I have a question about Dwarven reproductive rates. If less than 1/3 of all men marry how can the family size be on average less than 4 children? Based on the LotR appendices (less than) 2/9 of the population of a given generation are married lady Dwarves. In order to have a stable population that means each of these married laddies must have more than 4 children.

But the dwarves don’t have a steady population. The problem you just described (plus warfare and displacement) is why the dwarvish population has been declining throughout the Third Age, and why Tolkien said the dwarves would eventually die out.

I have read in The Dwarrow Scholar blog that a dwarven gestation is 48 months – or 4 years! Do you think it possible? Did Tolkien stated directly such a thing?

No, this definitely didn’t come from any of Tolkien’s writings – the post you read (assuming it’s this one here) is theory/speculation. Tolkien never wrote anything regarding dwarvish pregnancies or female biology (aside from the beards, and basically looking/sounding just like dwarvish men.)

You know that big hall-like place in the mines of Moria? Where the Fellowship walks(ok runs a bit) while there’s hundreds of orcs surrounding them? What’s so fantastic about it? And before that when Gandalf says that he can risk a little more light?! There are nothing but high columns? Was there anything else there when the dwarves lived there??

That scene takes place in the twenty-first hall of Moria (or so Gandalf says.) In the book it’s described in a flash of light: Great shadows sprang up and fled, and for a second they saw a vast roof far above their heads upheld by many mighty pillars hewn of stone. Before them and on…

This is an excerpt from the historical/linguistic essay “Of Dwarves and Men”, found in volume 12 of The Histories of Middle Earth. This section describes the historical alliance between the Longbeard dwarves and the men of northern Rhovanion. This excerpt was recorded as part of my Tolkien Reading Day 2015 celebrations. You can download the file…

Khuzdul Influences in Mannish Languages

Okay, so for starters here’s some links to Khuzdul posts for those who want the background info: this is a nice general post about Khuzdul, this one gives a very very brief outline of where everyone’s languages came from, and this is a link to my Khuzdul tag, in case you’d like to read more…

Seven Stars in Middle Earth

Seven stars is a symbol that shows up all the time in Middle Earth, and is important to all three of the major races. Gondor’s flag has seven stars above the White Tree, Durin saw seven stars form a crown over his reflection in the Mirrormere, and the most important constellation in elvish culture is…

Elves and Dwarves: The Dark Days

Disclaimer: This post starts off informative and research-based, but then suddenly veers into Headcanon Land, so the second half is more based on my own opinion than anything. First of all, the only recorded battle between elves and dwarves was, as you said, the fighting that broke out after the Nauglamir was taken and Thingol…

Okay, so it’s several months late, but here’s the downloadable version of the Dwarvish Cross-Cultural Relations guide. You can download it as a .pdf or .ibook – and this version includes special sections on petty-dwarves and evil dwarves!

Hey, I’ve been researching dwarven forms of communication recently. I haven’t been able to figure out how the dwarves communicate, primarily. Khuzdul being their sacred language, it was taught to young dwarves so it wouldn’t be corrupted, not learned from the cradle. Do the dwarves not speak in Khuzdul for everyday use, but in the local language? Or do they isolate their young population by speaking in a language they haven’t learned? Any info or opinion would be very helpful. Thanks!

To be honest, I’ve never been able to figured that out myself. My headcanon/interpretation is that they speak the local mannish language as well as Iglishmek, the dwarvish sign language, until Khuzdul has been learned.

Okay so I know that different races go to different areas of Valinor when they pass away, but is there anything that physically keeps those races from interacting if they so choose? Are there rules or physical obstructions that prohibit intermingling after they’ve died as far as we know?

So, first off make sure you’ve taken a look at this post summarizing the different afterlives of Middle Earth’s inhabitants, in case you haven’t already. The idea seems to be that Mandos has many halls within the overall complex, and the different races are in different halls. So wherever the men stop briefly on their…