Glamis? Cawdor? A bookworm's musings

[Lush]

I have had these nagging thoughts for a while. It all started when I was exploring Ian McKellen's official site. On it, a fan posted a question that basically asked, "Do you think that there is any evidence of Shakespeare's direct influence in Tolkien's works?" Ian McKellen said that he didn't think so...
Well, for those of you who have read Shakespeare's Macbeth, are there not at least two clear instances in LotR that remind you of the tragedy?
First of all, Saruman being attacked by the Ents, made me remember the prophecy that Macbeth was given, "Macbeth shall never vanquished be until/Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill/Shall come against him." Macbeth laughs it off, until soldiers dressed with tree branches from Birnam forest show up in his land. This may not be a direct relation, but it certainly smacks of the same kind of oversight. Who would ever expect a FOREST to attack them? Certainly not Macbeth, nor Saruman. Eh?...
Second of all, the confrontation between the Witchking and Eowyn made me rub my chin and say, "hmmmm", as well. Remember: Macbeth was told that no man born of woman could ever harm him. In the same fashion, the Witchking knows that no man can destroy him. Both get the shock of their lives when they realize, that their respective enemies, Macduff and Dernhelm are in a position to kill them, because Macduff was "from his mother's womb untimely ripped," and Dernhelm is actually the golden-haired woman, Eowyn.
Even if these are mere coincidences, they are still pretty cool. Or, at the very least, this is what the English Geek Who's Really From Russia thinks. [img]smilies/cool.gif[/img]