I liked Harry Potter. Philosopher's stone introduced me to the world of novels when I was in middle school. The story of The Boy Who Lived and Dark Lord Voldemort was one of the best things of my childhood and am sure millions of die-hard fans worldwide would agree the same. But that impression of mine faded a little when I read Lord of The Rings in the summer of 2009. I had not heard one word about the greatness of the novel or seen the movies when I started with Fellowship of the Ring. Within a month I had Frodo Baggins in my mind waving good bye to his friends before he departs for the Undying Lands and the Third Age comes to an end. If you ask people who have read both Potter and LOTR which is the greatest novel, I think atleast 70% might point to LOTR including me. I can side my opinion based on various non-story factors like the times they were written in, the authors and their originality. Speaking of originality, here's a detailed description of how we can safely say J.K. Rowling was greatly inspired by Tolkien's middle earth heroics.
Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings - The Similarities
| Similarity | Harry Potter | Lord of the Rings |
| Evil sorceror referred to as "Dark Lord" who desires to regain physical shape | Voldemort | Sauron |
| Wise old mentor with a long gray beard and a wizard hat | Dumbledore | Gandalf |
| A birthday sets off events | Harry's 11th | Frodo's 33rd and Bilbo's 111th |
| Inherited invisibility device | Cloak | Ring (although the Ring takes you to a different 'world') |
| Dog named Fang | Owned by Hagrid | Owned by Farmer Maggot |
| Evil, creepy hooded creatures | Dementors | Nazgul |
| Deceased parents | Harry's parents were murdered | Frodo's parents drowned |
| Taken to live with uncle | Harry lives with his Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia | Frodo lives with his Uncle Bilbo (film version - second cousin once removed in the book) |
| Giant Spider | Aragog | Shelob |
| Bad guy with a "wormy" name | Peter Pettigrew (Wormtail) | Grima (Wormtongue) |
| Longbottom | Neville Longbottom who excels at Herbology | Tobold Hornblower from Longbottom who knows much about herbs and pipe-weed |
| Fight with a troll | Harry, Ron and Hermione fight a troll on Halloween | The Fellowship of the Ring fight a troll |
| Dark forest | Forbidden Forest | Old forest just outside of the Shire |
| "Elves" describing a race of people | House elves act as servants | A race of peoples from Middle Earth |
| Small, pitiable creature who talks in third person | Dobby | Gollum |
| Goblins | Run wizarding bank Gringotts | One of the evil races of middle earth (otherwise known as Orcs everywhere except in The Hobbit) |
| Holder of the keys | Hagrid (Keeper of the Keys) | Hurin (Warden of the Keys) |
| Mischievous pair | Fred & George Weasley | Merry and Pippin (film version) |
| Forbidden language | Saying "Voldemort" | Black Speech of Mordor |
| Dangerous willow tree | Whomping Willow | Old Man Willow |
| Basin of seeing | Pensieve | Galadriel's Mirror |
| Powerful, life-saving swords | Godric Gryffindor's sword | Anduril |
| Scar on forehead | Harry | Merry |
| Do not disturb water because of... | The giant squid | Watcher in the Water |
| Longed for safe-haven | During the summer Harry wishes he was back at Hogwarts | On their quest, the hobbits long to be back in the safety of the Shire. |
| Scar from Evil forces | Harry's scar on forehead | Frodo's scar from the Morgul Blade |
The greatest among the similarities are of course - the wizards, their friends, the cloak-ring, and Dobby-Gollum. Now fans of HP (and LOTR), which is the greatest?
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