Stereotypes

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Originally Posted by The Sixth Wizard

The thought that dwarvish language was based upon Semitic languages raises some questions as to what else in Tolkien based upon Semitic, or shall we cut to the chase and say Jewish, people. Tolkien's dwarves are bearded, greedy and determined hoarders, which sounds a lot like some racist Jewish stereotypes.

Could someone provide the link to the thread where members were debating whether or not Tolkien's books were racist? After all, he made Southrons swarthy, cruel, riders of elephants, my emphasis on "swarthy".

Tolkien did in fact compare his Dwarves to the Jews occationally. And as the Dwarves do have a weakness for gold I can only assume that T did make use of the old stereotype of Jews beeing greedy hoarders. Then again, all races in ME have their virtues and flaws. Men, for example, are easily swayed by the evil powers whereas the Dwarves in contrast are much more honourable and steadfast.

Here's a quote from Tolkien Newsgroups FAQ where you also can find a brief discussion on other racism charges: (http://tolkien.slimy.com/faq/External.html)

One occasional charge is that Tolkien was anti-semitic, presumably because he occasionally compared his Dwarves to Jews. Those comparisons seem to focus on history and language, however: in Letter #176 he says, "I do think of the 'Dwarves' like Jews: at once native and alien in their habitations, speaking the languages of the country, but with an accent due to their own private tongue.....". And he seems to have had a very positive view of the Jewish people in general.

Prior to the second world war Tolkien recieved a letter from the German government asking him to establish his racial purity so they could authorize an official translation of The Hobbit. This is (part of) the answer they recieved:

Thank you for your letter.... I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend," he wrote. "I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-Iranian; as far as I am aware none of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy or any related dialects. But if I am to understand that you are inquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people....

Edit: I believe the faulty notion of Vikings wearing horned helmets came from some bungling 19th century museumintendent, who thought it looked cool to match a few drinking vessels made of horn with helmets, or something like that... At least that's what a mate once told me (he studies archeology).

[The Sixth Wizard]

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Thanks for settling the matter. I should never have doubted you, Professor Tolkien!

<EDIT> Oh sorry, missed the p in your name...

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Originally Posted by The Sixth Wizard

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Why thank you. Here's another analogy between the Dwarves and the Jews.

You know the scene when Aule lifted his hammer to crush his action figures after being found out by Eru, who of course spared them and gave them the gift of life. Reminds you of something?

God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son"
Abe says, "Man, you must be puttin' me on"

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

Originally Posted by skip spence

Why thank you. Here's another analogy between the Dwarves and the Jews.

You know the scene when Aule lifted his hammer to crush his action figures after being found out by Eru, who of course spared them and gave them the gift of life. Reminds you of something?

God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son"
Abe says, "Man, you must be puttin' me on"

Kind of a weak analogy, but I would have done the same just for the sake of quoting Bob Dylan.

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Ah yes... Dylan. The greatest singer since Maglor, son of Feanor.

[Roa_Aoife]

Just adding my two cents:

Almost al of my fellow D&Der's (and I know quite a few) are big Tolkien fans, and the general theory is that First Edition took alot of inspiration from the professor, as did such games as Magic: the Gathering. (You can read direct Tolkien quotes on many of the earlier editions.) Second Edition moved away from Tolkien's influence during the rise of mysticism and similar new religions such as Wicca in the US, and took a darker turn as well. A lot of media was doing this at the time as the youth began to try to break away from the previous generation and a great movement towards the "edgier" began. Third Edition has evolved even further. Admittedly, I haven't seen Fourth Edition, yet.

Other games that have come after have attempted to distinguish themselves from D&D, as fantasy authors have tried to distinguish themselves from Tolkien. Thus, details have been changed regarding the races and the landscape so that each new product appears to actually be new. You could say that even though the images we see are not of Tolkien's design, he is still responsible for them, by the simple fact that he set the standard that everyone is trying to overtake.