Education in Middle Earth

[Groin Redbeard]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

Of the Dwarves, we know they wrote rambling contracts in legalese (Thorin for instance), and their avidity for commerce and their natural acquisitiveness made them a likely race for cultural literacy; for where there are accountants, there is the writing of lists, documents, inventories and such. Tolkien mentions on several occasions the Dwarves' fondness for the Cirth, as well as their secret language.

I always pictured the dwarves as a class type of system. The noble's sons got the greatest tutors and learned from great philosophers and mathamaticians, like the ancient Greeks, or even better, Carthage. The Carthaginians believed that the higher ranking aristocracy was superior to the average day worker but also thought it necassary that though showed this through superiority fighting, knowledge, wisdom, and governing. They were a proud people and the Dwarf's system might not be that much different than this.

Being a secret race we have little information about them, my guess is that the lower ranking families and their sons worked in the mines while some ascended to jewel crafting or making "magical toys" like we saw at Bilbo's birthday party.