Oxonmoot 2021

(With coauthor Kaelyn Harris)

Dwarves are the subject of significant prejudice in Middle-earth, particularly on the part of the Elves. In the Third Age, this prejudice is most apparent in the jailing of Thorin’s company by Thranduil, Celeborn’s attribution of the devastation of the Balrog to the Dwarves, and Legolas’s claim that the Dwarves would destroy Aglarond. Interestingly, this prejudice seems to be shared by many scholarly and popular interpretations of The Lord of the Rings: scholars consider the Dwarves basically greedy, interested in accumulating wealth and unconcerned with the natural world, and Peter Jackson’s interpretation of the Dwarves, represented by Gimli, participates in this narrative. However, these perspectives neglect to consider the Dwarves fairly, especially rejecting Dwarven perspectives of their own culture. This paper will explore three instances of anti-Dwarf prejudice in the Third Age, endeavoring to give the Dwarves a more fair reading.