how durin founded the longbeards

[mhagain]

Originally Posted by tom the eldest

So,he really taking a spouse from other fathers?

Or from one of the other Dwarves that were laid to sleep near him.

To be honest, this is presented as a racial founding-myth and probably shouldn't be taken so literally.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by mhagain

To be honest, this is presented as a racial founding-myth and probably shouldn't be taken so literally.

Then again, couldn't one say the same of the Elves' awakening at Cuiviénen? We as readers are given the Elves' "version" of First Age history in Arda, and the making of the Dwarves by Aulë is presented from their point of view, with a little detail about the Dwarves' reverence for the maker "Mahal", their name for the Vala.

I would take the view that though Durin might have been "alone", that was more a distinction of his being the Eldest of the race. The tale of their beginning in The Silmarillion says that Aulë "made first the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves" (emphasis added). That leaves room for the idea that he later made others, though only the Seven Fathers were mentioned specifically.

[William Cloud Hicklin]

Might as well ask how we all came to be here (Old Testament version), since Abel was dead and Cain exiled.

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

Might as well ask how we all came to be here (Old Testament version), since Abel was dead and Cain exiled.

A lesson in begettin' when there was no gettin' to be got.

[Alfirin]

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

Might as well ask how we all came to be here (Old Testament version), since Abel was dead and Cain exiled.

I guess that means that we need to search for a Tolkein Apocrypha if we want an answer. (though I suppose the notes ARE sort of the Apocrypha here. There is no doubt they are his, but as canonicity of anything there is always up for debate, they are functionally apocryphal.

[mhagain]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

Then again, couldn't one say the same of the Elves' awakening at Cuiviénen?

Of course it could; the Cuivienyarna is presented as a mathematical lesson, after all:

Actually written (in style and simple notions) to be a surviving Elvish "fairytale" or child's tale, mingled with counting-lore.

That said, the Elves do have survivors from that time still among them (Círdan being a notable and likely example) whereas the Dwarves don't. You'll notice that Tolkien is careful to qualify statements about the Dwarves with "it is said", "it is told", etc, so even within the framework of his own stories it's being presented as a legend.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by mhagain

That said, the Elves do have survivors from that time still among them (Círdan being a notable and likely example) whereas the Dwarves don't. You'll notice that Tolkien is careful to qualify statements about the Dwarves with "it is said", "it is told", etc, so even within the framework of his own stories it's being presented as a legend.

Part of the "in-world" explanation for that could be the general secretive nature of the Dwarves. Other races didn't as a rule have much to do with them that didn't involve commerce.