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11. I Found that Personally Upsetting.
Jared, Oriana and Ned discuss Oriana’s choice of topic: the Dwarves!
Tolkien drew on Norse mythology and related traditions when he introduced the
Dwarves almost from the beginning of his Middle-earth writing, and the many
Dwarves in The Hobbit all have names drawn from such mythology as well.
They’re one of the most distinct peoples Tolkien created, influencing endless
portrayals since then, yet much like their own history in Middle-earth,
there’s a lot we don’t really know about them except very particular
instances. Do what degree, if any at all, did Tolkien, unconsciously or not,
draw on stereotypes of Jewish people when writing about his Dwarves? How does
Gimli act as a contrast to the Dwarves as portrayed in earlier Middle-earth
works, and was that a specific decision on Tolkien’s part? And maybe most
importantly, can there be such a thing as a hot dwarf? We also spend some in-depth time on two big news stories: the death of Christopher Tolkien and
Amazon’s announcement of the ensemble cast for their TV adaptation.
Show Notes.
Jared’s
doodle for
the episode.
That ‘UK police don’t realize they have the One
Ring’ story.
The Tolkien Society’s announcement of Christopher Tolkien’s
death.
John Garth’s obituary of Christopher
Tolkien from The Guardian.
A translation of Christopher Tolkien’s interview with Le
Monde.
Amazon’s announcement of their Tolkien adaptation
cast via Twitter.
The Television Critics Association. It’s a thing!
The National Museum of Denmark has a page
up about Dwarves in Tolkien and their
origins in Norse mythology.
Suffice to say that the question of Tolkien’s Dwarves and anti-Semitic tropes
has indeed come up a few times. Here’s one instance from last
decade.
”Dwarves are Not Heroes”: Antisemitism and the Dwarves in J.R.R. Tolkien’s
Writing
by Rebecca Brackman.
Uncut Gems was pretty good, it should
be said.
As for the Goblins in J. K. Rowling’s work, there’s definitely been talk
about it.
The letter from Tolkien to a Nazi-overseen
publisher in response to a question about his ancestry is quite well-known indeed.
We don’t recommend a read of Bret Stephens’s column in question. Suffice to
say it didn’t go over well.
Support By-The-Bywater on Patreon and come
talk Tolkien with us in a private Slack!
View all episodes
By Jared Pechaček, Oriana Scwindt, and Ned Raggett
4.8
2929 ratings
Jared, Oriana and Ned discuss Oriana’s choice of topic: the Dwarves!
Tolkien drew on Norse mythology and related traditions when he introduced the
Dwarves almost from the beginning of his Middle-earth writing, and the many
Dwarves in The Hobbit all have names drawn from such mythology as well.
They’re one of the most distinct peoples Tolkien created, influencing endless
portrayals since then, yet much like their own history in Middle-earth,
there’s a lot we don’t really know about them except very particular
instances. Do what degree, if any at all, did Tolkien, unconsciously or not,
draw on stereotypes of Jewish people when writing about his Dwarves? How does
Gimli act as a contrast to the Dwarves as portrayed in earlier Middle-earth
works, and was that a specific decision on Tolkien’s part? And maybe most
importantly, can there be such a thing as a hot dwarf? We also spend some in-depth time on two big news stories: the death of Christopher Tolkien and
Amazon’s announcement of the ensemble cast for their TV adaptation.
Show Notes.
Jared’s
doodle for
the episode.
That ‘UK police don’t realize they have the One
Ring’ story.
The Tolkien Society’s announcement of Christopher Tolkien’s
death.
John Garth’s obituary of Christopher
Tolkien from The Guardian.
A translation of Christopher Tolkien’s interview with Le
Monde.
Amazon’s announcement of their Tolkien adaptation
cast via Twitter.
The Television Critics Association. It’s a thing!
The National Museum of Denmark has a page
up about Dwarves in Tolkien and their
origins in Norse mythology.
Suffice to say that the question of Tolkien’s Dwarves and anti-Semitic tropes
has indeed come up a few times. Here’s one instance from last
decade.
”Dwarves are Not Heroes”: Antisemitism and the Dwarves in J.R.R. Tolkien’s
Writing
by Rebecca Brackman.
Uncut Gems was pretty good, it should
be said.
As for the Goblins in J. K. Rowling’s work, there’s definitely been talk
about it.
The letter from Tolkien to a Nazi-overseen
publisher in response to a question about his ancestry is quite well-known indeed.
We don’t recommend a read of Bret Stephens’s column in question. Suffice to
say it didn’t go over well.
Support By-The-Bywater on Patreon and come
talk Tolkien with us in a private Slack!
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