Not to be confused with the Lord of the Rings Tarot Deck and Game, this non-tarot divination oracle contains a full-color hardbound book, 40 cards, a map, and a ring.  The different pieces are meant to be used either alone or in combination with each other, which provides different kinds of answers depending on what kind of question you are asking.  Donaldson did also help in designing the Lord of the Rings Tarot.  Just like with that deck, I found some good points and some to take umbrage with.

For starters, I'll begin with the ring.  I'll take each part of this oracle set separately.  The ring is presented as part of this set to be used sort of like pendulum divination, which is excellent for yes/no questions. The ring is supposed to represent the One Ring of Tolkien's novels.  The One Ring was crafted of some spectacular kind of metal containing all sorts of mystical properties, none the least of which was making its wearer invisible.  The One Ring was inscribed with a series of Elven runes.  This ring is also inscribed with runes.  It is made of some kind of heavy polymer resin.  It is not a ring you could wear, in fact it looks fairly cheap.  It suffices as a pendulum, but I would have liked a metal ring that looked more like a piece of jewelry.  The ring fits tightly into a slot in the case the set is packaged in.

The map is presented as part of this set and this is the part that confuses me somewhat.  According to the book, the different parts of the landscape represent archetypal scenarios through which we pass in our lives.  The map is printed on a stiff heavy paper with a thick gloss coating on the front, making it sticky feeling and very hard to unfold, and near impossible to keep laying flat unless you lay a piece of glass over it or something.  The map is not copied from any of Tolkien's excellent hand-rendered maps which came in the books; it is a painting by the artist who did the cards and book/case cover for this set.  The map only features some of the landscape areas which were shown in Tolkien's much more detailed versions.  Otherwise, the map is beautifully done.  I'd rather frame it than put it back into the case.  Which would also solve the laying flat problem.

The cards themselves are 40 in number.  Each card is presented without borders; the images take up the entire card, with only a small white text block on them near the bottom featuring the title of the card, in English.  None of the cards are numbered.  There is no way that they correspond in any way to a traditional tarot, there are no majors or minors, no suit or court cards, no divisions or values.  All 40 cards represent different scenarios, characters, and pivotal points of the novels.  The cards themselves are printed on fairly heavy card stock, with a thick glossy coating on both sides.  They were all stuck together when I opened the pack, and had to separate them carefully.  They do not shuffle well because they keep sticking together.  The back design is part of the map.  It does not reverse.  The cards are slightly larger than standard.  Getting them out of the box presented a real challenge, since they sit inside a cubbyhole which has tabs on the side meant to hold the cards in place.  I found it was easier to remove the inserts in the box and then lift the cards, but getting the inserts back into place was also a challenge.  This box is definitely meant to be attractive, and not utilitarian.

The artwork on this set is truly lovely, very impressive.  Aside from the fact that once again we have an artist who neglects to put thick brown fur on top of the hobbits' feet, otherwise the detail is closer to what the books describe than the tarot with the same name is.  Plus the art is just more attractive.  The small hardcover book is a really nice one with full color glossy pages, stitch bound for longer lasting quality.  The book presents a nice lot of instructions for use of the set.  The descriptions of the cards include a section which explains the image, followed by the "Esoteric Meaning," the "Personal Indications," and the "Reversed Meaning."  Three unique spreads created just for use with this set are included, as is a biography of J.R.R. Tolkien and a nice bibliography.

The set is packaged in one of the nicest boxes I've ever seen, it ties closed with a ribbon and would make a beautiful gift.  This set is endorsed by Tolkien Enterprises as an official gift product.  I have to recommend it for anyone who is a Tolkien fan, but it also seems to be an interesting piece of divination for anyone who is looking for insight into themselves. I don't think I would read for others with this, but who knows, with practice, perhaps that is exactly possible.  Of course, anyone you would read for would have to also be a Tolkien fan to "get" anything out of it.  It makes an awesome addition to any collection.  It's not too hard for beginners to use, but experienced diviners might come up with new ways to use it.  It seems flexible enough for that.

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Review Copyright 1999 by Gina M. Pace

The Lord of the Rings Oracle by Terry Donaldson, 1998
published by Godsfield Books, ISBN 0-8069-2053-X