Is it just me, or did someone else notice?
Initially, after seeing "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Stone", and "The Fellowship of the Ring", I thought there are too many similarities between them to be coincidental.
After seeing "The Chamber of Secrets", and reading a bit about "The Prisoner of Azkaban", I saw "Lord of the Rings" trilogy again at home on DVD.
I thought that there was a lot of borrowing that J.K. Rowling did from J.R.R. Tolkien.
Let us see a list of similarities:
| Similarity | Lord of the Rings | Harry Potter |
|---|---|---|
| Villian | Sauron is the head of evil. He lost his power, and needs the ring to gain it all back | Voldemort is also a vanquished evil wizard. He needs the Sorcerer's Stone in order to gain his strength back |
| Unlikely Hero | Frodo Baggins is a Hobbit, a peaceful -- almost childish -- and weak race. He is entrusted with the task of saving the world from great evil | Harry is an 11 year orphan who does much the same |
| Special Object | The One Ring is the object that the hero must prevent the villian from getting, so as to regain his full powers | The Sorcerer's Stone is the same |
| Mentor/Protector | Gandalf is a guiding, helping, mentoring, teaching figure for Frodo | Professor Dumbledore is the same in the Harry Potter series |
| Troll | In the Fellowship of the Ring, the Orcs have a Cave Troll with them, and in The Two Towers, the Cave Trolls open the gates of Mordor | In Harry Potter II, there is a Mountain Troll, whom Harry and his friends have to overpower |
| Giant Spider | Shelob is a giant spider that almost kills and eats Frodo, in The Return of the King | In the forest, there is a talking spider. It is a friend of Hagred, but chases Harry wanting to eat him |
| Giant raptor bird | A giant eagle saves Gandalf from Isengard | In the Prisoner of Azkaban, Buckbeak is a giant raptor helping Harry and friends |
| Dragon | In the Hobbit, the prelude to The Lord of the Rings, the dragon Smaug is Bilbo Baggins adversary | In Harry Potter Chamber of Secrets, there is a dragon like reptilian monster, the Basilisk, whom Harry has to slay |
| Goblins | The goblins are one of the races of evil allying with Sauron and Saruman | There are goblins who run the bank. They are physically similar to the other ones, although mostly benign |
| Sidekick "Creature" | In Lord of the Ring, Gollum is a creature with both dual good and evil personalities. He helps Frodo in his quest | Dobby is a house elf who is both a hinderance and helpful at different times |
Of course, J.K. Rowling has a lot of original ideas of her own, such as the concept of muggles, and the game of Quiddich.
My opinion is that she borrowed too many themes to be a coincidence. For sure she was "inspired" by Tolkien's Lord of the Ring, at least partially.
After writing this page, I found the following links that ponder some of the points above:
- "Stone" and "Ring" look like 2 pages out of Same Spell-book
- Wikipedia article has a brief mention of similarities.
- A web page listing the similarities between Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings going into character details.
Comments
Fantasy Scribbler (not verified)
Tenuous at best
Wed, 2007/06/27 - 02:23I think it's ridiculous to say Rowling stole from Tolkien. As another poster stated, fantasy stories draw from myths and so will have similar themes. Rowling's blessed originality is in her characterization.
Sure, she has a dark lord. Yes, powerful magic devices too. And even dragons! My goodness!
Tolkien didn't invent any of these. He just happened to repopularize them. People who write these kinds of tales aren't all ripping him off. They're writing in a mythic tradition that stretches back to the ice age or, perhaps, further.
Rowling and Tolkien are of the same tradition. They are reintroducing myth to modern culture and for it they should be celebrated.
Anonymous (not verified)
It's not parentless heroes
Mon, 2007/07/16 - 02:20It's not parentless heroes and white wizards that betray the similarities between Rowling and Tolkien.
It is pointless to nit-pick and point out differences like "well, Sauron never used a wand." Point by point similarities are not the ones being argued here. Of course the book (HP) is different in that respect, otherwise Rowling would be writing fanfiction.
