#the war of dwarves and dragons

[mrkida-art]

Memories of blood and bone

I wanted to make a more symbolic piece focusing on a young King Thrór. He lived through the war of dwarves and dragons and also likely saw his little brother and father be slain by cold drakes. He became one of the youngest known Kings of the dwarves, and he led his people away from this carnage to resettle elsewhere. His new settlement? Erebor. His story is one of the saddest of all dwarves in the legendarium, because ultimately he would lose everything to dragons once again.

[dwarf-posting]

Thoughts on the long-standing hammer vs axe debate?

Anon A've jus' woke up an' ye've hit me with tha longest, mos' complex argument ta ever grace dwarfkind!

Hammers are fantastic, because no' only are they weapons o' war, they're also tools fer construction an' forgin'. Hammers have a lot more heft than mos' other weapons, so they're usually slower to land a hit, but when they connect, they'll shatter bones like twigs! They'll dent any ramshackle plate humies might come up with an' turn any elf er goblin ta a foine red stain. But no' only that, hammers are an essential tool for buildin'. They'll pair with that anvil ta forge ore inta beautiful blades an' spears, with a chisel ta carve our story inta that very caverns, with a bag o' nails ta literally put a roof over yer head. A hammer may gain use in war, but it's much more valuable in peacetime.

Pros:

Devastatin' damage

Incredibly useful outside of war

Cons:

Warhammers tend ta be larger an' heavier, no' tha' ye cannae use yer hammer from yer workshop ta bash goblin skulls, but they're different items usually

Slower ta swing, which leaves ye vulnerable ta yer foe's strikes

Now, axes are a different story! An axe is usually quite hefty, but no' near as hefty as an axe o' that same size. They're faster to use. Whoile a hammer'll bash bones an' crush organs, an axe'll hack off limbs, crack through yer ribcage, or jus' carve off a sizeable chunk o' ya. They're more surface-level damage than core damage, which is no' a bad thing! On tha contrary! A humie'll die from exterior bleeding much quicker than from interior bleeding. Tha' said, hammers have axes beat in tha other arena. Axes are useful outside o' combat, but no' nearly so as hammers. Sure, we use them fer choppin' down trees near our mines, but tha's about it.

Pros:

Much more hack-an-slash than hammers

Elves live in trees

Cons:

Not quite as useful as hammers

So, in conclusion, it's a tough argument tha's been causin' tavern brawls as long as dwarves have inhabited taverns. But me personally, A'd have ta go with... tha Axe. It's an iconic weapon, an' A like ta see my enemies come down ta eye-level, if ye get my meanin'. Plus, have ye seen how Kratos uses tha' Leviathan axe? Totally badass.

[rohirric-hunter]

Ruvaran, setting up to majorly tick off a group of people with next to no beef with Angmar for no reason, completely ignoring all the people who have huge amounts of beef with Angmar who aren't anywhere near this mountain: Yeah this is a good plan

[artsykidwolf-2000]

THE HULDRA-WOLFE TWINS

I'm so happy to see how these guys turned out! I had a lot of brain farts and whatnots trying to design their bodies and clothing but I think I've managed!

These two are the fraternal twins of Sindri × Flash

Mylo is the tallest out of his family but has the Dwarven arms and shorter legs that's why he looks a bit out-casted from other dwarves plus mostly draken.

Margo has the Dwarven looks and small size but mostly human-like proportions. She also one of the "Belles" of Nidavellir due to her Fae genes being youthful. (Mylo has it too but the Dwarven facial hair got to him so he fuzzy).

I also hope you like their tattoos :3

🚫🚫🚫PLEASE DO NOT REPOST/STEAL WITHOUT PERMISSION/CREDIT 🚫🚫🚫

💚💚💚PLEASE LIKE SHARE AND FOLLOW💚💚💚

[miamicommune]

the elder scrolls has such an insane n cool setting it makes me so mad how hard they try 2 make it Bland Tolkeinesq Fantasy With More Racism

[risottoneroo]

considering the audacity of bilbo to stand there and lie to a creature that is the equivalent of an intelligent natural disaster

[nadiv22]

The Contested Petergrad:

The ancient war that scorched the plains and dragged the whole continent into ugly skirmishes and pointless conflicts. Has not skipped the city of Petergrad. The city is in the middle of the continent. With the mountain range of gvillia to the north and the elven forests to the west. And on the crossings of the the rivers of trade. Its unique location made it a center of trade and commerce at the time.

