Episode 232 Summary

[Tony Meade]

SESSION 232

Into many songs and tales:

• Tolkien has been building out Dwarf culture, especially beginning in The Hobbit, though that culture evolved in the writing of that book, and C.S. Lewis acknowledged the change in tone.
• The evolution from the more marginal, sinister, and self-interested Dwarves of the early mythology continues into a more heroic version that ends up in the later works.
• The Lord of the Rings transforms Dwarves in Tolkien’s mind through the character of Gimli.
• Even their creation story involving Aulë is a later addition to the mythology that Tolkien added after writing The Lord of the Rings, which retcons the nature of the Dwarves to match it.
• Dwarves had originally not been craftsmen, but merely merchants, dealing in goods to all sides.
• The addition of a more Norse view of the Dwarves as master craftsmen comes into focus in The Hobbit, as we see Thorin and Company talking about the creations and skill of their fathers.

They stand tall in our dreams:

• Gimli’s emphasis on the word “worked” shows us some values of Dwarf culture beyond their simple jealousy of ownership, but also their desire to create great works of skill and craft.
• Both the craftsmanship that was done within the mountains and of those mountains themselves have made them hallowed in the minds of the Dwarf people, as shown by Gimli’s imagination.
• There is a balance in his description between the hard things of metal and stone and the more ephemeral things like songs and tales, both being examples of his people’s craftsmanship.
• The use of the Dwarvish words shows an openness by Gimli in his willingness to share them.
• The names that Gimli gives initially are not the full names, but commonly shortened versions.
• Note: This is echoed by Treebeard in expressing surprise at Merry and Pippin’s sharing of names.
• This shows a trust and intimacy with his companions that Gimli would be willing to share this.
• Gimli seems to imply that he actually has seen the mountains in his dreams, and therefore this is an important, moving moment for him, one which he wants to share with his new friends.
• His willingness to share this would probably be countercultural among the Dwarves, and he still isn’t that familiar with his companions yet, as even Frodo is only indirectly connected to him.

Knowing them and their names:

• Note: There is a self-indulgence to the internal translations between the various languages which Tolkien would have loved, and we are able to make the connections among the names, which also allows the readers to start to learn his invented languages and how they work. It’s also notable that Tolkien’s uses “Dwarrow” as the plural of “Dwarf”, which is the original plural. As Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” was released within months of The Hobbit, Tolkien’s insistence on using his modern plural of “Dwarves” was partly driven by that.
• The meaning of “Dwarrowdelf” being “delving of Dwarves”, we can apply that to Khazad-dûm, which gives our first taste of Khuzdul, the Dwarf language, in that “Khazad” means “Dwarves”.
• Having already seen other words with the “mor” word element, the translation of “Black Pit” to “Moria” confirms that word element as meaning “black” or “darkness”, which we apply later.
• Moria is not translated into Khuzdul by Gimli, implying that there is no Dwarvish equivalent, possibly because they still expect to be able to reinhabit it at some point in the future.
• By giving us the mountain names in all three languages, we are able to start translating them.
• “Baraz” is connected to “Carad” and “Red”, and thus must be equivalents, just like “Silver” with “Celeb” and “Zirak”, and “Cloudy” with “Fanui” and “Shathûr” for the other mountains.
• Gimli’s use of “cruel” with Caradhras’ name gives a short gloss on their kinds of stories about it.
• Note: The “petty dwarves” of The Silmarillion are more like the dwarves of Norse mythology, and Mîm is a representation of that earlier conception of the Dwarves as villains in his legends. The material about Mîm and the Petty-dwarves in The Peoples of Middle-earth is written much later than its composition in The Lord of the Rings, in order to explain the change.
• Gimli isn’t just sharing the Dwarf names but drawing attention to the parallels in other tongues.
• Note: This foreshadows Gimli’s atypical nature and special role as a uniter of the Free Peoples.
• Gimli gives the names for the valley but does not explain why the Dwarves cannot forget it.
• Note: While this will be explained in Appendix A, that story has not been written at this point. While Tolkien may have had some ideas based on the stories told of the war between the Dwarves and the Orcs in The Hobbit, he may have not worked out these particular details. The tone, however, is very different, as the sorrow here is missing from the earlier tales of victory.
• There is an implication that the dwarves have tried to forget part of their history in Dimrill Dale.
• The connection the Dwarves have for Khazad-dûm goes beyond affection or reverence but extends to an understanding of that being the place where their full flowering happened.
• Gimli is sharing much more than would be expected but is not sharing everything with them.

END OF SESSION