How do creatures in Harry Potter, Middle Earth (Lord of the rings) and the Warhammer universe compare?

There are many fantasy worlds out there that have been created in a lot of detail by the authors. Middle Earth had the crown for being the most detailed fantasy world created until recently when the Warhammer world took over. Both worlds have been created from years and years of dedication from teams of people. Middle Earth was created by J.R. Tolkien and is a masterpiece of his imagination, where the Warhammer world has been created by teams of people to come up with something vast that it even eclipsed that of its inspiration.

Both worlds are very similar in that they have many differnet 'intelligent' beings fighting it out for dominance. There are forces for good and evil in both worlds and the creatures who align themselves to either of these forces do seem very familiar as you go from one world to the other.

Harry Potter is a very differnet animal in that the world is that of England today, and the magic world is a secret world hiden from us muggles. This is very clever as a whole new world has not been created, which could have took years to do, like the other two worlds mentioned. What Harry Potter does have though is an array of mythilogical creatures that do appear in Middle Earth and the Warhammer worlds.

Here is a guide to some of those creatures that appear in all three worlds. Do they sound the similar or are they differnet creatures entirely?

The old world is where Goblins are found in the Warhammer universe.

Other names they can go by in this world are gobbos or grots. These greenskins are always small, mean humanoids, the size of children. They make up for their diminutive stature by their intelligence - or is it more cunning? - and their sheet craziness. They are considered cousins to the bulky Orcs of this world and often fight together for a common cause - destruction and mayhem.

Another common trait amongst goblins is their remarkable cowardice, but maybe this is, again, due to their diminutive stature and the survival instinct. So instead of loving rough hand to hand combat like their cousins do, their favourite method of fighting is to shoot the enemy and then run away. If this is not possible then their choose of weapon is usually the spear so they can keep their enemy at arms length. They also fight in big mobs; sheer numbers is more effective a strategy for these creatures than relying on individual strength.

There are also a number of sub-species within the Warhammer world:

• Night Goblins - Cave dwellers and are home to dark and creepy parts of the world.
• Forest Goblins - As the name suggests they live in forests and often ride to battle on the back of giant spiders.
• Hobgoblins - Larger than average and are often found with Chaos Dwarfs.

Dwarfs and Goblins are mortal enemies and often fight over the same area to live.

Goblins in Middle Earth:

These creatures are very similar to that described in Warhammer. These worlds are VERY similar anyway. Warhammer took over the status of being the most detailed fantasy world in creation from Middle Earth. They are very similar places though.

Golbins in the Harry Potter world are VERY different to the goblins in the Warhammer universe. I see them as more like the Dwarfs of that world in that they love gold, they are on the 'good' side, small and they are extremely good at making magical items.

Have a read of the description from when Harry meets the goblins in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone for the first time:

They reached a snowy-white building which towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished broze doors, wwearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was -

"Yeah, that's a goblin," said Hagrid quietly as they walked up the white stone steps towards him. The goblin was about a head shorter than Harry. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and , Harry noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside. Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:

...

A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins on brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these.

Trolls are large dimwitted creatures. They tower over humans two to three times. They are extremely strong and have an uncanny ability to regenerate wounds that would be fatal to any other creature (apart from when it is from fire). This makes trolls extremely dangerous and hard to kill. Being savage creatures they usually kill for food, and as they eat anything then they will kill anything. However, being so stupid their great bulk is often used by more intelligent creatures like goblins who use them to help them fight their battles.

There are a few different types of trolls within this world:

• Stone trolls - usually blue/grey in colour and a pebbly texture which helps with camouflage in mountainous regions. They have long noses and lanky builds. A strong resistance to magic and the combination of their regenerative powers makes a stone troll a very dangerous foe.
• River trolls - green in colour with blue scales along their body to aid with camouflage within marshy, swampy areas in the old world. They have huge fangs and wide ears but even amongst their own kind they are considered to be exceptionally disgusting and smelly creatures. A very dangerous weapon at its disposal is the fact it can projectile vomit over a foe with stomach acids that melt even the best armour.
• Chaos trolls - have been altered by the power of Chaos more directly than their more common cousins. They sport all manner of mutations and are known for their aggression and strength even amongst their own kind.

