The White Council

Re: Dwarven Magic (was Re: Poor old gildor)

Tolkien and Inklings Discussion

: : Well dwarves werent granted any "magical powers" like the : : elves. At least the dwarves pummeled the orcs and cut their : : population down to 1/4 of what it was...of course they suffered : : alot of losses themselves and the war was cauzed by greed and : : revenge.

: I haven't read this full discussion yet, but Dwarves indeed had "magical powers" if you are referring to abilities similar to those of the Elves. They simply didn't create things like Silmarils and Rings of Power.

I don't doubt you, Michael, but for the life of me, I can't recall any specific "magical" powers that the Dwarves possessed, lest it lie in their craftmanship and ability to find gold and jewels.

Speaking of Dwarves, I noticed in my dictionaries that the plural of Dwarf is either Dwarf or Dwarves (One dictionary included it as a varient spelling, but the others just included it as the second of two possible spelling options). Is this a recent development, since I can recall looking the word up previously and seeing only dwarfs as the correct spelling of the plural. If I am correct then is it possible that Tolkin's usage has become so common place that newer dictionaries are including it? I'm looking at American English dictionaries, so I don't know if British dictionaries have followed suit. We Americans tend to be a bit more "hasty" about adding or changing word usages in dictionaries, or at least that's my perception. The dictionaries I have don't etymologize the plural form, just the singular, so there isn't any indication as to how the two divergent spellings came about, though if my theory is corrct, we all know, don't we?

And here's a bit of trivia for those that didn't know. Among the list of books that you will find Prof. Tolkien's name in, add The Jerusalem Bible. I've had a copy of this Catholic Bible for many years. Tolkien is listed among a number of scholars who contributed to the translation. Specifically, Tolkien worked on the Book of Job (if memory serves). I'm sure many of you already knew this, but for those that didn't and are collectors of anything with Tolkien's name on it, there it is.