Lord of the Rings: The Animated Musical | Races: Dwarves

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A black, white, and dark blue striped image with the text Lord of the Rings: The Animated Musical | Races: Dwarves

At long last, I present my character design prototypes for everyone’s favorite grumpy four-foot-tall mining engineers, the Dwarves. Other people groups described in the text as having dwarf-like traits previously appeared in this series: the Harfoot Hobbits once dwelled among the dwarves, and the Drúedain Men have a similar height and accent. The Men of Near Harad may also have been similar in appearance, as I have depicted them. However, the text did not explain if these groups shared a common ancestor.

Not everyone brings the same cheer to describing the Dwarves as I do. While these readers may understand The Lord of the Rings to be subtly political or subversive in nature, in this way similar to my interpretation of the text, they do not consider the layers of context outlined in the text: this story was a translation based on an ancient document written by individuals in a Medieval world with its own cultures and biases. These critics considered the words and actions of the characters as the real or imagined biases of the author, J.R.R. Tolkien, and declare his viewpoint and that of the book to be identical, somehow missing that the text contained conflicting viewpoints.

While I agree that translators consciously and unconsciously introduce an added layer of bias to the text, Tolkien’s translator notes suggested that the original was in fact more severe than what he presented. This censorship created a more palpable text for the mid-1950s liberal-leaning academic British audience for which it was intended. Tolkien may have believed his audience was familiar with the content of folklore and Medieval manuscripts and would recognize the efforts of the text to both mimic and subvert those older texts. His books found audiences he could have never imagined. These unintended readers had limited knowledge of the works acting as a foundation for Tolkien’s creativity.

Since I have read the book both as a young reader with little understanding of historical cultures and as someone with significantly more knowledge than the general public, I can pinpoint areas in the text that raise questions for modern readers, then use a combination of historical background and intertextual references to provide an interpretation based on the framework I have constructed throughout these essays.

Seven people standing in a row; from left to right, a 5 for 8 man wearing traditional Turkish clothing and a turban, a pair of four-foot tall people wearing grass clothing; a pair of four-foot tall people with long beards wearing traditional Turkish clothing, and a pair of three-foot six-inch people with prominent front teeth and hair feet wearing Turkish clothing

Antisemitism and Dwarves

As mentioned last week during “Appendix A, III Durin’s Folk”, it is no secret that during the Medieval period, Dwarves from Norse and Germanic mythology were “Christianized”, causing an originally pagan Race to stand in for antisemitic stereotypes. To this day, scholars of Tolkien’s work continue to write tired arguments over whether a man who lived during the Holocaust and died in 1973 showed conscious or unconscious antisemitic tendencies in his work according to a late 20th or early 21st century standard. These critics do not consider that descriptions of Dwarves were filtered through the opinions of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins. Both characters made biased statements about other Races throughout the text, with Bilbo acting especially critical towards Dwarves, even though their own upper class Harfoot Hobbit clan was Jewish-coded.

In order to analyze the description of Dwarves in the text through a post-colonial lens, I will first briefly review caricatures in folklore, literature, and art; then compare them to realistic depictions of Jews and other Semitic people, and more broadly groups from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA); and finally note traits of Dwarves that do not exist in real-world humans.

Stith Thompson’s Motif Index published in 1958 contained problematic motifs that have presumably been reworded in modern versions of folklore indexes not accessible to the public. These motifs include blatant antisemitism and racism. To give a brief sample without beleaguering the point, some of the less severe examples I have seen so far included: “Why Jews smell bad” (A1662.1), “Seven whistlers are the souls of the Jews who crucified Christ” (A1715.3), and “Knockers as ghosts of Jews who crucified Christ and who were forced to work Cornish tin mines as punishment” (F456.1.1.1). As someone with Cornish tin miner ancestors, I apologize for their stupidity in creating that motif.

