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Originally Posted by skip spence
Only got time for a short reply but the Dwarves refusal to make any concessions to Sauron might not be with primarily "heroic" or "noble" motivations.
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Their refusal might not have been, but what about their actions? And that is preventing Sauron (and earlier Smaug) from burning the West. Also, the attention and resources the dwarves (and Dale Men) take away from Sauron by resisting him. The dwarves actions saved lives, question is does their motivation matter, or are they heroic enough for fighting Sauron?
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Remember, they knew Sauron the Deceiver from way back when and expected him to break any promise as soon as it fitted him. As a fiercely independent group they'd hate to be subjugated to anybody anyway, be they good or bad.
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There could be something there, because from my memory Sauron only tries to strike a deal with the Dwarves. He did manage to get the Haradrim and other Men to join him, but it's only the dwarves he tries to set up a deal. He wants Gondor destroyed, and must think it's useless to win over any Elves, as he attacks Lorien. Yet, he tries to win over the dwarves, so he has to think they can be more willing allies (or drawn to his side) than other people?
William, thank you for that information. I know Tolkien changed a lot, reworked his story, but I don't know too many of the details - like when and what changes occured. That was very helpful.
Squatter:
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One flower, however, does not make a spring, and in general Tolkien's description of Dwarves is as clannish, secretive and possessive, both of wealth and valuable items and of their rights.
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But that does make exceptions to the normal 'image' of dwarves. And I'm wondering if we can say there are other exceptions, or is Gimli the diamond in the rough? What about his father - Gloin? What about Dain?