Anonymous (not verified)
Almost every fantasy story
Wed, 2007/07/18 - 23:27Almost every fantasy story today is very similar to Lord of the Rings, its simply inspired lots of other writers, and they use similar elements to the work which inspired them. Much of Tolkien's work off the Epic Poem Beowulf and of Norse/Celtic mythology.
I think in this case the similarities are a little too similar for my own tastes, but its certainly not breaking any copywright rules or anything like that, and Rowling certainly is trying to complete an origianl work. Until something better or more popular comes out, people will be copying Tolkien.
After all, "There is nothing new under the sun."
Sexlexia2000 (not verified)
PLAGIARIZER!
Sat, 2007/07/21 - 08:33JK ROWLING IS A TALENTLESS PLAGIERIZER WHO STEALS IDEAS AND MANIPULATES THEM, IM SURE A LITERARY GENIUS LIKE JRR TOLKIEN IS TURNING IN HIS PAUPERS GRAVE FOR EVERY 'BOOK' SHE SELLS...
JK ROWLING ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD CANNOT DISGUISE YOU FROM WHAT YOU REALLY ARE....A FRAUD!
Anonymous (not verified)
Actually
Wed, 2007/12/26 - 02:27Actually Tolkein died a very wealthy man, he was a professor at Oxford. I agree that Rowling doesn't deserve the fame she's gotten, though. I have been a lifelong Tolkien devotee and have read many of his works other than Lord of the Rings, and Rowling hasn't had a single original idea.
Anonymous (not verified)
Tolkien "borrowed" too
Sun, 2009/07/19 - 19:18"Rowling hasn't had a single original idea."
Neither did Tolkien. He borrowed heavily from Celtic sources for his Elves, German for the Ring cylcle, and a lot of other sources. Even "Gandalf" in name and wizardry wasn't originally his.
Please, check his sources. For someone claiming to want to create a British mythology, he borrowed heavily from elsewhere.
Russ (not verified)
Neither did Tolkien. He borrowed heavily from Celtic sources
Mon, 2011/03/07 - 13:53He may have borrowed heavily but if you'd read the Silmarillion you'd know that he pretty much invented an entirely new world and even invented his own languages. Trying to say that he was unoriginal is highly unfair and to compare him to Rowling does him absolutely no justice whatsoever.
Anonymous (not verified)
Yea but Tolkien gave them
Mon, 2013/04/15 - 19:03Yea but Tolkien gave them credit. Rowling did not.
Anonymous (not verified)
HMMMMMMMM
Sat, 2007/07/21 - 08:40HAS NOONE NOTICED THAT IN THE LATEST MOVE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX THERE ARE TWO DISTINCT QUOTES/SCENES STOLEN FROM OTHER MOVIES
HARRY IS ABOUT TO KILL BELLATRIX AND VOLDEMORT IS EGGING HIM ON......LUKE SKYWALKER IS ABOUT TO KILL DARTH VADER AND THE EMPORER IS EGGING HIM ON
AND
AT THE END OF LOTR THE TWO TOWERS FROD ASKS SAM 'WHAT ARE WE FIGHTING FOR?' SAM SAYS 'THAT THERE IS SOME GOOS LEFT IN THE WORLD' ......AT END OF HP ORDER OF THE PHOENIX RN ASKS HARRY 'WHAT ARE WE FIGHTING FOR?' HARRY SAYS ' THAT THERE IS SOME GOOD IN THIS WORLD
HHHHHHHHHHHMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MY BROTHER, COUSIN AND I ALL POINTED THESE SIMILARITIES OUT TO EACH OTHER AT THE SAME TIME WHILST WATCHING, COINCIDENTAL? I THINK NOT!!!!!!!
Anonymous (not verified)
Dude, someone egging on a
Tue, 2008/10/07 - 06:35Dude, someone egging on a "morally good" person to kill or do something similar, and the hero having to resist happens *everywhere*. Also the question "why/for what do we fight" and its various answers (e.g. "for what is good in the world") also appears widely in fiction and real life. Both of these phrases are and have been widely in use, and are in no way monopolized by a single source.
Pages