The Mess Hall

Hello everyone, okay admittedly I feel a little stupid because I accused Tolkien of ripping off "Harry Potter" with regards to various elements. However, I just found out that "Lord of the Rings" actually came out before "Harry Potter." I don't have any apologies, though, because seriously, how many people actually were aware of this? I also saw "The Raven" recently and was shocked to learn that Edgar Allen Poe had died not too long ago. I didn't even know this until my friend pointed this out to me after it was over. So you can never really be sure about who is ripping off who, or who is even still writing literature at any given time.

Also, it is conceivable that Tolkien might have known J.K. Rowling in some way, either directly or indirectly (via email or something) so it wouldn't be stunning that he could have gotten some plot elements from her.

In any case, both "Harry Potter" and "Lord of the Rings" are great series and stand alone by themselves. But anyways, getting back to the subject of this board, I had a question about "The Hobbit." Does this movie/book take place before or after "Return of the King"? Is this "Lord of the Rings" part 4, and if so, why did they wait this long to come out with the movie?

Edgar Allen Poe had died not too long ago