Q: How Does Magic Differ Between Harry Potter’s World and Middle-earth?
ANSWER: I am not sure how or why, but it seems that over the past ten years a rivalry of sorts has sprung up between J.K. Rowling’s fandom and J.R.R. Tolkien’s fandom. It all seems to be in good fun but I sense an undercurrent (perhaps not so “under” in some corners of the universe) of serious comparative ideologies emerging in fan discussions. All I want to say about that is I don’t have a dog in this fight. I love Harry Potter and I love Middle-earth. I don’t see a need to pick one literary world over the other, as I find both to be quite enjoyable and interesting. In fact, I would love to write more about Harry Potter and his friends; I just never made much time for that. And so what follows is not intended in any way to present anything as better or inferior to anything else.
A reader asked me “what’s the difference between magic in the Harry Potter verse and Tolkien’s?” My first inclination was to say, “Nothing, really” but that is too simplistic. So I will try to differentiate between “magic” and “magic” for you, but first let me explain why I don’t see much difference between the two.
Magic is the ability to do things by will rather than by physical construction. If you want to change the direction and flow of a river you either cast a spell or you start digging. If you want crops to fail you either cast a curse or you light a fire in the fields. People have been debating about the nature of magic since time out of mind. What is it? What makes it work? Arthur C. Clarke cheated on the question and said that “any sufficiently advanced technology seems like magic”, which is true enough; however, his observation all but eliminates the possibility of magic existing and the laws of physics (as we know them) don’t rule out magic — they just insist it has to work according to principles that won’t turn the universe on its ear.
In Tolkien’s fiction all the characters work their magic by will. In Rowling’s fiction all the characters (who can do magic) work their magic by will. Now, there are artifacts that seem to be produced by magic which have unusual properties, such as the elvish ropes, cloaks, and boats given to the Fellowship of the Ring by the Elves of Lothlorien; and such as Harry’s Cloak of Invisibility, Hermione’s bag of holding, and Snape’s incredible supply of potions and herbs. But somewhere behind it all is someone’s will. And that is all I shall say about my simplistic comparison of magic in Harry Potter’s world versus Gandalf’s world.
AS AN ASIDE: You should never use the words “supernatural” and “paranormal” to describe things you believe are real. These words literally mean “something that is outside of reality”, “something not natural”, “something not real”. If magic exists, it is real and therefore it is natural. If God exists he is real and therefore he is natural. If spirits and demons exist they are real and therefore they are natural. So to define “magic” as “a supernatural force or power” is wrong, plain and simple.
There are Some Differences in How Magic Is Used in the Stories and I am not sure that is the best way to compare things. For example, in J.K. Rowling’s world muggles cannot use magic and they rarely perceive it. In Tolkien’s world everyone can see the magic and sooner or later, if they wish, they can all practice some form of magic. People like to say the Hobbits do not possess magic but Tolkien said they possess “the everyday sort” (whatever that may be); and regardless of what kind of lines you want to draw, Frodo was able to sing a song that summoned Bombadil, and Merry was able to wield a sword that helped destroy the power of the Lord of the Nazgul; and Pippin was able to use a Palantir; and Sam was able to use Galadriel’s phial to overcome several obstacles (not to mention dismay the giant spider Shelob). Magic is not beyond anyone’s reach in Tolkien. In Rowling, it seems like most people cannot use magic.
Except that you have to ask where the Magic-born came from. Either they came from the Muggles or the Muggles came from them. On her Website J.K. Rowling once said that “magic is a dominant and resilient gene” (that link points to Archive.Org). There must be a common ancestor for all Muggles and Magic-born and that common ancestor could have had the Magic gene (but the Muggle descendants lost it, like Squibs) or the Magic-born descendants developed the Magic gene (but some of their descendants don’t inherit it anyway). In theory, one can imagine a world where the Magic-born eventually pass their ability on to all Muggle families (such that one day everyone in the world will be magical).
This genetic division between Magic-born and Muggles, of course, is a leading cause of strife among the Wizarding world’s ideological leaders. Tom Riddle, Jr. resented his Muggle father and wanted to distance himself from that heritage as much as possible. He hypocritically favored “racial purity” among the Magic-born, an idea that appealed to families like the Malfoys. You only see a little of this kind of racism in Tolkien. Thingol felt it when he met Beren; Elrond seemed to feel it when he realized that Aragorn was in love with Arwen. But like Tom Riddle and the Death-eaters, those who espouse racial purity in Middle-earth either get their comeuppance or they change their minds. Both Thingol and Elrond eventually accepted the special fates their daughters chose (to become mortal).