These trolls sound very similar to that of the Old world in that they came down from the mountain to find food and are very dimwitted too. These trolls do sound a lot like stone trolls from the old world but with the mention of two headed trolls it seems Middle Earth might have some Chaos trolls around too.

Have a read of the description given in the Hobbit and see what you think:

But they were trolls. Obviously trolls. Even Bilbo, in spite of his sheltered life could see that: from the great heavy faces of them, and their size, and the shape of their legs, not to mention the language, which was not drawing-room fashion at all, at all.

"Mutton yesterday, mutton today and blimey, if it don't look like mutton again tomorrer," said one of the trolls.

"Never a blinking bit of manflesh have we had for long enough," said a second. "What the 'ell William was a thinkin' of to bring us into these parts at all, beats me - and the drink runnin' short, what more," he said joggin the elbow of William, who was taking a pull at his jug.

William choked, "Shut yer mouth!" he said as soon as he could. "Yer can't expect folk to stop here forever just to be et by you and Bert. You've et a village and a half between yer, since we came down from the mountains. How much more d'yer want? And time's been up our way when yer'd have said 'thank yer Bill for a nice bit o' fat valley mutton like what this is." He took a big bite off a sheep's leg he was toasting and wiped his lips on his sleeve.

Yes, I am afraid trolls do behave like that, even those with only one head each.

The troll from Harry Potter sound very similar to that of a Stone troll from the Old world. It 'came down from the mountains'. They are also similar in nature, being stupid and aggressive.

Have a read of when Harry first meets a troll in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone:

"Can you smell something?"

Harry sniffed and a foul stench reached his nostrils, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean.

And then they heard it - a low grunting and shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet. Ron pointed at the end of a passage to the left, something huge was moving towards them. They shrank into the shadows and watched as it emereged into a patch of moonlight.

It was a horrible sight. Twenty feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite grey, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.

The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room.

Elves are tall, fair and slender beings when compared to humans. They are almost physically flawless and rarely succumb to disease or mutations and have a lifespan that can elipse a humans by thousands of years. Because of these things they do consider themselves to be a superior race to every other in the Warhammer world. This might explain why they have a reputation for being somewhat arrogant and far too concerned with beauty and art.

The Elves do take on two distinct sides:

High Elves - Ever since the disastrous War of the Beard they hold Dwarves with contempt and will only work with them when the situation has no other options. They do however, fight a constant battle with the spread of Chaos and this eternal war has taken place since Chaos started to appear in the Warhammer world. In the modern era that does take the form of fighting their evil kin, the Dark Elves.

Some amongst the High Elves are considered the powerful magicians the world has ever known. It is the Elves who taught humans how to harness the power of Chaos and use magic.

They do not live in the old world but live apart from the rest of the creatures of this world on their own island called Ulthuan. This is a sacred place though, because of the magic of Elves the Island forms a barrier to the invasion of Chaos. If Ulthuan should fall then Chaos would take a hold on the whole world and not just the north.

Dark Elves - These Druchii are the dark cousins of the High Elves. Originally they were one and the same before a civil war broke out. Their leader, Malekith, fort for the rights to govern the Elves but instead nearly led to the destruction of Elves in the world. The Druchii were drove out of Ulthuan to the cold land of Naggaroth, where they practice their dark arts and plot revenge on the High Elves. Apart of this revenge was to cause the War of the Beard because the Dwarves thought it was High Elves who attacked them

These Elves are much like the Elves of the Warhammer world in that they do see themselves as superior to other races and lives for thousands of years.

In Tolkien mythology the Elves are not subject to disease or physical aging. They are considered immortal even if they can be killed by physical injury, or losing the will to live. They are unusually handsome, tall and slender and have far better senses than men. They are skilled craftsmen and have abilities that most men can only dream of.

