Thorin's Heir

[Inziladun]

I agree that Thorin was probably so bound up in thoughts of revenge on Smaug that marriage probably didn't seem to him to be very important. He also might have counted on the idea of Fili or Kili surviving to carry on the line.

Originally Posted by Kuruharan

One thing about Tolkien's conception of the dwarves that I have always found...not entirely well thought out, is their lackadaisical attitude toward their own continued existence. If females are rare, and consequently marriage and child raising as well, one would think that marriage and family would be something culturally valued and encouraged rather than being seemingly viewed as incidental.

That would seem to be an inevitable factor in their decline. The Dwarves couldn't bide their time indefinitely like the Elves, nor did they have the urgency to procreate which was a trait of Men (and Hobbits). Dwarves seem from the start to have had more consideration for their crafts and wealth than themselves. Even after a war that encompassed all the House of Durin, as well as other Houses, (in which Thráin, Thorin, and Dáin fought), when Azog, the killer of Thrór was slain, what's Thráin's first thought? "Khazad-dûm is ours!"