First of all, a disclaimer. There is no way that I could possibly point out all of the similarities between the two novels. As many LOTR and Harry Potter fans know the books are so detailed and many situations are similar. Since a lot of people are mainly familiar with the movies, I'm going to stick to them. What I really want to accomplish in this comparison is to identify the themes of the two stories and possibly find clues as to what might happen to Harry based on what happened to Frodo in The Lord of the Rings.

Both Frodo and Harry have a burden. For Frodo, it is an inanimate object that happens to be a gold ring that holds within it power to rule the world. The burden itself was inherited, although Frodo could have given it to anyone else, but chose to complete his mission to destroy the ring because he felt that he was meant to. It was his fate. He accepted it and it nearly killed him. For Harry, it is fame. This burden can easily be characterized as a simple scar on his forehead, a souvenir of his match as a baby with the Dark Lord Voldemort. Harry did not have a choice in his first match; it was simply fate. As he has grown up and the evil has become more powerful, Harry feels compelled to fight the evil that killed those that he loves, and even those whom he does not. Both Harry and Frodo have to overcome their burden in order to complete the task that fate has given them: to save the world from power and evil.

Both Harry and Frodo have a circle of friends to help complete the mission. For Frodo, it was a fellowship. It was started by the Council of Elrond in Rivendell (more people who wanted to organize a group of people to help complete the task) and then aided by various other people throughout Middle Earth (like Galadriel, Eomer, Theoden, et cetera). Harry has something very similar. Not just the Order of the Phoenix, but something unique that we were introduced to in the fifth book; an un-named �fellowship,� that is the group of peers that went with him to the Department of Mysteries. Those people happen to be Ron, Hermione, Luna, Neville, and Ginny.

Another interesting similarity is a fickle member of the fellowship: Boromir and Snape. In The Lord of the Rings, Boromir is driven by the ring, nearly to betraying the fellowship, but instead he sacrifices himself to protect Frodo. Could Snape be compared to Boromir? Snape, too, seems to be driven by power and intimidation, but to what extent? Would he betray Harry? During the fifth book, we learn more than we ever have about Snape, but it is still not enough to draw any clear conclusions. However, there is a striking similarity that one must consider. Gandalf, who could probably be compared to Dumbledore, clearly allowed Boromir to join the Fellowship, and continue even though Boromir continually showed signs that he might be driven by the ring. For Harry, Dumbledore clearly allowed Snape to be a teacher at Hogwarts, be around Harry constantly, and become a member of the Order of the Phoenix. We trusted Gandalf, and so we must trust Dumbledore.

One of the more controversial aspects of this theory is comparing a character from Harry to Gollum. Perhaps Gollum/Smeagol could be compared to the tricky behavior of Snape (voiding the paragraph above). The dual personality of Snape could be extremely important to the success or failure of Harry. If his fate ends up like Frodo (with the Snape/Gollum theory), then we can expect for Snape to turn against Harry right at the end, but also sacrifice himself in the end. But what if the Gollum character were actually closer to Harry? Perhaps a certain friend who has been burned by the power of evil wizards? One who might turn bad when tempted by the things that he desires most?

Most generally, what will happen to Harry based on what happened to Frodo? First of all, Harry will live, as Frodo did. However, he will be greatly changed, never being able to adjust to real life again. I do not think Harry will lose a limb or appendage, but he may lose his scar. In some science fiction books, effects of evil will disappear when the evil itself is defeated. This would mean that if Voldemort were defeated, Harry�s scar would melt away because the curse would be broken.

So what have we learned? There are a lot of deep similarities between Harry and Frodo (both orphans, task with burden, fellowship surrounding them), and we must watch the major characters for any sort of lapse in loyalty or judgment because it may alter the outcome of the task. I hope that I haven't offended any fans by this article. To try to include all the similarities would surely fill a book and it is not my intention to retell the stories for you. Just to point out that there are many similarities and we can therefore draw some clues and make predictions about what could happen to Harry.

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