Anyone else seem to notice that the Nazgul from The Lord of the Rings are similar in many ways to the Dementors in Harry Potter??

I did, their are alot of different simularities between the 2, and alot of hardcore LOTR fans accuse JKR for plagerizing <_< some ppl just like to have something to complain about...

The first time I saw a dementor (when I watched the first trailer) I was shocked :shocked: I did like it, but it was like a picture of a nazgûl of LotR! The only different thing was the "cloak" and the fact that they can fly (I still can't believe it <_< :blink:)... though... I like them xD

I happen to be one of those people, and yes, I do have a lot to complain about. If it true, why not complain? :wink:

Anyway, you can't blame Rowling for using a LOT of Tolkien's ideas. Practically every fantasy book you read has something from The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I mean, Tolkien even came up with the word "orc", and he wrote all those fantastical languages. How can you not copy a little bit from such a classic book?

Yep, that's me..."hardcore" LOTR fan. :wink: l

I suppose it's hard not to take an idea from any story when every story has been told already pretty much, especially with so much out there. Sometimes, what you think was your own idea turns out to e something you remebered from something else.

They do seem alot alike, and what they actually are is kind of similar. Also the effect of the Nazgul on Frodo is similar to the effect of the Dementors on Harry..interesting

I wonder if Tolkien would sue JKR if he was still alive... :blink:

Well, I remember when JKR was writing her second or third book, she was being sued by some author for supposedly copying his/her work....I can't remember what it was though...JKR said that the dementors were basically a symbol for depression so I'm not sure whether JKR meant for the dementors to be so similar...besides ideas are copied all the time, for example, in Star Wars, the entire idea behind this was WWII, George Lucas just copied some things of what happened in WWII and changed it into Star Wars. I'll try to look up what JKR was sued for...I don't even know if she was sued or it was just a complaint...

Well, JKR has said before that she gets a lot of her smaller material from LOTR...

She said once that she thought she had made up the word 'Hogwarts' but after that her friend told her that they had seen it before at some botanical garden

Well I am both a hardcore Harry Potter fan and LOTR fan...maybe the reason Im a fan to both is because there are so many similarities. I've thought about all the similarities before, im not accusing anyone of plagurism nor are any of you im sure because like you all said, ideas come mostly from things you remember. I love both series and have no complaints...but i thought i'd point out some more of the similarities i have discovered....

*Dementors----------Nazgul
*Dobby------------Gollum
*Dumbuldore--------Gandalf
*Arragog-----------Shelob
*Voldemort--------Sauron
*Wormtail----------Wormtounge
*The sorcerors stone-----the one ring (both make you live forever)
*The troll in the bathroom----------troll in the caves (they just looked alot alike in the movies...lol)
*Invisibility cloak-------Ring (both make you invisible)
*House Elves-------Woodland Elves
(Okay so now Im just kidding around, but the first ones were real...lol)

Well, even the last ones dont sound TOTALLY ridiculous...

Thanks for the re-assurment.....it helps. :wink: Its crazy though to think about all the similarites.

Well, not really, because she has said before that she did get a lot of her ideas from J.R.R. Tolkien...

YUP! BUT STILL THERE R A LOT OF SIMILARITIES!

DEMENTORS ARE COOL

whutever

THEY ARE

Please post more than one statement in a post. Explain WHY you said what you did. Thank you

I had noticed that they were alot of similarities also, but the way you wrote it out like that made me realize that there alot more then I had thought of, Wormtounge and Wormtail..didn't think of that one..thanks!

I have seen that before... in a magazine..
well as Erised said J.k. ROWLING said before that she did get a lot of her ideas from J.R.R. Tolkien...so it's no so crazy...
anyway..I prefer the dementors, first because I hate!!! the nazgul's voices (LoL)...

Well, really, I see no problem with that... Every book pretty much comes from another book... Well, except the bible, I guess... :hammer:

now that you mention they are kinda of similiar

Yeah, thats what I said the first time I read it too.

Despite the fact that neither Dementors nor Nazgul have "souls," and they both wear black cloaks, they're actually both very different creatures.

If you judge from a purely a physical standpoint, you could also then say that both Dementors and Nazgul resemble the grim reaper, or the ghost of Christmas future from A Christmas Carol...because then Tolkien would be guilty of having plagiarized Charles Dickens' work--right?

In the incredibly sad and pathetic amount of time I've taken to ponder this topic, these are the many differences between Nazgul and Dementors that I've been able to come up with.

Physical
-Nazgul have legs and swords.
-Nazgul ride animals such as Horses (black riders) or Fell beast (wraiths on wings)
-Dementors fly/glide/hover and therefore have no legs--which is probably just an interpretation for the films (because in one of the books, the Boggart Dementor trips, which may mean legs..but anyways).

Origin
-Nazgul used to be men. Kings actually--they were the nine to whom the original 9 rings were given.
-Dementors have no stated history, and probably just exist.

Purpose
-Nazgul are Ringwraiths, their job is to search for the ring. They are eternally bound to it and it's fate. They constantly feel it's presence, and are always searching for it. They do this because they "work" for Sauron.

-Dementors are Azkaban guards. In their nature, they create a feeling of coldness and unhappiness. They feed of the happy memories of others and have the ability to suck out one's soul. Also, they're "employed" by the ministry of magic, but as we see in the 5th book, they abandon those posts to join Voldemort.

Sorry, quick thoughts. Although Dobby and Gollum are similar pathetic creatures that talk to themselves, Dobby is part of a particular "race" of creatures. He is a house elf, while Gollum is a one of a kind "thing," and used to be something like a Hobbit once. Also, they have entirely different motives.

Another quick thing, the ring doesn't make you live forever, it just gives you unnatural long life...I think. Many apologies if I'm wrong.

Exactly. I'm sure she didn't consciously say, "I'm going to make a mentor wizard character just like Gandalf, and then I'm going to have a giant spider who tries to eat the main character because I love Professor Tolkien's work so much!" It was probably just that she liked the general ideas, and subconsciously designed similar characters and things.

I'm sorry this turned out to be so long, but to me it's valuable and plausible information. I only hope you feel the same way.

You had some pretty good points. But, I still dont think that they are in any way the same.

i think theres quite a simillarity between nazgul and dementors. they are both supposed to have an aura of immense fear and they are both extremely evil. hp and lotr are both real similar