oh hey i have an old google doc somewhere where i assigned all major arcana to the hobbit. hold on iāll find it
okay itās based mostly on the book. and itās only for the hobbit not lotr. and since there are no women in the hobbit book some of the more feminine tarot cards are creatively interpreted. but here are my old notes if it helps at all. meanings are listed as (upright; reverse)
the fool: bilbo (new beginnings; recklessness. major arcana is sometimes viewed as the foolās journey and this card is him at the very start of it i.e. bilbo running out of the shire eager for adventure but uncomprehending of the true danger that awaits him. hobbits leaving their home are really THE quintessential fool archetype)
the magician: gandalf (willpower/manifestation; trickery/illusions. the magician usually starts the fool on his journey. literallyyy gandalf. he walked into the shire that morning knowing full well he was going to fuck up bilboās entire life. and he was delighted to do it too)
the high priestess: map and key to erebor (intuition; secrets. like the magician, the high priestess usually helps start the fool out on his journey. represents potential that needs to be acted on to be realized. the map and key are the whole instigation of the quest)
the empress: the shire (fertility/nature; dependence/smothering. the shire is both where bilbo longs to return to and where he cannot stay if he truly wants an adventure)
the emperor: thorin (authority/control; tyranny/rigidity. a delicate balance. one that thorin does not always handle with grace)
the hierophant: elrond (tradition/pursuit of knowledge; new approaches. elrond in his perfect little valley staying out of peoples business til they bring it to his doorstep. his reading of the moonrunes spurring the dwarves further on their journey)
the lovers: idk i never actually filled this one in. the meaning is (partnerships; disharmony). it doesnāt have to be romantic necessarily. you could choose any pairing really. for the purposes of this hobbit oriented list iād have to say itās either bilbo-thorin or better yet the company as a whole. they are quite the silly bunch after all, united in their goal but often at odds with one another.
the chariot: the eagles (control/willpower; lack of control/aggression. who knows when the eagles are going to deign to show up. sure they owe gandalf a couple of favors but theyāre giant predatory birds man. favorite part of the book is when the eagles save them and bilbo is like THEY are GOING to EAT ME. their control of the situation vs the lack of control for those they rescue)
strength: beorn (bravery/compassion; self-doubt/weakness. naturally strength is the huge werebear guy. he lets gandalf trick him into housing thirteen dwarves and a hobbit with only a little bit of eye-rolling on his part. cool dude)
the hermit: smeagol (contemplation/search for truth; isolation/loneliness/lost your way. riddles in the dark. what has it got in itās pocketses precious?)
the wheel of fortune: the one ring (change/inevitable fate; no control/bad luck. bilbo was fated to find the ring. in doing so he sealed both frodoās fate and all of middle earthās)
justice: thranduil (cause and effect/clarity/truth; unaccountability/unfairness. if you trespass in this guyās spooky forest you will be put in jail. if you are then asked to explain why you were trespassing in his spooky forest and are annoyingly evasive about it you will be put in jail for HUNDREDS OF YEARS. the prison food is good though)
the hanged man: bard (sacrifice/release; fear of sacrifice. bard wants nothing to do with the prophecy and knows the danger thorin and co pose when they come to laketown. when smaug attacks the guards fall back but bard holds fast and slays the dragon alone. fears the cost of war but will do what he needs to secure a future for his own people)
death: the lonely mountain and the desolation of smaug (end of a cycle/beginnings; holding on/stagnation. thereās a lot wrapped up in erebor as a concept. itās the end of the companyās journey and the beginning of their future. itās also their past and their doom)
temperance: the thrush (patience/finding meaning; extremes/lack of balance. stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocksĀ on durinās day and a magic keyhole will appear. who hired this bird and why is it so committed to itās job. itās been 170 years)
the devil: smaug and the hoarded gold (excess/materialism/playfulness; freedom/release. smaug is greed incarnate. he leaves the mountain but the greed does not leave with him. freedom from greed can only be found when the treasure is shared)
the tower: burning of laketown (disaster/pride/upheaval; delaying or avoiding disaster. laketown sang of prophecy and gold when thorin and co arrived. that same prophecy is their downfall. perhaps it was inevitable. in the end the dragon is slain, even if it was at great cost)
the star: the arkenstone (hope/faith/rejuvenation; discouragement/faithlessness. the jewel of erebor. a representation of the days of old glory and the hopeful days of glory yet to come. used by bilbo to bring peace to a dire situation but only by betraying the faith thorin put in him not to do so)
the moon: roƤc and the ravens of erebor (unconscious/intuition; confusion/misinterpretation. messenger ravens silhouetted by the moon? cool as hell)
the sun: dain (joy/success/celebration; negativity/sadness. the arrival of dain and his army from the iron hills was a great joy to the dwarves of erebor and an even greater boon in the war against the orcs and wargs. as king under the mountain he ushers in a new age of prosperity for erebor. but one remembers that it was only by way of tragedy he was granted kingship at all)
judgement: bilbo at thorinās deathbed. (reflection/reckoning; doubt/self-loathing. war comes at a cost even when it is in defense of something noble. thorin has clarity. his last words are kind. his home is restored; his nephews are dead. he judges this hobbit to be more worthy than all he has known before. he is forgiven)
the world: middle earth. specifically the path bilbo took to get there and back again. (fulfillment/completion; no closure/incomplete goals. bilboās journey took him farther than he ever imagined. the quest for erebor is complete; the mountain is reclaimed; but the king does not live to see his home rebuilt; and a friend is lost forever)
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