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Aiwendil · 04-30-2005, 10:13 AM

The quote from The Hobbit got me thinking about the different ways Dwarves are portrayed throughout Tolkien's works. If we take an overview, I don't think that we find the paucity of heroic Dwarves that The Hobbit suggests. It's true that Mim is not a particularly admirable figure. Nor are the Dwarves of Nogrod who quarrel with Thingol, particularly their lord (Naugladur). But the Dwarves of Nogrod and Belegost were quite heroic on several occasions, particularly in the First and Fifth Battles of Beleriand. Azaghal's valor there may be set against Naugladur's acts.

But the truth is that Tolkien's conception of the Dwarves changed quite significantly over the course of the development of the Legendarium. In the Book of Lost Tales, they appear only in the story of their quarrel with Thingol and in the person of Mim; they are said to have great traffic with both the Noldoli and the Orcs and soldiers of Melko. In the Quenta Noldorinwa of 1930 it is said that "they are not friend of Valar or of Eldar or of Men, nor do they serve Morgoth; though they are in many things more like his people" and that the Feanorians "made war" upon them. This passage was later softened so that the Feanorians instead "had converse with them", and the statement that they were "more like" the people of Melko was removed. In the Quenta Noldorinwa the heroism of the Dwarves at the Nirnaeth is entirely absent; the Dwarves "went not themselves to war. 'For we do not know the rights of this quarrel,' they said, 'and we are friends of neither side - until it hath the mastery.'" This rather cold and calculating account was essentially retained in the 1937 Quenta Silmarillion.

The view of Dwarves immediately prior to the writing of The Hobbit, then, was not very complimentary at all. In fact, their portrayal in The Hobbit, even including the quote given by littlemanpoet, is significantly more positive than anything written about them previously.

Later ("long after", CRT guesses), a note was put against the QS passage that portrayed the Dwarves as opportunistic with regard to the Nirnaeth: "Not true of Dwarvish attitude". This, and the introduction of Azaghal that followed from it, seem to be a clear indication that Tolkien's ideas about the Dwarves had changed. Even Mim is portrayed far more sympathetically in the Narn than in the Book of Lost Tales.

So I think that the harsh statement found in The Hobbit can be seen as a vestige of the old conception of the Dwarves; by the time of LotR, the view had changed so that a noble Dwarf like Gimli was not all that astonishing.

04-30-2005, 10:13 AM	#9
Aiwendil Late Istar Join Date: Mar 2001 Posts: 2,224	The quote from The Hobbit got me thinking about the different ways Dwarves are portrayed throughout Tolkien's works. If we take an overview, I don't think that we find the paucity of heroic Dwarves that The Hobbit suggests. It's true that Mim is not a particularly admirable figure. Nor are the Dwarves of Nogrod who quarrel with Thingol, particularly their lord (Naugladur). But the Dwarves of Nogrod and Belegost were quite heroic on several occasions, particularly in the First and Fifth Battles of Beleriand. Azaghal's valor there may be set against Naugladur's acts. But the truth is that Tolkien's conception of the Dwarves changed quite significantly over the course of the development of the Legendarium. In the Book of Lost Tales, they appear only in the story of their quarrel with Thingol and in the person of Mim; they are said to have great traffic with both the Noldoli and the Orcs and soldiers of Melko. In the Quenta Noldorinwa of 1930 it is said that "they are not friend of Valar or of Eldar or of Men, nor do they serve Morgoth; though they are in many things more like his people" and that the Feanorians "made war" upon them. This passage was later softened so that the Feanorians instead "had converse with them", and the statement that they were "more like" the people of Melko was removed. In the Quenta Noldorinwa the heroism of the Dwarves at the Nirnaeth is entirely absent; the Dwarves "went not themselves to war. 'For we do not know the rights of this quarrel,' they said, 'and we are friends of neither side - until it hath the mastery.'" This rather cold and calculating account was essentially retained in the 1937 Quenta Silmarillion. The view of Dwarves immediately prior to the writing of The Hobbit, then, was not very complimentary at all. In fact, their portrayal in The Hobbit, even including the quote given by littlemanpoet, is significantly more positive than anything written about them previously. Later ("long after", CRT guesses), a note was put against the QS passage that portrayed the Dwarves as opportunistic with regard to the Nirnaeth: "Not true of Dwarvish attitude". This, and the introduction of Azaghal that followed from it, seem to be a clear indication that Tolkien's ideas about the Dwarves had changed. Even Mim is portrayed far more sympathetically in the Narn than in the Book of Lost Tales. So I think that the harsh statement found in The Hobbit can be seen as a vestige of the old conception of the Dwarves; by the time of LotR, the view had changed so that a noble Dwarf like Gimli was not all that astonishing.