Abby Epplett, Historian

For the second installment to my miniseries connecting psychology with history and The Lord of the Rings , I turn my focus to Frodo Baggins. As the protagonist and in-universe editor of Tolkien’s most famous work, along with one of his most polarizing characters, Frodo’s enigmatic writing style not only brought ambiguity to his unreliable narration but also indicated severe and untreated mental illness. While a diagnosis of PTSD has been applied to the character, I have not seen a more in-depth psychological profile. I wanted to present a comprehensive picture of what I think Frodo was experiencing based on my research of medieval folklore, 19 th through early 20 th century medicine, and modern diagnostic tools.

On the same day I made quick history stops in Petersham, walked along the shores of the Quabbin Reservoir , and explored Bear’s Den , I visited the New England Peace Pagoda in Leverett, MA. Completed in 1985, this stupa now serves as a center of worship for local Cambodian and Japanese Buddhists. The building was created symbols of peace after the bombing of Japan at the end of World War II. The mission of the Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist Order is encouraging total nuclear disarmament, while the site itself provides a quiet place of reflection and meditation.

Tolkien wrote his legendarium from the 1930s to the 1970s, and while he was ahead of his time in many aspects, he could not have anticipated modern understanding of mental health. He experienced significant childhood trauma and two world wars, which are known to cause mental health disabilities. This installment will not speculate on the state of Tolkien’s mental health and its potential effect on his work. Instead, I will study the text as if it was written by in-universe characters describing themselves and those they know. This will serve as the basis for case studies reviewing explicitly stated symptoms along with the history behind the diagnosis.

On a beautifully sunny day in October as the leaves changed to their brightest colors, I took a trip to rural Worcester County. My first walk was around the Petersham Common Historic District, where I made several quick history stops. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 , this relaxing and open space has many classic New England small town places of interest, including churches, a country store, town offices, a library, a historical society building, and walking trails.

In September 2024, I visited places and attended programs in Essex National Heritage Area as part of its annual event Trails & Sails . My final pair of stops on the trip were Patton Park and Patton Homestead in Hamilton, MA. Combining the story of a military family with New England architecture and beautiful nature walks, these sites were the perfect way to end a successful trip.

In her MasterClass, U.S. Presidential History and Leadership , award-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin discussed topics surrounding leadership, such as whether leaders are born or made, how emotional intelligence factors into leadership decisions, the ability to help rivals work together, and ways to relax from work. With each topic, she related stories from the lives of her four favorite presidents: Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt (TR), Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), and Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBR). The course is based on her book, Leadership in Turbulent Times , published by Simon & Schuster in 2018 , which followed the lives of these four presidents, while she won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1995 for her biography of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt . Additionally, the 2012 Steven Spielberg film Lincoln was based on her biography, and she conducted a popular “exit interview” of president Barak Obama for Vanity Fair in 2016 .

As the name suggests, Bywater was a hobbit town in the Shire located by water, more specifically by the Water, the hobbit-name for a river that emptied into the Brandywine. Unlike Hobbiton, which appeared to be a late medieval village overseen by a landlord, Bywater was a commercial center occupied by working and middle-class hobbits who owned a shop or knew a trade. My design of Bywater considers many factors, including a map created by Tolkien, pre-historic town design, medieval markets towns, revivals of medieval architecture occurring around the time of the book’s publication, and design features specific to pubs and shops still used in modern England.

On Thursday, March 27 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., I watched the third Parked at Home webinar of the 2025 season. This is the fourth year of the Parked at Home series of virtual talks hosted by Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park (BLRV) and other sites in the National Park Service, along with the third year of summaries appearing on my blog. The presentations this year are interpreted into American Sign Language (ASL) by Sherrolyn King. The hour-long webinars will be uploaded to the BlackstoneNPS YouTube channel and available to view at any time. The third installment to this year’s series was Carlsbad Caverns National Park featuring park ranger Tim Bone who formerly worked at Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area in Wyoming , Grand Portage National Monument in Northern Minnesota , Russell Cave National Monument in northern Alabama , and Blackstone River Valley and Roger Williams National Memorial in Rhode Island .

I first learned about the documentary Whitin through a Blackstone Heritage Corridor newsletter upon its release about five months ago in November 2024. The documentary was edited, written, and produced by filmmaker Heather Riley of North Grafton with significant input from members of the Whitin family. The documentary is about twenty-seven minutes in length and currently hosted on the ValleyCAST YouTube channel.

