The hobbit contradictions...

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by alatar

While the Company slaughters their way to the exit, I couldn't help but notice that the dwarves seem to use more swords than I'd think this race was known for. Where are all of the axes?

That's something that puzzled me from the book as well. Thorin's use of Orcrist seems impractical.

We are told in FOTR that Hobbits generally were between 3 and 4 feet tall, and "not much shorter" than Dwarves. Bilbo was able to use the dagger Sting as a short sword. How could Thorin effectively use a full size sword? I'm quite a bit taller than a Dwarf (though hardly Thingol-sized), and a longsword would be a bit cumbersome for me. Also, Orcrist was made for the Noldor in Gondolin, who were pretty tall. Was Thorin trying to compensate for something?