Dwarf subsistence

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 22:08:06 +1100 from Jim Harker
<jnharker DeleteThis @netspace.net.au>:
> Of course Tolkien doesn't explain how such a great civilisation as Moria
> could be supported, unless the dwarves were very friendly with the Elves
> of Lorien, which doesn't seem that likely in many versions of the story.

It seems quite *unlikely*, given Gimli's reception in Lórien.

Until the middle of the Second Age, the Dwarves of Moria were great
friends with the Elves of Eregion, so they could well have traded for
food and other necessities. But I don't know what they did for the
next three or four millennia, until the Balrog drove them out.

--
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Stan Brown wrote:
> Wed, 02 Jan 2008 22:08:06 +1100 from Jim Harker
> <jnharker DeleteThis @netspace.net.au>:
>> Of course Tolkien doesn't explain how such a great civilisation as Moria
>> could be supported, unless the dwarves were very friendly with the Elves
>> of Lorien, which doesn't seem that likely in many versions of the story.
>
> It seems quite *unlikely*, given Gimli's reception in Lórien.

They WERE friendly with the Elves of Hollin, though. And I suspect the
hostility toward Gimli has something to do with the resentment that
festered between the two races sometime in the millennia since the Elves
of Hollin left.

David
Stardate 8027.8

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