Elsewhere the phraseology is that the later "incarnations" of Durin were so similar in form and appearance to the original that it was thought to be the genuine article (or at least was given the same name) but it was a descendant.
I personally rather doubt that the souls of departed Dwarves could be reincarnated. The case of Glorfindel is the only example that we (sort of) know about an incarnate dying and returning to Middle earth. Gandalf would be the other example, but he was not an incarnate so he does not qualify (and it was the special intervention of Eru).
The shroud of mystery that surrounds much of the information about the Dwarves was one that they wanted. Their secrecy was a trait of their race, so it's little wonder that there are different stories and conflicting interpretations especially about such mysterious things as life and death.
(At least that's how it fits in the story. The other reason is that Tolkien was not primarily concerned with the Dwarves and did not give them as much attention. Or at least that's how I, with my massive pro-Dwarven bias, view the situation. [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img] [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img])
[ July 22, 2002: Message edited by: Kuruharan ]
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