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Kalimac · 12-28-2003, 10:00 PM

Northman, I'm betting it would be like a really bad fanfic [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]. (In fact, it's probably been done. There are some lulus out there).

Actually, what always bothered me about Dwarven reproduction was not the beards (beetles fancy other beetles, after all) but the statistical information. Tolkien tells us a few facts about the Dwarven population: 1) they generally have only one spouse 2) the population is two-thirds men, one-third women 3) despite this enormous preponderance of masculinity, not all of the women choose to marry. So in every generation you have a MAXIMUM of two-thirds of the Dwarves who are even able to take a shot at reproducing.

Is it just me, or does this seem like they'd be fighting a losing battle in terms of keeping the population up? Unless married couples tended to have truly monstrous numbers of children, you'd have an automatic population decline built in there. How did they manage to keep the Dwarf race going?

12-28-2003, 10:00 PM	#27
Kalimac Candle of the Marshes Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Flyover Country Posts: 780	Northman, I'm betting it would be like a really bad fanfic [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]. (In fact, it's probably been done. There are some lulus out there). Actually, what always bothered me about Dwarven reproduction was not the beards (beetles fancy other beetles, after all) but the statistical information. Tolkien tells us a few facts about the Dwarven population: 1) they generally have only one spouse 2) the population is two-thirds men, one-third women 3) despite this enormous preponderance of masculinity, not all of the women choose to marry. So in every generation you have a MAXIMUM of two-thirds of the Dwarves who are even able to take a shot at reproducing. Is it just me, or does this seem like they'd be fighting a losing battle in terms of keeping the population up? Unless married couples tended to have truly monstrous numbers of children, you'd have an automatic population decline built in there. How did they manage to keep the Dwarf race going? __________________ Father, dear Father, if you see fit, We'll send my love to college for one year yet Tie blue ribbons all about his head, To let the ladies know that he's married.