Environmentally, you’ve got to hand it to Sauron

And now for something completely non clam-related…a speculative essay about LOTR as an environmental allegory, drawing on my posts to social media last week that clearly struck a nerve.

I’m the first to admit that Sauron’s rule of Mordor was highly problematic. But frankly, I think those concerns, focusing largely on his foreign policy, have been discussed ad nauseam, and not enough attention has been paid to his legacy as a steward of the environment. Plentiful examples exist of Sauron’s all-seeing eye for conservation. One need look no further than the Dead Marshes. These scenic lands were a well-maintained string bog which represented one of the environmental gems of Mordor, and were maintained as a protected reserve where orcish patrols did not enter. The marshes were an innovative nature-based solution to the environmental challenge of the thousands of corpses left over after the Battle of Dagorlad. The Dark Lord in his wisdom allowed the wetlands to expand to mediate the damage left over and return those nutrients to the ecosystem.

The marshes hosted diverse populations of anaerobic bacteria which helped preserve the famed bog bodies of the area, leading to them being an important archaeological site. The microbes produced a small amount of natural methane, and while this reduced the ability of the marsh to sequester carbon from Mordorian industry, the resulting little candles were a major attraction for visiting ecotourists.

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