Popular English-language literature exhibited similar biases, some more relevant to the plot than others. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emma Orczy was published in 1905 as the first superhero novel. I found it a genuinely good book with one significant flaw: the hero escaped a kidnapping attempt dressed as a “dirty Jew”, although as a master of disguise, he could have pretended to be anyone. This series ended after thirty-five years in 1940, three years after the publication of first edition of The Hobbit in 1937. A hundred years earlier, Charles Dickens published Oliver Twist in 1838, featuring the Jewish child abuser Fagin as a villain. Dickens ended up cutting most references to Fagin’s ethnicity in later editions of the book due to pushback, an unusual decision for a 19th century author. I would be remiss if I did not mention Shylock in The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, a moneylender determined to get his “pound of flesh” from the titular merchant if a debt was not repaid. These stereotypes focused not solely on the ancestry of the speaker but their social status. They frequently represented immigrants and unhoused people, already two ostracized groups, and compounded their “otherness” or deviation from the dominant population with their different religious views.

During this series, I have referenced the atrocities of the Nazi Party throughout Continental Europe around the time of World War II. For those of you keeping track, I have discussed this in “Foreword by J.R.R. Tolkien”, “Prologue, 2 Concerning Pipe-weed”, “Introduction to the History of Musical Theater”, “Introduction to the History of Documentaries”, and “Appendix A, III Durin’s Folk”; not for the last time.

The impact of antisemitic propaganda from this time fundamentally changed the “genre”, as misinformation could be spread through mass media. The caricatures built upon older tropes mocking common phenotypes or physical traits of Semitic people. These supposed traits included an aquiline or Roman nose, never mind that this was considered a distinguishing feature among Roman emperors; long beards, popular during the “great Victorian beard craze” of the second half of the 19th century; and curly hair, a trait that will belong to around forty percent of the population by 2030. As you likely already know, people who identify as Jews or have Jewish ancestry come from diverse cultural backgrounds and do not all look alike. Additionally, my other inspiration for the design of Dwarves, the Ottoman Empire, was noted for its diversity by contemporaries. While the depiction of clothing will lean towards the dominant Turkish culture, I want to show the seven lines of Dwarves as coming from different backgrounds, just as Hobbits had “breeds”, Elves had “kindred”, and Men had ethnic variations.

A head-and-shoulders portrait of a Dwarf with with long braided white hair and beard, pale skin, and an orange turban Wears a red coat and layers of green, orange, and purple blouses Profile portrait of a dwarf with loose yellow hair and beard

Ottoman Influence

This is the third group in Middle-earth who I designed as wearing clothing inspired by the Ottoman Empire, the others being the Harfoot Hobbits and the Haradrim. The sultan or imperial ruler of the Ottoman Empire decided who could wear what at court, including colors and fabrics; perhaps dwarf-lords like Thorin and Dáin also controlled the outfits of their people. The kaftan or overcoat differed in body length and sleeve length depending on the season. Underneath were carefully layered blouses topped by a chepken or jacket.

For pants, the Dwarves wear şalvar or Turkish trousers, baggy at the knees but tight around the waist and ankles. For Muslims in the empire, turbans or kavuk were not a practical choice when traveling, but the Quran stipulated head coverings for men and women, so hoods were worn instead. The Dwarves were more casual in covering their heads, taking off their hoods and placing them on “lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats” (Hobbit, 1) inside Bag-End during “An Unexpected Party”. Contrasting the bare feet of Hobbits and comfortable shoes of Men, my Dwarves wear sturdy leather boots, perfect for exploring a cave or digging in a mine.

While the Ottoman Empire lasted seven hundred years and covered an area now considered multiple countries, the dominant Turkish culture during the European Medieval Period was the style of clothing best remembered by the Western world. For this variation I want to consider why this culture was so prevalent in Western European fashion, art, and design.

