The Way We War

[William Cloud Hicklin]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

Also, why are "tightly disciplined Roman legionary" and "blood-crazed, rampaging berserker" being presented as the only two possible Dwarven fighting styles?

Dunno. Since Tolkien was happy to let the Dwarves use Norse names, I have no problem envisioning them fighting in the Viking fashion, which made use of both the shieldwall and berserker rage. And lots of axes.

(NB: although two-handers or "Dane axes" became the principal weapon of Saxon huscarles and the Varangian Guard towards the end of the Viking era, most Viking fighting axes were one-handers of about 14-18", ideal for using from behind a shield. Gimli keeps his tucked into his belt, which means a one-hander rather than the absurd Frazetta fantasy that movie-Gimli carried.)