The tragedy of Tolkien’s Dwarves
I saw a YouTube video on Lord of the Rings recently, or maybe it was some patch notes for Lord of the Rings Online. I don’t remember. But I wrote this afterward.
The Dwarves of Middle Earth are one of the enduring tragedies of Tolkien’s legendarium.
Created out of band of the great music that spawned the Elves, not given the final and all-encompassing role of kingship over all of Arda, like Men were destined to receive.
Their lot is to prosper, like in the days of Beleriand, and then see their great works like Menegroth washed into the sea.
Their doom is to succumb to greed, like they did in the slaying of Thingol, the destruction of Khazad Dum by Durin’s Bane, and the incident of the Arkenstone with Oakenshield’s company.
Their common flaw is to dig too greedily, and too deep, and then watch, long-lived, as their refuges and Mountain Homes fall to the ever pressing Darkness one by one.
Destined to fade away, dwindling in the Deep Places of the world, until their last delvings become tombs one and all. Even the reclaiming of Moria, by Durin VII, the Deathless’ final reincarnation, has a haunting sense of finality to it.
The Elves get Valinor, Men get Arda, and the Dwarves?
Old, broken, faded rocks and stones, in the end.
There’s something intrinsically sad about that. Almost as if they were destined to lose, by comparison to all the other races that had a destiny.
It seems like their greatest blessing, being created by Aulë, is in some ways their ages-long curse.