Western Europe had an on-again, off-again relationship with the Ottoman Empire. The Catholic and Protestant churches were not a fan of the Ottoman’s predominantly Muslim views. Although the empire tended to be more religiously tolerant than their Western counterparts, some sultans imposed laws to distinguish clothing between Muslims and other religions, particularly Jews, to artificially increase differences in socioeconomic status. Seemingly unaware of these rules, Western Europeans freely wore their version of Turkish fashion, along with appropriating the style of music, food, and Turkish tobacco, which had been introduced from the Americas during the 16th century. This Turkish craze in the 18th through early 19th century was known as turquerie.

Multiple well-known composers borrowed musical motifs from the East to use in their own music. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 11 K. 331 from 1783 was less formally called Rondo alla Turka, while Ludwig van Beethoven’s favorite Turkish themes appeared in his Six Variations, Op. 76 in 1809; Die Ruinen von Athen [The Ruins of Athens], Op. 113 in 1811; and Symphony No. 9, Op. 125 in 1824. Franz Liszt riffed on Beethoven’s Athens in his piano and orchestra piece “Fantasie über Motiven aus Beethovens Ruinen von Athen” in 1837. Operas loosely based on Ottoman history included George Fredrick Handel’s Tamerlano and Gioachino Rossini’s Maometto II. The craze extended to literature, with translations of Thousand and One Arabian Nights and collections of Turkish folktales appearing in Western European languages. Much more on the influence of Turkish music on Western classical music will be discussed in future posts.

Meanwhile, this fascination with the empire extended into a 16th to 18th century trend of wearing sort-of Turkish clothes with bright colors and turbans. These attempts at Ottoman flair were not accurate in that both men and women in Western Europe wore bright colors, while only Turkish men wore bright colors, and the clothing of Turkish women tended to be duller. In Middle-earth, since both dwarf-men and dwarf-women wear the same outfits, all of them had colorful clothing.

Frodo liked to describe clothing as “rich”, using it both to talk about Glóin’s outfit at Elrond’s dinner party during “Many Meetings” and Boromir’s traveling outfit in “The Council of Elrond”. While the word has existed since Old English, where it was spelled rice to mean wealthy, its sister words in other languages from this time period indicated a ruler or person of high rank. Glóin was a member of the royal family at Erebor, giving him both wealth and political power. By the early 14th century, the word could also mean having an abundance of colors, along with an abundance of food, two of Frodo’s favorite things.

A head-and-shoulders portrait of a dwarf with braided brown hair and beard, freckles, and a cheerful expression A full body portrait of a serious Dwarf with a double-prong dark brown beard decorated with green gems, a green coat, and layers of pastel blouses A profile portrait for a dwarf with white loose hair and beard studded with little gems

Hair and Beard Styles

Two types of beards were described in The Hobbit, and beard typed indicated the cultural background of the Dwarves. Thorin and the Dwarves from Ered Luin were implied to wear single-pronged beards, while Dáin and the Dwarves of the Iron Hills had “forked beards” (Hobbit, 279), also known as French beards or double-pronged beards. In “Many Meetings”, Frodo noted that Glóin had a “very long and forked” beard, having seemingly changed his beard type to fit in the new culture under the leadership of Dáin (Fellowship, 255).

Forked beards trended in Europe beginning around 1350 to 1400 during the reign of Edward III of England, who ruled from 1327 to 1377. An illustration of Edward III in the Bruges Garter Book, created around 1440 by William Bruges and now housed at the British Library, depicted the monarch with a loose, forked beard. His son Edward Plantagenet, Prince of Wales, known as the Black Prince perhaps for his black armor or bad temper, also sported a forked beard. Similarly, the merchant in Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer had a forked beard along with a “motley” or colorful coat, showing that he had great fashion taste for the time.

Beards had their own motifs both within and outside of Stith Thompson’s Motif Index. The general mention of beards aligned with “Hair and beard of various peoples” (A1661) and “The beards of dwarfs” (F451.2.3), while the length of Dwarf beards fell under “Remarkable beard” (F545.1) and even “Absurd stories about beards” (X1727).

