-Buzz-

: He does refer to a mill and miller from his childhood somwhere, but I think he denies any influence on his characters.

: All of Tolkien's heroes have fatal flaws. Even Bilbo does. None of them are able to accomplish their missions without help, either. He was creating epic characters in the ancient northern tradition, of course, and they should share many similar features/characteristics from a story-telling point-of-view.