The Way We War

[Kuruharan]

I don't see why. Thorin (by the way, I love that everyone is using him as an analogy so often) wielded Orcrist, an elven sword, which was made to fit the stature of a tall elven king.

A very good point.

It must be remembered that Tolkien's dwarves were not as short as people tend to think they were.

They were certainly much taller than Lewis' dwarfs, for example.

I would have to agree with those who say that Dwarves have the nature to go berserk in battle instead of fighting Roman style. The warriors of The House of the Hammer were certainly berserk in their fighting style and the reference to the Dwarves of the Iron Hills don't strike me as the organized type. Of course, if the Dwarves were to be fighting in an organized fashion, the Roman/Greek style would be the one that would make the most sense.

Not sure that I see the connection there between the House of the Hammer and the dwarven fighting style. True there is the reverance for Aule and smithcraft, but other than that elves and dwarves tended to be very different peoples.

I don't think a berzerk fighting style would serve the dwarves very well given their generally shorter stature than their foes...yes I remember what I said above.