The Elves of Middle-earth certainly appear to wield much more magic than Men, and yet Tolkien said they were human. In some ways we can argue that his Elves were comparable to J.K. Rowling’s Magic-born folk; after all, Elves and Men could intermarry (and occasionally did), but their children were always born mortal (as the story of Imrazor and Mithrellas shows). In Rowling’s world, at least, there was a chance that the children of mixed marriages might inherit the Magic gene. And, of course, that also contributed to the racism espoused by the Malfoys and the Death-eaters. The Muggle-born members of the Wizarding community were viewed as inferior and undesirable by the so-called “pureblood” families.
Magical Artifacts Tend to be More Mundane in Potter’s World Much though I would love to have some of the cool devices and gadgets in Harry Potter’s world, just about anything can be enchanted. In Middle-earth it seems that the enchantment must almost always be imbued when an object is first made. There are a few things that seem to skirt this principle, such as the Mirror of Galadriel (water she pours into a basin). These are unexplained things, requiring no rationalization or speculation on how they work. The reader is simply expected to accept them.
It’s not clear to me how many magical things in the Harry Potter books begin their existence as non-magical things. Certainly there are many substances that are brought together to create magical things (like the wands and potions). I am pretty sure no Muggle would be able to create a usable wand or potion. These things require the ability to recognize the magical components to begin with; and maybe there is also a need for will. After all, not everyone can cook up a brilliant potion even at Hogworts, but is that because the recipes are so delicate or is it because they have to learn to focus on what they are doing? Yoda might be able to explain but he’s not part of this debate.
There are mundanities in Tolkien’s inventory of magical items: cloaks, swords, ropes, boats, rings, doorways, lanterns, basins, phials, knives, harps, armor, and toys. But these things are special in Middle-earth, sometimes even legendary, because not everyone can create them.
In Harry Potter’s world it seems like anyone with the Magic gene can enchant something. They may not always get it right, but they can do it. Would a Ring of Power be commonplace in Harry’s world?
One difference between Harry Potter’s magic and Gandalf’s magic is that Gandalf is an angelic being. Harry is more comparable to, say, Fëanor than to Aragorn (who does appear to perform some spells in The Lord of the Rings). Aragorn did not have much power; Harry was a powerful wizard, even if some of that power only came from the fact that he was inadvertently carrying part of Riddle’s soul.
Middle-earth is nonetheless a more primitive world than Harry Potter’s world. Harry lives beside us in our modern age and he is aware of our flying machines, our combustion engines, our medicine, and our science. These things would probably not fit into the Middle-earth that Gandalf protected against Sauron. A thousand years ago I think the Magic-born would be practicing a less sophisticated, though no less powerful or dangerous, form of magic.
Beyond the magic itself, of course, you have all manner of magical creatures in Harry Potter’s world: unicorns, phoenixes, centaurs, and things I cannot recall the names of. There is nothing like a Blast-ended Skrewt in Middle-earth, although Melkor’s unnamed monsters from the First Age (possibly including the “nameless things” under Moria) might include something like Hagrid’s bizarre monsters. The greatest of the magical creatures in Middle-earth include Mearas and dragons, and maybe the Watcher in the Water. I’m not sure the giant spiders of either world are intended to be magical.
Harry Potter’s world also deals with laws and bureacracies that monitor and regulate the use of magic. There appear to be no such restrictions in Middle-earth. The Elves were especially free to do whatever they pleased, no matter how much harm they brought upon Middle-earth and its inhabitants. Gandalf and the other Istari were subject to the laws of the Valar, but they were a special case. The laws of Middle-earth were not constructed to keep the magic-wielding people away from the non-magic-using people.
In both stories it is an abuse of magic that threatens the world, and so clearly magic is a part of the natural order of things that becomes corrupted and diverted from its rightful path. In Tolkien’s fiction Middle-earth is changed forever by the withdrawal or the fading (or failure) of all the creatures who made the most use of magic; the world would become the dominion of Men. But in Rowling’s fiction the struggle is not between old world and new world; rather, the struggle is meant to preserve what has been accomplished by ensuring that the status quo between Magic-born and Muggles is allowed to continue.
