Both rings were round…
This article at Suntimes.com discusses some of the possible links between Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. However, as the article points out while George Lucas did admit his allegiance to Wagner, Tolkien’s view was, “Both rings were round…and there the resemblance ceased.”
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Hmm… Star Wars and Lord of the Rings are similar? You know, if you try hard enough, you can find similarities between *anything.* All it depends on is how far you’re willing to stretch some things (Boromir and Faramir were not twins, and Gollum was not a “mystical midget”) and how much time you have on your hands.
Haha! I completely disagree with that StarWars and LotR comparison. You *can* find similarities between anything, you are right. Also I would say that Jedi Knights and the Nazgul are not “posses” and they are nothing alike either. Gollum isn’t all that mystical, and Darth Vader isn’t really a father figure until the end. Tis silliness. I laugh, because people try to compare LotR with stuff all the time, but it always fails.
Yeah, I think the article pretty much made Tolkien’s point for him all over again. It’s the same stoopid thing we have to squash down every time some rabid fangirl claims J.K. Rowling stole her entire story from the works of Tolkien, and does these ridiculous surface comparisons as truth. You can find these kind of similarities between anything. Anything. Especially if you have as flexible a relationship with the truth as this article’s author has.
Also, little snicker at the idea of Howard Shore borrowing the idea of leitmotif from Wagner. As if there weren’t lots of other composers who used it (Prokofiev, Peter and the Wolf, anyone?). And this is their strongest parallel? I mean, not to mention that it doesn’t have *anything* to do with the books, that’s just dumb. *smacks the Sun Times*
erm. quite frankly, that’s about the rubbish-ist thing i’ve ever heard…tolkein’s quote sums it up rather nicely. i know very little about the “ring” cycle, but about the others i know a thing or two…even though i loathe star wars.
‘RING’ CYCLE
SWORD: Nothung
THE PRIZE: The Ring
FATHER FIGURE: Wotan
HERO: Siegfried
REBEL CHILD: Brunnhilde
TWINS: Siegmund and Sieglinde
POSSE: The Valkyries
MYSTICAL MIDGET: Mime
‘STAR WARS’
SWORD: Light saber
THE PRIZE: The Force—-that’s not the prize…that’s just there.
FATHER FIGURE: Darth Vader—-not a father till the end. i’d have called
obi-wan kenobi the father figure
HERO: Luke Skywalker
REBEL CHILD: Princess Leia
TWINS: Luke and Leia—-they’re not twins, are they?
POSSE: Jedi Knights
MYSTICAL MIDGET: Yoda
‘LORD OF THE RINGS’
SWORD: Anduril——there are a lot more swords than anduril
THE PRIZE: The Ring—-isn’t the prize, it’s evil.
FATHER FIGURE: Gandalf—–isn’t who i’d call the father figure at all.
HERO: Frodo—–there are really about 9 heroes in lotr…
REBEL CHILD: Eowyn—-so not a rebel child
TWINS: Boromir and Faramir—–they’re not twins
POSSE: The Nazgul—–so not a posse.
MYSTICAL MIDGET: Gollum—–he ain’t that mystical.
ewwwwwwww!!!!!!!!! I cannot belive someone would think LotR and Star Wars have anything in common!! My brother is a star wars buff, and i am obsessed with LotR and we argue about which is better all the time (we all know which one is really better) Star wars is to sci-fi to compare to a more historically-ish thing like LotR.