I look forward to using it for a long time to come.
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