104
votes
Why couldn't the dwarves beat/kill the Balrog?
There was nothing particular about the elves that made them capable of taking on balrogs, except that the elves, as the Firstborn children of Illúvatar, were probably the most powerful of all the ...
- 94.8k
73
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 ...
- 134k
71
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 ...
- 87.3k
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 ...
- 6,326
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 ...
- 162k
46
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 ...
- 5,667
32
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" ...
- 814
31
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 ...
- 39.6k
30
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 (...
- 134k
26
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 ...
- 162k
26
votes
What is the first fantasy work to feature both dwarves and dwarfs?
The Discworld series of novels by Terry Pratchett.
They have Dwarves, which are a separate species to humans.
They also have a recurring character Nobby Nobbs, a human of well below average height. He ...
- 16.6k
22
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 ...
- 162k
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 ...
- 667k
19
votes
Why couldn't the dwarves beat/kill the Balrog?
The short and simple answer is that Noldor in the First Age who had returned to Middle-Earth from Valinor and fought the Long War against Morgoth and his armies were bigger badasses than simple ...
- 1,822
17
votes
Accepted
Did Tolkien invent enough Dwarvish to carry on a conversation?
No
There simply aren't enough words in Tolkien's Khuzdûl to carry on a conversation. This is noted by Christopher Tolkien in History of Middle-earth, when remarking on the use of the language in the ...
- 162k
17
votes
Why didn't the Moria record-taker fight more and write less?
TL;DR Studies show that this behavior is not uncommon in fully committed soldiers on the battlefield and related to obedience and following orders. There are also examples of contradicting behavior as ...
- 271
17
votes
Accepted
What's the physical difference between Hobbits and Dwarves?
Dwarves and Hobbits have very different origins are two different species
Dwarves are creations of Aule, the craftsman.
in their beginning the Dwarves were made by Aulë in the darkness of Middle-...
- 76.8k
17
votes
Accepted
Who were the seven dwarves Sauron gave the Rings of Power to?
Who the other 6 were exactly is unknown.
As you said, one of the rings was given to Durin III, known as the "Ring of Thror", and was passed down the line of Durin for thousands of years ...
- 76.8k
15
votes
Accepted
What happened to the dwarves' instruments?
There is no further account of them. Considering how large some of the instruments are described, it seems unlikely that they brought them on a trek through the Wild (emphasis mine):
Kili and Fili ...
- 162k
15
votes
Is there a legal system in Middle-earth?
The presence of contracts does not imply the presence of a legal system. Throughout the world and throughout history people have made formal agreements with each other based on nothing more than ...
- 983
14
votes
What's the physical difference between Hobbits and Dwarves?
There is already an excellent answer to this question by Edlothiad (I don't think I have ever managed to answer a Tolkien question before him). As the question lists language as one of the things that ...
- 21k
14
votes
Why couldn't the dwarves beat/kill the Balrog?
A balrog is essentially a minor deity, and effectively immortal.
Only the great magics of the first and second age could destroy one, hence neither of the mortal races would stand a chance against one....
- 4,313
13
votes
Did Thráin have one of the seven rings?
Yes.
Thrain's Ring even has its own page at the LotR Wikia.
In canon:
Of this Ring something may be said here. It was believed by the Dwarves of Durin’s Folk to be the first of the Seven that was ...
- 134k
13
votes
Accepted
Do Dwarves and Elves have a pancreas?
In Tolkien's conception, humans and Elves are anatomically identical.
I suppose that actually the chief difficulties I have involved myself in are scientific and biological - which worry me just as ...
- 24.6k
13
votes
Do the dwarves grow weary of Middle-earth
The Dwarves are decaying because they reproduce slowly.
While Mark Olson does an excellent job at proving the Dwarves aren't "fading" he doesn't quite look at the text that inspired the ...
- 76.8k
13
votes
Accepted
Is the facial hair of Tolkien's dwarves unshaveable?
Per The History of Middle Earth Vol. 11
The Naugrim were ever, as they still remain, short and squat in
stature; they were deep-breasted, strong in the arm, and stout in the
leg, and their beards ...
- 667k
13
votes
Accepted
Are the Dwarfs meant to represent Jews in The Last Battle?
That does not seem to be the case. The Dwarfs seem generically to represent those who had, beguiled by the world, fallen into disbelief and villainy, but who still had a chance to redeem themselves ...
- 94.8k
12
votes
Why didn't the Moria record-taker fight more and write less?
The writer of the most recent entries in what is called the Book of Mazarbul (actually Ori, one of Thorin's companions, as stated in the Fellowship of the Ring book), makes it obvious that they are ...
- 7,546
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