Stereotypes

[The Sixth Wizard]

+rep skip spence.

Thanks for settling the matter. I should never have doubted you, Professor Tolkien!

<EDIT> Oh sorry, missed the p in your name...

[skip spence]

Originally Posted by The Sixth Wizard

+rep skip sence.

Why thank you. Here's another analogy between the Dwarves and the Jews.

You know the scene when Aule lifted his hammer to crush his action figures after being found out by Eru, who of course spared them and gave them the gift of life. Reminds you of something?

God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son"
Abe says, "Man, you must be puttin' me on"

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

Originally Posted by skip spence

Why thank you. Here's another analogy between the Dwarves and the Jews.

You know the scene when Aule lifted his hammer to crush his action figures after being found out by Eru, who of course spared them and gave them the gift of life. Reminds you of something?

God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son"
Abe says, "Man, you must be puttin' me on"

Kind of a weak analogy, but I would have done the same just for the sake of quoting Bob Dylan.

[skip spence]

Ah yes... Dylan. The greatest singer since Maglor, son of Feanor.

[Roa_Aoife]

Just adding my two cents:

Almost al of my fellow D&Der's (and I know quite a few) are big Tolkien fans, and the general theory is that First Edition took alot of inspiration from the professor, as did such games as Magic: the Gathering. (You can read direct Tolkien quotes on many of the earlier editions.) Second Edition moved away from Tolkien's influence during the rise of mysticism and similar new religions such as Wicca in the US, and took a darker turn as well. A lot of media was doing this at the time as the youth began to try to break away from the previous generation and a great movement towards the "edgier" began. Third Edition has evolved even further. Admittedly, I haven't seen Fourth Edition, yet.

Other games that have come after have attempted to distinguish themselves from D&D, as fantasy authors have tried to distinguish themselves from Tolkien. Thus, details have been changed regarding the races and the landscape so that each new product appears to actually be new. You could say that even though the images we see are not of Tolkien's design, he is still responsible for them, by the simple fact that he set the standard that everyone is trying to overtake.