I feel much the same way. I think that
Robert Jordan drew just as heavily on
Dune for his ideas as he did on
Mythology,
Teutonic, in particular.
To add a few more:
The rearrangement of power bases: Both
Rand al'Thor and
Paul Atreides change the fundamental
political power in their worlds. Paul brings the
Emperor to his knees and Rand runs around collecting
nations like
a kid in a candy store, forging his own
empire in the process. Just as Paul denies the power and
integrity of the
Bene Gesserit, so does Rand refuse to be yoked by the
White Tower.
ancestral memory: Just as
Muad'Dib and
Leto II have all the memories of their ancestors jiggling around in their melons after being exposed to the
Water of Life, so does
Mat Cauthon (Mat's
metamorphosis exhibits a mirror-shattering
resemblance to
Odin). After hanging from the
Tree of Life at
Rhuidean he is
imbued with memories from the
Age of Legends, most of them having to do with
Manetheren, the nation once occupying his homeland, and an assortment of
colorful metaphors that no one understands anymore, except maybe
Birgitte and some of
the Forsaken.
The spice melange and the One Power The
spice melange is a drug which gives it's user amplified powers of perception and has
geriatric properties, it's also necessary for the powers of ftl space travel, precognition, and the abilities of
mentats. It's more
addictive than
heroin, and the users
die without it.
The One Power is a force that can be tapped by certain people, granting them
sorcerous abilities. While wielding it, it grants the user
amplified powers of
perception. Those who use the power often live for over a century and, in many cases, longer i.e. it's geriatric. People who wield the power become extremely addicted to
the true source and long to tap it. Those who are
stilled and can no longer
touch the
source usually die of sadness or live in
misery.
3rd person omniscient perspective The books of both series are written from the same
viewpoint. 3rd person with a
shifting point of view, sometimes looking through the eyes of the protagonists and sometimes the
enemies. Though there is always a key character around which the
story revolves, they are also both
ensembles, with no real
starring role. Whatever the
viewpoint, you're
privy to the
thoughts and
feelings of whoever you're following, including all their
biases. Both series, especially
WOT are
fraught with
dramatic irony and
foreshadowing and both display
complex,
intertwining relationships between the
main characters.