I have always been moved by Gimli's response to the Caverns of Helm's Deep. It reminds me every time of the lines from the Dwarves' song at the beginning of the Hobbit:
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There many a gleaming golden hoard
They shaped and wrought, and light they caught
To hide in gems on hilt of sword.
On silver necklaces they strung
The flowering stars, on crowns they hung
The dragon-fire, in twisted wire
They meshed the light of moon and sun.
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Even though the works mentioned in the poem aren't in their natural setting (like the caves), there is clearly a well-expressed and aesthetic appreciation for objects of beauty above and beyond pride in the works of their hands and commercial value. There is appreciation for, and imitation of nature here. It also strikes me that Gimli's appreciation for the caves is less sterile and stone-oriented than one generally associates with dwarves. He admires the caves in their natural setting because they look like living things, like flowers and underwater plants and the hands of Galadriel. He refers to them as "glades of flowering stone."
davem said:
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Gimli's words penetrate his Elven 'superiority'. Legolas has so far been in the role of 'teacher' - he has told the others about his people, has advised & made 'suggestions' - but one can't help feeling he has learned little: probably because like most of his kindred he has felt he had nothing to learn.
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I think there's a rather interesting point about the ancient enmity of elves and dwarves here as well. How often have Dwarves and Elves in their long history dwelt in the same halls? Menegroth, Nargothrond, the Halls of the Elven Kings of Mirkwood were all the result of the combined craftsmanship of Dwarves and Elves, and most decorated with very natural motifs (weren't Menegroth's columns carved like trees and its roofs like intertwined branches?). Khazad-dum and Eregion both profited from each others' influence.
Really, the Elves and Dwarves have much in common when it comes to taste and craftsmanship. Elves seem a bit more idealistic, they love the "original" natural phenomena and channel their power through stone (rings, etc.) to preserve it and preserve through representation only in addition to the originals or when the originals cannot be saved, whereas Dwarves seem content to surround themselves with representations. But both seek to preserve (and perhaps improve?) nature, to freeze it in stone, so to speak. But perhaps in recent times Dwarves have fallen away a bit from that ideal (from all accounts, I think that Erebor was a fairly utilitarian dwelling) and Elves, in their superiority, refuse to see that the Dwarves' project is similar to their own (although perhaps different in style).
It's nice to see Legolas and Gimli each discovering that the other has his own tastes and is capable of appreciating his companions'.
I supsect I've rambled.
Sophia