Is a Song of Ice and Fire better than Lord of the Rings?

[Kuruharan]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

It's got me wondering now if Targaryens are in some way equivalent to Elves. They have peculiar, exotic histories, come from an almost mythic realm (Valyria), seem to have particular power over dragons (debatable) and have those strange looks. They're clearly drawn as somewhat superior and 'other' to the peoples of Westeros and Essos.

I think you are right to some extent, but I think dragon relations was a skill that had to be cultivated and didn't necessarily come naturally to all of them.

Even without looking, I can think of more 'magic' in ASoIaF - Bran's 'third eye'; wargs; Beric Dondarrion's lives; wildfyre; the Undying of Qarth; and Maggy the Frog all spring to mind. Whereas 'magic' in Tolkien's work is more about crafted items, or powers that the Ainur have.

I think you have hit on an important distinction here. Tolkien's world has distinct orders of creation whereas Martin's world, at least to me, seems less so. What is commonly called magic was a trait possessed by nature of the higher orders of Tolkien's world whereas in Martin's the potential for magic is spread more widely among the world's human (and otherwise) population.