Its undoubtable that StarWars and The Lord Of The Rings will go down as diffinitive icons of the 20th century, and it only seems right that these two great epics should share so much in story.
A large reason for this is the inspiration Lucas had for Star Wars.
Lucas looked towards classic fantasy (Vladamir Propp) and myths to create his narrative. He took the Ultimate evil villain, the wise old man and the struggeling hero and placed them in space.
It isn't known for certain if Lucas looked at Tolkien but as Tolkien IS fantasy it would only make sense. Especially as Darth Vader's apperance was based on Dr.Doom!
