# Which American Paperback Publisher Ripped off Tolkien first?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-paperback-publisher-ripped-off-tolkien-first/514594>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [October 21, 2009, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-paperback-publisher-ripped-off-tolkien-first/514594 "2009-10-21T12:03:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\
**Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-paperback-publisher-ripped-off-tolkien-first/514594/21 "2009-10-22T17:55:03Z")

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> [@CalMeacham](#):
>
> But there’s an interior sketch of a Hobbit – presumably Frodo.

Eew, who wants to see the insides of a Hobbit?

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-paperback-publisher-ripped-off-tolkien-first/514594/22 "2009-10-22T19:54:31Z")

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It looks like the RotK cover has a hobbit near the bottom, to the right of Swan-head-guy.

> [@](#):
>
> And that’s a damned Phallic Barad-Dur there!

If you think that looks phallic, you need to see a doctor about that. That’s about as un-phallic as it’s possible for a tower to look.

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-american-paperback-publisher-ripped-off-tolkien-first/514594/23 "2009-10-22T20:12:02Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> It looks like the RotK cover has a hobbit near the bottom, to the right of Swan-head-guy.

That’s not a hobbit – if you look closely, you’ll see that he’s further from the viewer than Bunny Ears, which makes him look smaller. You can see that Bunny Ears is standing on a rise closer to the viewer and Hobbit-like guy is not.

> [@](#):
>
> If you think that looks phallic, you need to see a doctor about that. That’s about as un-phallic as it’s possible for a tower to look.

Look where it’s located.

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