Parallels in other's fiction to that of JKR.

[Geoff]

No: HPFGUIDX 192432


Geoff:
Getting ourselves back on track by considering HP canon with writers, 
I want to give some consideration to magic. I would also like to express 
some thoughts about boarding schools, but that can be a later post.

I think it all hinges round what we mean by "magic". One of my 
dictionaries defines it as "the power of apparently influencing events 
by using mysterious of supernatural forces" 
.which covers a multitude 
of sins. :-) 

If one looks at the question of magic in the HP books, it is clear that if a 
book or series of books are about "magic" there is bound to be some 
connection or overlap of similar ideas with other authors. Books which 
come easily to my mind are the Middle-Earth books of J.R.R.Tolkien, the 
Narnia books of C.S.Lewis and, a two books which I have mentioned on 
a number of occasions here on Main, "The Weirdstone of Brisingamen" 
and "The Moon of Gomrath" by Alan Garner, a 1960s UK author.

Within the first three groups for example, there is magic performed by 
magical folk who use wands – or in the case of LOTR – staffs – to produce 
results. In comparison to the Wizarding World, though, the amount of 
magic performed is less, and perhaps less public than in Harry's world. 
Gandalf uses his staff on quite a limited number of occasions and notes 
that its use can reveal the owner rather like a magical signature in JKR's 
world: 

`At last reluctantly Gandalf himself took a hand. Picking up a faggot he 
held it aloft for a moment and then with a word of command `naur an 
edraith ammen" he thrust the end of his staff into the midst of it. At 
once a great spout of green and blue flame sprang out and the wood 
flared and sputtered. "If there are any to see, then I at least am revealed 
to them," he said. "I have written `Gandalf is here' in signs that all can 
read from Rivendell to the Mouths of Anduin".' 
(LOTR:FOTR "The Ring Goes South). 

The other great magicians: Saruman and Sauron himself, also
demonstrate powerful magic of this nature. But there are other instances 
of old magic woven into building and sites: the magic which worked 
in and around the Elven centre of Rivendell while much of the Dark 
Lord's fortresses such as Barad Dur and Minas Morgul are maintained 
by the magic of the Great Ring which he forged. And we have the instance 
of Harry being saved by the ancient magic of love while Aslan at the Stone 
Table tells Susan and Lucy that the White Witch did not know of the Older 
Magic which kicked in and seems somehow related to the magic which 
saved Harry on more than one occasion.

In the Narnia series, the White Witch uses her wand to cast spells and 
Narnia itself is in thrall to her power until Christmas returns. If you consider 
that a part of Aslan's power, aside from the creative power which brought 
Narnia into being and later ended it, his magic included restoring the 
creatures which the White Witch had turned to stone by what could be 
called wandless magic – his breathing on them, and it is interesting that 
in the battle at end of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", her power 
is severely hampered when Edmund smashes her wand. there are certainly 
parallels here with wands being damaged or used by the wrong folk in HP.

The Garner books have always attracted me. They are much shorter 
than our other candidates. Each of them can easily be read in a 
concentrated evening session. But  he draws quite heavily on Celtic 
myths and on the old legend of Alderley Edge, a hill in Cheshire not from 
from Manchester. What is interesting is that you see that he has drawn 
on similar folklore to our other writers. I have often said to myself: 
"That is very similar to so-and-so's creatures."

There is one place where JKR does diverge from the other writers – as 
does Alan Garner. Their worlds are contemporary and interface with our 
own everyday world. Harry and Hermione can live both in the Muggle and 
magic worlds successfully. In Alan Garner's books, the real world main 
characters can meet the magic beings of Alderley walking along a road 
or call magical beings to their aid.

In LOTR, of course, Middle-Earth existed in a long-distant past; Elves 
and Dwarves and Orcs et al belong there and not on the streets of today's 
world. Narnia is different again in that although it exists alongside our 
world, its timeline is different. When the Pevensies go back each time, 
Narnian time has advanced in leaps and bounds so that Peter and Co 
find that they are characters of ancient history when they are called back 
to help Caspian.

Indeed, there are parallels of magic to be drawn but many also unique 
to the author who may have slanted it to his or her own need. The great 
thing to me however, is that, like science-fiction as a parallel(!), if I can 
exercise a "willing suspension of disbelief" and immerse myself in my 
chosen magical world without being jarred by inconsistencies which 
reveal cracks on the structure of the story, I am well satisfied.