Gimli occationally claimed that he was about to pull out his beard from stress. This was a staple in Medieval comedic literature, along with the motif “Pulling a man’s beard as an insult” (P672). Historians cannot agree whether beard-pulling and its cousins, fearful beard-clutching and gentle beard-stroking, had its origins in the Islamic world, including the Ottoman Empire, and moved west to Scandinavia to appear in Norse myths about Thor and Freyer, or if the motif travelled in the opposite direction. At any rate, Medieval Muslims and Medieval Norse and Germanic pagans had a similar sense of humor. The trend even caught on in France, where Romanesque sculptures of men holding their beards appeared on cathedrals throughout the 12th century. There is even a Wikimedia Commons page dedicated to this art, which feature both forked and single-pronged beards.

As for hair color, Bilbo’s thorough description of the Dwarves appearing at his house demonstrated a wide range: Dwalin had a “blue beard” (Hobbit, 7) in alignment with the motif “Blue beard” (F545.1.1), Balin had “white beard” (Hobbit, 7), and Kili and Fili had “yellow beads” (Hobbit, 8). The beards of the other Dwarves were not described, presumably because they had shades of “brown hair” like Hobbits, so Bilbo found them unremarkable (Hobbit, 2), or were older and had “gray beards” (F451.2.3.2). Additionally, in the seventy years of illustrations created by professional artists and fans for The Lord of the Rings, Gimli has frequently been portrayed with red hair, so I have added that color to the mix.

Head-and-shoulders portrait of a dwarf with braided yellow hair and beard studded with tiny gems, matching earrings, and a terrified expression Full body portrait of a dwarf with bright red loose hair and beard tied with a thick yellow ribbon wearing a blue coat and green-and-pink watermelon-inspired pants Head-and-shoulders portrait of a Dwarf with blue hair and beard studded with silver beads, along with an angry expression

Little Teeth, Wide Eyes, & Pretty Jewelry

I designed Dwarves with round teeth to contrast the pointed teeth of Elves. This tooth type is found in herbivores, allowing those animals to constantly chew and wear down the teeth evenly. While Dwarves were technically omnivores, their little teeth needed to sustain them throughout their lifespans of 250 or more years. Dwarves often could not grow their own food, presumably since they lived underground and bartered for food with other Races, mostly Middle Men and Hobbits (Hobbit, 23). Outside of visits to Rivendell to feast with Elrond, Gimli seemed to have subsisted on a diet mostly of cram, which was similar to hardtack, and salted fish from Dale, a neighboring country prominently featured in The Hobbit.

I gave my Dwarves large dark eyes, with their pupils seemingly overwhelming the irises, much like nocturnal animals with night vision. In fact, Dwarves had some ability to see in the dark, and their eyes “were shining in the dark” during “An Unexpected Party”. Even when Bilbo offered to get light, his visitors all remarked, “We like the dark” (Hobbit, 16). Only wizards like Gandalf or Hobbits struck by a Morgul-blade like Frodo could see more in the dark (Fellowship, 350); perhaps their eyes also had a shine. In the real-world, the photoreflective layer on the retinas of animals that see in the dark is called tapetum lucidum and occurs as a result of convergent evolution, meaning that unrelated species from cats to fish develop reflective eyes.

Ottoman sultans, like other rulers in the real world and in Middle-earth, loved their jewelry. The delightfully titled article, “Diamonds Are a Vizier’s Best Friends or: Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa’s Jewelry Assets” revealed that “diamonds were particularly prominent” in these collections during the 18th century, while “coral, rubies, and turquoises” were more popular in the 16th century. With this in mind, my Dwarves are bedazzled with precious jewels covering their hair, beards, and clothing. Also, while jewelry is typically associated with women in modern Western society, Dwarves had no obvious distinction between dwarf-men and dwarf-women and would bedazzle themselves equally.


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