Although Dobby is a favourite character of mine from the books, the actual idea of him being an Elf did seem a little alien to me. Then I thought about other Elves I know about and decided that house elves are far more like the elves we knew and loved as children - the Christmas Elf. They are lovable characters, that help Santa get ready for Christmas. They are loyal and will do anything for him.

So, Harry Potter's elves he comes across are far differnet to the elves we see in lord of the rings or elves we see in the Warhammer world.

Do you think they are more like the christmas elf? Here is a little help from P15 of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, to make up your mind:

Harry managed not to shout out, but it was a close thing. The little creature on the bed had large, bat-like ears and bulging green eyes the size of tennis balls. Harry knew instantly that this was what had been watching him out of the garden hedge that morning.

As they stared at each other, Harry heard Dudley's voice from the hall.

"May I take your coats, Mr and Mrs Masons?"

The creature slipped off the bed and bowed so low that the end of its long thin nose touched the carpet. Harry noticed that it was wearing what looked like an old pillowcase, with rips for arms and leg holes.

"Er -hello," said Harry nervously.

"Harry Potter!" said the creature, in a high-pitched voice Harry was sure would carry down the stairs. "So long has Dobby wanted to meet you, sir... Such an honour it is ..."

"Th-Thank you ," said Harry, edging along the wall and sinking into his desk chair, next to Hedwig, who was asleep in her large cage. He wanted to ask. "What are you ?" but thought it would sound rude, so instead he said, "Who are you?"

"Dobby, sir. Just Dobby. Dobby the house-eft," said the creature.

Terrible dangers await anyone who practices dark magic. Even still, many try to extend their lives beyond their natural span by decades or even centuries. Sometimes, if they are powerful enough, they succeed and they remain in their bodies and mental powers. More likely though, is that they will be consumed by this dark magic which drains their soul and withers the body. A insubstantial husk will be the only remains of that once ambitious individual. It is deprived of all substance and is driven by its most hideous fears - a fate worse than death!

These creatures are called Wraiths. Their cloaks give them substance but nothing remains of their physical bodies, only two glowing eyes. They are extremely dangerous though, because their chill touch will drain any living creature.

Only magic weapons can harm such evil creatures and as such Necromancers call to them to serve their army of the undead. If an army has wraiths fighting for it though, you know they are led by a very powerful necromancer as they are the only ones who can control such twisted creatures as these.

A Wraith carries a double handed scythe and is a symbol of death for most humans.

The Ringwraiths, or Nazgul, were once kings of men. They were the bearers of the magical rings created by Sauron. These magic rings granted them endless life but they eventually were enslaved to the will of Sauron by that very magic. There bodies withered away leaving nothing but an insatiable will to serve their master.

They sound very similar to the Wraiths of the Warhammer world in this way. And remember, "No man can kill me ..."

This is from P 64 of the prisoner of Azkaban.

Standing in the doorway, illuminated by the shivering flames in Lupin's hand, was a cloaked figure that towered to the ceiling. Its face was completely hidden beneath its hood. Harry's eyes darted downwards, and what he saw made his stomach contract. There was a hand protruding from the cloak and it was glistening, greyish, slimy-lookinng and scabbed, like something dead that had decayed in water...

It was visible only for a split second. As thought the creature beneath the cloak sensed Harry's gaze, the hand was suddenly withdrawn into the folds of the black material.

And then the thing beneath the hood, whatever it was, drew long, slow, rattling breath, as though it was trying to suck something more than air from its surroundings.

An intense cold swept over them all. Harry felt his own breath catch in his chest. The cold went deeper than his skin. It was inside his chest, it was inside his very heart ...

Harry's eyes rolled up into his head. He couldn't see. He was drowning in cold. There was a rushing in his ears as though of water. He was being dragged downwards, the roaring growing louder...

And then, from far away, he heard screaming, terrible, terrified, pleading screams. He wanted to help whoever it was, he tried to move his arms but couldn't ... a thick fog was swirling around him, inside him -