Thank you Manwe and Morima. Since I'm not well versed on all of Tolkien's other works, I was not aware of exactly how many words are recorded in the Dwarf language by Tolkien. <P>However; I respectfully suggest that neither do you, Morima. Here is a link with several more Dwarvish words and word fragments that have been recorded. <A HREF="http://www.uib.no/People/hnohf/khuzdul.htm" TARGET=_blank>The Secret Tongue of the Dwarves</A><P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>of course, that is from the book...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Of course, Manwe, We are talking about the film here. And NO film is ever "the book".<P>But since P.J. went to the trouble and expense to employ Tolkien scholars and linquists to assist him in the writing of dialog which uses the good professor's languages, I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and suggest that he probably worked closely with these people to get the proper "sound" of the Dwarf tongue, even if the words had no real meaning. <P>Now why would he do this? Because it gives us a wonderful little scene with a wealth of background information concerning the characters. It shows us Gimli's irracibility and stubborness, (Haldir is <I>this</I> close to shooting the pesky dwarf, but Gimli is still mouthing off at him.) It establishes the difference between the races, not just in appearance, but in their languages. <P>It also give us a quite a bit of insight into the character of Aragorn. By his "knowing" what Gimli is saying, it suggests that Aragorn a highly educated Man, (much more even than Haldir the Elf, since Haldir doesn't know what Gimli said - though he can probably guess). It also suggests that Aragorn has traveled widely and has had dealings with many different races.<P>That's a lot of information to convey in a scene that only lasts maybe 10 seconds. And THAT'S good film-making! So even though you tell me that the actual "words" had no meaning, I'm still going to defend P.J.'s use of that scene, and I'm very glad he took the time and effort to put that moment back in the film.<P>Oh, BTW: in the above article, it does give incidences where a select few Men and Elves were taught the Dwarf tongue. So it would be no stretch of the imagination to believe that Aragorn knew "Dwarvish". Who better than the heir of Isildur, and the future King of Gondor and Anor?<p>[ November 27, 2002: Message edited by: Birdland ]
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