Tolkien/HP comparison: Willows

[lucky_kari]

No: HPFGUIDX 31606

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "jenbe_me" <jenbea at s...> wrote:
> 
>   Just thought I'd throw this in here:
> 
>   A major tree that plays a part in both series of books, Harry 
> Potter and Lord of the Rings is a willow. In Harry Potter, it's the 
> Whomping Willow, and I think it's safe to assume that we all know 
> what it does- and the destructive properties it can have! (Just ask 
> the Weasley car, if you can catch it wandering around the Forest 
> somewhere). Yet it's also the secret entrance, at the base, to a 
> tunnel to the Shrieking Shack. 
> 
>   Likewise in LOTR, you have Old Man Willow, who, in Tom 
Bombadillo's 
> forest, has grown old and rotten at the core, and when the four 
> hobbits fall asleep, lured into his shade, they become entangled in 
> his roots and almost "eaten" by the tree. 
> 
>   What I find most interesting is that both authors chose willows, 
> normally a sign of peace in most cultures, for trees with such 
> violent aspects! Interesting. Any ideas why?

I have a very prosaic explanation. Tolkien used to take his family on 
a certain walk near his home that went by a willow with a crack large 
enough for a kid to crawl into it. Of course, his kids did. "Dad! The 
willows eating me! Help!" And, thus, Old Man Willow. And, then, some 
years later, a young woman by the name of Joanne Rowling reads the 
Lord of the Rings and then never reads them again. (According to JKR, 
this is what happened.) That situation is probably the best for 
producing a parallel. (My own pathetic attempts at writing seem to, 
upon review, rely most heavily on old, half-forgotten stories of my 
childhood, rather than the books I read the most, as literary 
antecedents.)

Eileen