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

4. Other Creatures

Whilst spiders might be the most terrifying creatures for many muggles reading this, they certainly aren't the only beasts to dwell within both franchises. Elves for example, are significantly higher class in The Lord of the Rings, but there's an interesting parallel between Gollum and Dobby; both are comparable CGI creations, obviously, but had you ever noticed that they both refer to themselves in the third person? Aside from that massively popular couple though, Nazguls, like Dementors, are hooded creatures in long black robes with barely any physical features; just like the dementors, who can kiss their victims into soulless insanity, the Nazguls cause nightmares, unconsciousness, and eventual death. Goblins are another creature established in both films as especially nasty characters, and there's a scene in The Hobbit where Smaug tracks Bilbo on a mountain of gold, asking where he is, that mirrors that of Harry Potter trying to stay quiet when fighting the Basilisk. Whilst it's fair to point out clear influences here and there that Rowling has taken from Tolkien, a lot of these creatures are influenced by the mythical creatures that Tolkien himself was influenced by; though as an interesting sidenote, whilst both authors used werewolves in their work, Tolkien never used the aspect of the creatures turning back into people. So whilst a lot of these comparisons are looking at Rowling's influence of Tolkien, these are creatures from other sources, that both authors were influenced by.