Entwives

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

Actually, I am rather stumped as to how the Dwarves procreated at all, considering Aule created only male dwarves.

Well now this is cause for much futher discussion, although few seem to have taken up the conundrum.

Was Tolkien's comment about the difficulty of distinguishing between dwarven genders one of his mighty niggles, that he never went back and erased the seeming implausability, but instead posited reasons for it?

Did Tolkien ascribe to an all-inclusive meaning of "Father" similar to that once generally accepted of "Men", that as "men" included women "Father" must include 'mother'? (An interpretation famously repudiated and rejected over these last fifty years or so, at least by some.)

Or is this simply another instance where Tolkien did not feel the need to mention any of the females? After all, Tolkien never bothered to give names to Undomiel's daughters. And the family trees do not always name all the female descendents, simply reading "3 daughters". Perhaps Tolkien felt that only the Seven Fathers, as the forebearers, merited mention? After all, he had that prime model of world creation before him, the Bible. Where did Seth find his mate?