10 Incredible Similarities Between Harry Potter And The Lord Of The Rings

6. Nature

One of the less obvious parallels between Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings, is in the detail of the magical worlds; it's not just Privet Drive and the Shire that share similarities, as the further we delve into the universes, the more each one reveals uncannily similar ideas. Like the Whomping Willow in Hogwarts, the Old Man Willow of Lord of the Rings is a sentient yet evil tree, determined to kill the heroes; in the extended DVD edition of The Two Towers, it swallows Merry and Pippin. Both worlds also have a giant, tentacled creature that hides in the lake €“ the Watcher of the Water lives near the Westgate of Moria in Middle-earth, and a giant squid occupies the Hogwarts lake €“ and both Hogwarts and the Shire are bordered with colossal, dark forests that the protagonists try to steer away from. Interestingly though, despite the nearby danger, both Harry Potter's and The Lord of the Rings's protagonists feel most safe at Hogwarts and the Shire respectively; there are scenes in both movies when the characters are elsewhere, dedicated to romanticising "home".