Each year in September, Essex National Heritage Area hosts Trails & Sails , an opportunity to “[b]e guided through unique landscapes on land and sea, explore historic properties, and take in cultural experiences of all kinds”. I attended locations and programs affiliated with this event for the second time in 2024. My first stop on this three-day adventure was Hammond Castle, a 20 th century home that takes inspiration from European Medieval architecture. This property was filled with history and artifacts, along with two great tours, so I am breaking this visit into two parts. As for national recognition, the house has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973 .

Humans become bewildered when given too much ambiguous information in an illogical order. Unfortunately, this is how the text of The Lord of the Rings operates. Between its myriad of perspectives, thousands of years of in-universe history, multiple languages and cultures, and an entire planet of locations, the material seems muddled even to experienced readers. The overwhelming effect of Tolkien’s Legendarium is part of the experience; the reader does not have to know the entire story to feel immersed in the fantasy world but studying both the constructs of Middle-earth and the real-world history upon which it was based enables the reader to understand the complex motivations of the characters. While I am all for embarking on in-depth research, most readers do not have the time or energy for such study. Additionally, trying to remember all this material takes up a lot of headspace. In user experience research, the amount of stress while using available headspace is known as “c...

On the same day I visited Middleborough Historical Museum and Robbins Museum of Archaeology , I took my customary history stops around the town, including the library, town hall, churches, and war memorials. Most of these important community buildings were located in Middleborough Center National Historic District, which has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2000 . Unique features of this town are its incredibly tall town hall design, a historic bell, and signage commemorating American Revolutionary War hero Deborah Sampson . This is also an informal survey of who is on what side of the Middleborough/Middleboro naming divide.

In late August 2024, after a morning of hiking the Cliff Walk and viewing the Great Elephant Migration, I spent the afternoon at Fort Adams State Park . After a relaxing picnic lunch, I took  a tour of Fort Adams itself, originally named after second U.S. President John Adams, which has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1970 . As an added bonus, the fort was celebrating its 200 Year Anniversary, with construction started in 1824 and completed in 1857.

Just before leaving the Cape after my five-day adventure back in August 2024, I made a few quick history stops in Bourne before crossing its infamous bridge. Historic buildings included a restored home, a church, a blacksmith shop, a reproduction carriage house, and a public library, while the most unique discovery of the day was an amphibious vehicle used during World War II.

In August 2024, I went on a five-day trip to Cape Cod, MA where I visited many museums and cultural organizations, along with quick history stops and trails. The charming town of Sandwich, MA boasts a self-guided historical walking tour curated by the Sandwich Historical Commission and Sandwich Community Media , along with plenty of plaques and memorials. Despite the cloudy weather, I enjoyed my stroll down historic Main Street.

In August 2024, I went on a five-day trip to Cape Cod, MA where I visited many museums and cultural organizations, along with quick history stops and trails. Between major stops in Cotuit like Cotuit Historical Society and Cahoon Museum of American Art , I made several quick history stops. I visited Cotuit Library and nearby Cotuit Memorial Park, Cotuit Federated Church, Mariners Lodge, and Freedom Hall.

Universally disliked by the Free People of Middle-earth, Orcs seemed to exist only to kill and destroy, and yet these people presented a moral dilemma: if orcs were truly evil and not human, they deserved death; however, if they showed an understanding of good and evil, even if they repeatedly did wrong, then targeting them was a race-based genocide. Tolkien was uncomfortable with the concept of his heroes being racist towards their enemies, yet the heroes were frequently racist towards each other, so this was not what set apart their treatment of orcs. The key difference was that orcs could be killed without repercussions. While Elves participated in kinslayings, Dwarves and Elves fought each other, and Men joked about hunting Hobbits, these actions were eventually seen as reprehensible, while the mass killing of orcs was viewed as acceptable, even a game.

Appendix B contained a long and detailed timeline clarifying dates and locations related to characters found in the dialogue portion of the book and Appendix A, explaining relationships between characters, and describing the fates of characters, especially members of the Fellowship. Like in the real-world, all characters died on Middle-earth or passed over the Sea — a metaphor for death — bringing closure to the story in a way rarely seen in modern fiction but common in religious texts, mythologies, and history books.

Several weeks ago, I visited Norton Historical Society in Norton, MA. Located down the street from my undergraduate alma mater, Wheaton College, this historic school and barn features many artifacts from the town and surrounding area. A tour guide and a scavenger hunt assisted me in finding unique items stashed in the space.

Back on Sunday, July 14, 2024, I visited the Berkley Historical Society , a stop in the Passport to History developed by Old Colony Museum . Located in the tiny town of Berkley with a population under 7,000, this museum told the history of the rural community with a focus on military uniforms and local businesses. The collection lives in the beautifully restored and updated Old Town Hall, which once housed the library. Because of this work, the building had the best lighting system I have seen in any museum.