Yo, Tolkien and Rowling are both drawing on a lot of the same <I>primary sources</I>: Norse mythology, Greek and Roman mythology, Old English epics, Latin, etcetera, etcetera, ad infinitum. Neither of them invented: Little People, wizards, witches, magic wands, invisibility spells, undead demonic figures, dragons, etcetera: all those ideas are thousands of years old. Other than that, I'd say there's really no similarities at all. <P>Only if those are the only two fantasy series you've ever read (and you've never read the primary sources) would you think so.<P>Harry Potter: Enid Blyton boarding school stories + <I>Bewitched.</I> + modern, conversational style + JK Rowling's imagination.<P>LOTR: <I>Ring of the Niebelung</I> + Poetic Edda + Irish Sagas + Brothers Grimm + 19th century idea of high epic style + JRR Tolkien's imagination.<P>Don't see the point of getting so uptight about some dumbarse rivalry, really. It's not like you have to choose between them.
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