Religious Themes in Film

Lesson 1: Introduction and Lord of the Rings I

For Thought

• What parts of Campbell’s hero myth do you agree with? What parts do you see problems with?
• What are some drawbacks to using Campbell’s theory to analyze stories that form the basis of religions?
• What are some other stories that you know that seem to follow the hero’s journey archetype?
• In your local library, look up the Northern European myth of Sigurd the Volsung. In it, you will recognize many characters and symbols from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. For instance, there's a powerful ring that brings bad luck to all who carry it, there's an old grey-haired man who walks around in a cloak and a broad-brimmed hat, and there's a sword that is broken, only to be welded back together and wielded by the appropriate heir. How is the hero's journey described in the myth of Sigurd?

In Lesson Two, will continue our look at various LOTR characters and their biblical parallels in terms of myth structure. We’ll also look at how examining scripture and movies in terms of myth are important to our own life and spiritual developments.

Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy. New York: Grolier, Inc., 1968.

Beck, Peggy V., Anna Lee Walters, and Nia Francisco. The Sacred: Ways of Knowledge, Sources of Life. Tsaile, Arizona: Dine College Bookstore/Press, 2002.

Brown, Raymond E., Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy, ed. The Jerome Biblical Commentary. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc., 1968.

Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1949.

Eliade, Mircea. Myth and Reality. New York: Harper & Row, 1963.

Herzberg, Max J. Classical Myths. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1954.

Meeks, Wayne A., ed. The HarperCollins Study Bible. New York: HarperCollins, 1989.

Milton, John.Paradise Lost. New York: Rinehart & Co. Inc., 1951.

Rosenberg, Donna, ed. World Mythology. Chicago: NTC Publishing Group, 1994.

Snyder, Tom. "Myth Perceptions, Joseph Campbell's Power of Deceit." Answers in Action Web Site. (1991). http://www.answers.org/cultsandreligions...

Vergil. The Aeneid. New York: Bantam Books, 1961.

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