What is a story worth? Would you value a good story over a brand new diamond ring? A house? How about a whole town? In fact, a story is worth more than all these tangible things… combined. But, how is that possible? How does a completely intangible idea have more value than all these things? Enter the Lord of the Rings. The latest movie adaptation of LOTR, written by JRR Tolkien and adapted to film by Peter Jackson, grossed over $3 billion dollars. $3 billion dollars! The books alone have grossed about $2.5 billion dollars. One copy of the first edition original Hobbit is worth about $150,000. Amazon, ironically, whose sole purpose is to sell tangible stuff, spent $250 million dollars just for the right to make their own adaptation of just a small part of this story.

LOTR fans are one of the largest, most diverse, and intensely loyal audiences in the world. As Steve Colbert likes to say, “Lord of the Rings is the Number One Trilly!” But Why? What could make a fantastical story that takes place in a made-up world, with non-existent elves, silly dwarves, and tiny-hairy-footed hobbits, so incredibly powerful and valuable? Psychology is the answer. Like art and music, certain stories elicit human reaction. And those reactions can change lives in ways that tangible things cannot.

This class will cover what those typical reactions look like and then discuss the psychological mechanisms behind them. We will discuss why Faerie, and Tolkien’s stories especially, are so successful at prompting these psychological functions.

This class is not so much about Tolkien’s work, but rather it is a study of the people who are impacted by his work and why they react the way they do. We will tie the required readings with various psychological studies.

Session Outline Session Outline

• Sessions 1 and 2: Intro to this Class + Psychology of Faerie Stories This is a psychology class! We will talk about the literature, but mostly will focus on what happens to us when we engage with the literature. While we will read some Tolkien, most of what we will be reading are scientific studies. To begin, we will define and discuss the true definition of a faerie story? And HOW does it captivate? Introduce “positive psychology” vs. “traditional psychology” and the concept of Flow State.
• Session 3: Developmental Psychology and Faerie How does Faerie impact the adolescent and child versus the adult. Why are teenagers & adults impacted? Talk about different stages of development specifically moral development
• Sessions 3 and 4: First of two parts on “Fantasy, Recovery and Escape” The first part will focus on “Fantasy” and the difference between Controlled Fantastical Thoughts and being delusional or hallucinating and Tolkien's vies on Lies Vs. Enchantment. We will also talk about Frankl’s theories of logotherapy.
• Session 5: Recovery & Escape What does Tolkien mean by “cleaning our window”? How does the concept of the “Eucatastrophe” allow people to recover from trauma and build resilience mechanisms?
• Session 6: Tolkien and Carl Jung – Symbolism, Imagination and Magic. This class will be based on the lectures given by Dr. Lance S. Owens on the similarities between Carl Jung’s imaginative experiences writing his “Red Book” and Tolkien’s writing
• Session 7: Thinking Strategically (non-linear) vs. linear thinking (cognitive psychology and adult learning) How does Fantasy open up non-linear thinking and learning? Plus, how do Tolkien’s stories allow for safe places to think without bias and repressive tolerance. We will introduce various cognitive psychology theories such as Frederickson's Broaden and Build Theory and Mezirow's theories on adult learning.
• Session 8: Spirituality & Evangelium. The religion of LoTR. SBIMI – SHALL PROVE BUT MINE INSTRUMENT! Faith and Finding grace in LoTR and how that type of spirituality contributes to happiness and well-being.