Beyond these things the differences I see lie mostly in the details of execution, although we could certainly take a long look at the differences between death in Harry Potter’s world and death in Middle-earth. But that will have to wait for another day.
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Have you read our other Tolkien and Middle-earth Questions and Answers articles?
” In Middle-earth it seems that the enchantment must almost always be imbued when an object is first made. There are a few things that seem to skirt this principle, such as the Mirror of Galadriel (water she pours into a basin).”
Could the “magic” be in the basin, requiring only the addition of water to activate it? If so, then it would still follow the basic principle.
In Rowling’s world, magic is often used as a weapon in what seems to be a centuries-long feud between clans. In Tolkien’s world, magic can be used as a defense against evil (and as a weapon for evil of course), but also in it’s ‘preservative’ function as a means of creating or preserving beauty.
Another good article. I was curious of another topic that’d crossed my mind lately, however; Saruman was terrified that Sauron would come for him after he deciphered his treachery, but if the timeline was somehow alternate, if Saruman did indeed conquer Rohan and if Sauron conquered Gondor, would Isengard and Mordor go to war? Whom would win?
Now that is intriguing :). As for giant spiders in Middle Earth it appears that Shelob and her mother Ungoliant possessed some power Shelob ability to sent out ”darkness of her evil will walked through all the ways of his weariness beside him, cutting him off from light and from regret” so some sort of mental power is at least implied, but both Shelob and her mommy are demonic entities, evil things in spider form, their descendants are sentient capable of speech too so it would be reasonable to assume that some of the lesser broods would (or at least stronger specimens) would have some sort of magic. As for acromantula from Harry Potter I don’t know :).
Definitely though there are some sort of creatures or monsters with unusual abilities, dragons with their ‘dragon-spell’ come to mind first, but then there is this completely unknown, unnamed horse-like thing, it looks like a horse but it has horrible head like a skull and flames in eye-sockets and nostrils, if that is not some magical creature then I’m a hobbit 🙂 🙂 🙂 :). I also started for some time hunting for hints given by Tolkien towards some mysterious entities outside of known ones, well there is lots of such sentences hinting to expanded bestiary but none of those unknown creatures are named or described, it appears CERTAIN though that some things we don’t know names of exist (starting with flying fell beasts to nameless things below Moria). Dark Lords also could enhance their ‘creations’ giving them power, making them stronger and more formidable. Which is similar to Harry Potter wizards experimenting with breeding new kinds of creatures like that Hagrid made Screwts hehe (apparently they were cross of manticore and some sort of firey crab, now hilarious idea of a crossover fanfic where Hagrid is kidnapped by Sauron or Saruman and forced by them to oversee breeding of monsters for them ahahahaha).
I’m still though trying in vain to explain to myself limits of elven magic, all those Songs of Power, Nargorthrond warriors fighting with ”wizardry”, enchantments, Mirkwood elves were able to put spell of sleep on people and other things, tricks with lights and fires, but did elves had ability to manipulate elements in Gandalf fashion? Certainly there is also distinction among elves there are some that appear to have more innate magical talent than others, while Legolas shows some skills, he does not strike as particulary powerful in the magic resort :), of course in Middle Earth mental/psychic powers are the most prominent, healing power especially concerning the line of Peredhil, Aragorn uses song to counter magic of morgul-knife, he can call someone out of unconsciousness or ”put into sweet forgetfulness of sleep” (though that could be done with pharmacy too), or Glorfindel ‘healing touch’ or at least easing pain and sensing/perceiving things in the body of Frodo, or the Lays of Leithian mentioning ”staunching songs” used by elven women to treat wounds, does it imply that all elves to some extent are able to heal with magic, not instantanously but still?
As for Harry Potter well in my opinion those enchanted items they use either require recharging after some time (since the magic in objects seems to weaken over time) and only those really unique remarkable objects made by great ones, those really powerful wizards are more durable and some are legendary like Deathly Hallows. Middle Earth similarly appears to have two classes of magical objects, those truly powerful stuff of legends, and those lesser objects that while useful are not as great.
Tolkien uses a far subtler and more beautiful form of magic.