HP and LOTR books

[puddlemereunited]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., "shine090" <shine090 at y...> wrote:
>I especially see a similarity between Dumbledore and Gandalf. Do you 
>think Rowling 'borrowed' some ideas from Tolkien? If so what are 
>they? Also, which book/series do you prefer?

In the HP books, J.K. Rowling has used traditions of Magic and the 
occult from both history (Agrippa) and literature (Circe) to create 
the backdrop for her story.  Dumbledore certainly shares many 
characteristics, especially physical ones, with Gandalf of the LOTR, 
and Rowling may have purposefully placed him in this tradition of the 
powerful guiding wizard that can trace itself back to Merlin and 
beyond.  Certainly Gandalf was not the first of this type and I doubt 
Albus Dumbledore will be the last.
The thing that provokes the greatest sense of similarity between the 
two series in my view is their treatment of War as a theme. In LOTR 
the quest of the Fellowship begins with the stirrings of an 
approaching war, and ends with their return as full soldiers to a 
civilization forever changed by that war.  The Harry Potter books 
contain the same sense that a war is brewing just over the horizon.  
Both works follow in a tradition of film, music, and writing that 
comes out of WWII England.  The combination punch of two World Wars in 
under 50 years has had an enormous effect on the work of British 
artists, continuing even through those who were born after the last 
bomb fell.  Parallels to the English experience of WWI and WWII can be 
easily found in both the LOTR and HP and in many cases I suggest this 
is intentional. 
Consider for instance in the HP books the mad blood-based ideology of 
the Voldemort and his supporters, and the Ministry of Magic's refusal 
to take the threat of his return to power seriously, or in LOTR, the 
Hobbits' return home to find their land has undergone 
industrialization while they were fighting to protect its innocence.  
For me, it is the fact that both these series are rooted in English 
history that make them so similar in feel to each other.
As to which is my favorite, I cannot say.  Though they have somethings 
in  common, they are very different books with different meanings
and messages... and the HP series is not yet finished:)

Evelyn