[Mithadan]

Welcome to the Barrow Downs, Peregrine! Honestly, I never considered the similarities between the two quests before. Perhaps this is because of a fundamental difference between them. The Hobbit is a "rousing good adventure" as someone else said. A classic quest to recover something lost or stolen and in doing so to defeat the evil dragon that guards the treasure. LoTR is different. It is not a quest undertaken for personal gain, but rather for a greater cause -- the defeat of a common enemy. In the Hobbit there is no desparation or motive other than revenge and money. In LoTR it is an undertaking against overwhelming odds where to fail or to not act would result in ruin. I also like to think that LoTR turned into a continuation and a finale to JRRT's Silmarillion, where the presence of Elves and the direct interaction with the powers comes to an end with the defeat of the ancient evil.