154
votes
Accepted
How many axes did Gimli bring on the quest of the Fellowship?
In the book, Gimli doesn't try to destroy the ring at the council, so no lost axe problem there.
And he doesn't lose an axe to Saruman in the Eaves of Fangorn either.
As far as the book is concerned,...
- 2,952
77
votes
Accepted
Why were the doors of Moria made so easy to open?
The Noldor and Dwarves liked each other
Although you're right that Dwarves tend to be insular, by all accounts they got on quite well with the Noldor; according to The Silmarillion:
[T]he Naugrim ...
- 158k
71
votes
Accepted
Why didn't the Moria record-taker fight more and write less?
They weren't continuously on their feet fighting orcs.
The lines you quote from the Book of Mazarbul, the last entries in that book written by Ori, are fairly short, only a few lines and definitely ...
- 131k
70
votes
Accepted
Why did Sauron want the Seven Rings back after his return?
Because as Himarm mentions above, they couldn't be enslaved via the rings, and in fact (from Sauron's point of view) the only effects they had on the dwarves were positive:
For the Dwarves had ...
- 29.7k
65
votes
Do dwarf women have beards?
Quenta Silmarillion revisions (?1950–May 1951)
In c.1951, Tolkien wrote a revision to a chapter of The Silmarillion then titled "Of the Naugrim and the Edain", in which he explicitly stated ...
- 75.3k
63
votes
Accepted
How many dwarves of Thorin's ex company were alive during The War of Ring?
We have the following:
Per The Hobbit:
Kíli Dies at the Battle of Five Armies.
Fíli Dies at the Battle of Five Armies.
Thorin Dies at the Battle of Five Armies.
Of the twelve companions of ...
- 14.4k
60
votes
How many axes did Gimli bring on the quest of the Fellowship?
Per my comment above, in regards the first missing axe, there are at least 2-3 other dwarves at the Council of Elrond. It seems reasonable to assume that one of them would have been willing to lend ...
- 614k
52
votes
Where do the Dwarves put all the stone from the Mines of Moria?
You're forgetting things like the "endless stair"; the dwarves didn't just mine down in Moria, they built hugely in the mountains surrounding those mines as well. The lake of the lurker at the western ...
- 6,296
46
votes
Accepted
Is there a legal system in Middle-earth?
There does not appear to be a general method for resolving disputes between races1, suggesting a lack of universally-recognized legal system (or treaties between the systems of different races).
We ...
- 158k
45
votes
Accepted
Where do the Dwarves put all the stone from the Mines of Moria?
Moria is old.
According to The Silmarillion, it was founded by Durin I sometime after the elves awoke, during the Years of the Trees. This was a time before there was recorded time, before there was ...
- 5,483
44
votes
Accepted
What are the origins of "Dwarf Tossing" in fantasy fiction?
[Edit: I feel my own answer, while accepted, does not fully answer the question as asked. For a better suggestion on a possible first-introduction of dwarf-tossing into fantasy literature as a pastime,...
40
votes
Accepted
Where did the Dwarves get their food from?
But when they were cooked these roots proved good to eat, somewhat like bread; and the outlaws were glad of them, for they had long lacked bread save when they could steal it. ‘Wild Elves know them ...
- 21.9k
32
votes
Accepted
Why Were Dwarves in the Shire?
First off, the Dwarves were involved in the war – Sauron had Erebor under attack at the same time as Gondor, though the books themselves mention it only indirectly:
'Now why did not we wish ...
- 4,397
31
votes
Accepted
How does interspecies reproduction work in the Lord of the Rings universe?
Between men and elves, it all seems pretty natural.
Peredhil are not infertile, and there's nothing to suggest they're conceived and born in anything other than the normal way. From Tolkien Gateway (...
- 131k
31
votes
Accepted
Aren't dwarves supposed to be short?
Why would Eitri be so unusually tall in the film, given that he's a dwarf
Plainly it is a joke that the "dwarf" is enormously tall.
Also part of the joke is that the actor playing the "giant dwarf" ...
- 794
30
votes
Accepted
Do the dwarves grow weary of Middle-earth
I think there's evidence on this. From the Appendices:
We have heard tell that Legolas took Gimli Glóin's son with him because of their great friendship, greater than any that has been between Elf ...
- 34.3k
27
votes
The city of Erebor
Dain, who becomes the ruler of Erebor after the death of Thorin, is mentioned several times in The Lord of the Rings. He is the one who sends Gloin and Gimli to Rivendell:
'And so I have been sent ...
- 19.4k
26
votes
Why was Gimli of such a low rank, compared to the other representatives chosen for the Fellowship?
Let's begin by correcting what appears to be a misunderstanding: In the book, at least (I don't remember about the movie), Aragorn, not Boromir, is the one chosen as the representative of Men. Boromir ...
- 19.4k
25
votes
Accepted
Why is it "dwarves" and not "dwarfs"?
In Appendix F, Tolkien suggests that "dwarfs" has become associated with more childish stories, so his use of "dwarves" is meant to disassociate his race from the others (bold is my emphasis, italic ...
- 158k
23
votes
How does interspecies reproduction work in the Lord of the Rings universe?
I think much of the confusion stems from the non-obvious fact that Elves and Men are the same species; as Tolkien notes in Letter 153:
Elves and Men are evidently in biological terms one race, or ...
- 158k
22
votes
Accepted
Why could the dwarves only enter Erebor with the secret passage?
The Mountain did indeed have a main entrance, which the Dwarves called "the Front Gate". However, the point of the Dwarves bringing Bilbo was that, as far as they knew, the dragon was still alive and ...
- 19.4k
22
votes
Why were the doors of Moria made so easy to open?
In much the same way that real-world walled cities would often have a guarded entrance that could be accessed by market traders and freemen, the doors of Durin had a password that would exclude ...
- 614k
22
votes
Accepted
Why do the Dwarves in LOTR call Moria 'Moria'
The Lord of the Rings Appendix F, THE LANGUAGES AND PEOPLES OF THE THIRD AGE, has this to say about the language the Dwarves use (emphases mine):
and it was according to the nature of the Dwarves ...
- 29.7k
22
votes
Does Mary Stone have a beard?
She has a beard
No way in heck was I going to admit that my prospective date had
canceled the exact second he found out that the profile pictures
hadn’t been some strange practical joke. It’s the ...
- 614k
18
votes
Why did Tolkien choose to end this blood line?
In his Letters, Tolkien never mentioned his reasons for killing Fili and Kili. Apparently it was a question that no one asked him, and likely not one that he had thought about in great detail. I think ...
- 4,223
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