A Most Unusual Dwarf

[Estelyn Telcontar]

I've been pondering the nature of Dwarvish character in the light of their creation story. I must admit, there's a strange aftertaste in it for me - it sounds like they were Eru's stepchildren, misshapen as far as his original planning was concerned. I know the Silmarillion/Ainulindalë is Elven history, and their own legends may be different, but do you suppose that they were ever told (by some grumpy, malicious, or drunk Elf, perhaps) that they weren't planned?

How would that shape their outlook on life? Would that account for their desire to collect wealth, perhaps as a substitute for self-worth feelings? Would they have developed a suspicious attitude toward other races for that reason? Or would they have myths that postulated their being special, perhaps bonding particularly with Aulë as their maker?

I'm not sure how to fit Gimli's character into these thoughts, which are rather nebulous and therefore slightly rambling...

[davem]

I've referred to this post of Squatter's before a couple of times, because it has always stuck in my mind. Its from the 'Psychological depth in Tolkien's Characters' thread. The relevant passage is:

Even with Legolas and Gimli, presented by some as 'paper-thin' and a poor substitute for the Odd Couple, I think that it requires a considerably insensitive reading of their scenes to come to that conclusion. Yes, their relationship with one another is a simple friendship, but it serves its narrative purpose without interfering with the plot. Quite a large part of that purpose was, in my opinion, to demonstrate that if we will only open our minds a little the rewards may be immmense. Of course it is a minor plot-line, with much less significance than Frodo, Sam and Gollum's journey or the fall of Saruman and Denethor; but though it is minor, and given the detail appropriate to a minor part of the story, I feel that to describe the characters themselves as 'paper-thin' is again to overlook subtleties of expression in the text.

Legolas and Gimli are not closely-drawn characters, but it is still possible to infer without external reference their thoughts, their motivations and their emotions. Gimli particularly is inclined to wear his heart on his sleeve, as we see when the Fellowship discuss the road ahead in Hollin:

Look at Gimli's reaction to seeing this place that resonates so deeply with the dreams of his people. He has seen the peaks 'once in waking life': he could as easily say 'Only once have I seen them' and leave it at that, but he goes on to imply that here is something that he has seen in his dreams a thousand times. This emotional reaction is typical of him. He repeats it in Lothlórien in his scenes with Galadriel, and we see it again when he has his first glimpse of the Glittering Caves. His conversation with Legolas as they leave Lothlórien reveals depths to each character that are not admitted by the 'paper-thin' argument:
Quote:

Is this the conversation of two characters without depth? It takes little imagination to see in Legolas' words the pity of the Elves' relations with other races. The mortals move on and leave, but the Elves are trapped within the world, unchanging and unable to follow. The most beautiful of their creations are destroyed, and they live to see most triumph turn back to disaster. Legolas speaks with the voice of experience. He has had many years to learn that we cannot hold on to the world; but Gimli is feeling for the first time the pain that the Elves feel at the passing away of beautiful things: a pain that they live with daily, and must overcome in bringing about the fall of Sauron. Even for one whose memory is like waking life, memory is not enough, and it is telling that Legolas never claims that it is. What he says is that an unstained memory is a great gift, and he has already implied that memory is what everything must eventually become. Who among the Fellowship is so well-placed as he to know this? This is a conversation about very profound thoughts, and if the characters are talking about them, they must also be thinking them. They might be talking about Lórien on the surface, but on a deeper level they are talking about the very relationship between experience and memory. This seems to indicate as well as anything that there is more to Gimli than a solid Dwarven miner and more to Legolas than the woodland prince. It may not come out often, but it is there; and we need to know that it is there if we are to feel for those characters at all.

[Kuruharan]

I know the Silmarillion/Ainulindalë is Elven history, and their own legends may be different, but do you suppose that they were ever told (by some grumpy, malicious, or drunk Elf, perhaps) that they weren't planned?

How would that shape their outlook on life? Would that account for their desire to collect wealth, perhaps as a substitute for self-worth feelings? Would they have developed a suspicious attitude toward other races for that reason? Or would they have myths that postulated their being special, perhaps bonding particularly with Aulë as their maker?

The answer to the first question is probably yes. The Elves are very insecure and
they feel the need to constantly reinforce their shaky (and ill-founded) feelings of superiority.

On a more serious note, I doubt that any amount of Elven legends would change how the dwarves viewed themselves. They'd had thousands of years (or the equivalent of years of the sun) to develop their view of the world and their place in it. Aule evidently gave some instruction to the original dwarves, although we don't know what that would have been aside from their language and telling them of their ultimate fate.

However, the possessive nature of the dwarves does seem to be at odds with the non-possessive nature of Aule.