May 1, 2003

Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings
Lady of Rohan

Well, I was determined not to comment on the whole Harry Potter debate, but after reading some of the other articles I've decided to put my two cents in.

While I have been a Lord of the Rings fan since before Harry Potter was ever around, I also enjoy J.K. Rowling's series very much. Naturally they aren't as heavy-handed or textually layered as the LOTR trilogy, but they were written for a younger age group.

I find it intersting that many arguments brought against Rowling concern elements of fantasy that I always thought were universal--not Tolkien's alone. For example, Smaug vs. Baby Norbert. Dragons are found in myths and legends all over the world, dating back thousands and thousands of years. To say that Ms. Rowling blatantly stole her dragons from Tolkien is, as Danny said, "arrogant snobbery." It also totally ridiculous.

As for the other "monsters" such as trolls, ringwraiths, giant spiders, etc, these are also commonly found in ancient literature (Beowulf and the Arthurian legends alone feature a host of such creatures). These are sources which Tolkien himself "blatantly stole" from.

I'm sure you all remember Hama the Gatekeeper of Rohan? Well, in Anglo-Saxon mythology, there was a gatekeeper-god to the realm of Woden and the other gods. Guess what his name was? Yup, right fist time.

Another point one must bear in mind is that literary archetypes are unavoidable when writing, fantasy especially. Almost every single fantasy tale has the wise old man (Merlin, Gandalf, Obi Wan Kenobi, Dumbledore) and flawed but noble heroes. ( For those interested in literary archetypes, I highly recommend Carl Jung's writings on the collective unconscious.)

J.K. Rowling herself has said that she was never the greatest Lord of the Rings fan, and judging by her writing style I feel that any similarities between Harry Potter and other works of literature were constructed on purpose as a sort of tribute rather than plagiarism.

As for the HP movies out-doing the LOTR movies, please! How juvenil can we get? I mean, here we are, acting the intellectual snob over which movie sells more tickets? Who cares? It's just a movie! Besides, neither the Harry Potter movies nor the Lord of the Rings are nearly as great as the books, so what does it matter?

Do you all really think that the value of art in any medium (book or film or whatever have you) is determined by how much money it makes? Tut tut!

As for myself personally, if I want clever linguistical turns of phrase and an isolated world where nothing can be taken for granted, I will read Harry Potter. If I want highly stylized writing and epic heroics, I will read The Lord of the Rings.

If I want to see Maggie Smith turn into a cat or Haldir in his armour, I will watch the movies.

Now, as my namesake might have said, freod, and I apologize if if I've offended anyone.

Lady of Rohan