The city was originally inhabited by dwarves and was the main mineral and iron exporter to the world, accepting forigners of all kinds and places. The elven artisans made crafts of many materials from afar. Human traders, halflings provided crops and food, tiefling and dragon magic. The diversity was rich

As part of the war the city was taken over by humans during a time of political upheaval. Many humans that now were the majority in the city, strted to fall for the Gvillian propganda looked away, disrespected and outright taking over the non-human commuinty.

At one point the han church declared the magic inquisition claiming that magic use is a sinful act. They had mage hunters hunting all mages wizards and non-human races, all they claim, as an act of god

the dwarves, along with other non-human races, were forced to leave the city and fled to the nearby petty kingdom of Brogor. However, they never gave up their claim to Petergrad. Never forgot the smell of the spices, the feelling of the fabrics the unique colors and the sophisticated crafts.

The two nations have been fighting over the city ever since. And the inquisition spread outside the borders of Gvillia and Petergrad city along the traderoutes and rivers. Forcing the druids mages and magical races of the area to hide and flee or rebel and fight.

[peppermintgrim]

*blows a kiss to my computer* this one's for you, Aldith Sereda Wilhelmine Aeducan, kinslayer & kingmaker

[maegalkarven]

Probably unpopular opinion, but The Ranger Achieves series is better than The Echoes saga.

Idc about all these elves and mages and young greycoats falling in love with elves, and the plot, and evil elf rising, and the other evil elf serving the Main Evil elf scheming in the Nightfall-

I just care about Asher and whatever fuckery is going on with him at the moment.

[realtacuardach]

One difference between the Lord of the Rings books and the Peter Jackson films that I find really interesting is what the hobbits find when they return to the Shire.

In the books, they return from the War, only to see that the war has not left their home untouched. Not only has it not left their home unscathed, battle and conflict is still actively ravaging the Shire. They return, weary and battle-scarred, to find a home actively wounded and in need of rescue and healing. All four launch themselves into defending their home and rousting those harming it, and eventually succeed. But their idyllic home has been damaged, and even once healed, is never quite again the Shire they set out to save.

In contrast, in the Jackson films, they return to a Shire shockingly untouched by the horrors of war. The hobbits of the Shire talk, in the Green Dragon in Fellowship of the Ring, about not getting involved with issues "beyond our borders," and it seems those issues have not invaded their sanctuary. After having been bowed to by kings, dwarves, elves, and men alike at the coronation in Gondor, their only acknowledgment upon returning home is a skeptical head shake from an older hobbit.

One of the most poignant scenes to me in Return of the King (and there are a considerable amount) is the scene where Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin are sitting in the Green Dragon. The pub patrons bustle around them, talking loudly, clapping excitedly, drinking cheerfully, just as they had in the beginning of the story. But the four hobbits sit silently, watching almost curiously at what was once familiar but is now foreign to them. Their home has not changed. But they have.

Which is the deeper hurt? To come to your home to find it irrevocably changed, despite all you did to keep it untouched and the same? Or to return home but no longer feeling at home, because it is only you that is irrevocably changed?

[mrkida-art]

The children of the Dáin I, the crown prince of Durin's Folk.

The eldest, Thrór, the future king under the mountain.

The younger, Frór, destined to die. And the youngest, Grór, the future lord of the iron Hills

[threeravenspublishing]

What Do You Love To Do In the Summer?

We drove out to visit family yesterday and ran into a bunch of traffic, most headed to the beach based on direction and the number of kayaks and surfboards we saw strapped to the roofs of the cars. Beach and pool season is definitely upon us in full force! I’d be the one under the umbrella, but where’s the stack of books? What do you like to do in the summer? Barbecues, time at the beach or in…

[aures-fantasy-nook]

Hobbit/LOTR characters when their s/o is upset with them

yes i'm reusing this trope and i dont care its easy-- also lmk if u want more characters and which onessss :3

requests are open (seriously please give me ideas)

Thorin

honestly

his reaction is so dependant on when you're upset with him

if its during the journey he will notice right away

he refuses to go to bed angry at each other

he makes time for you guys to talk every night

if its during his dragon sickness bit

yeah

no

he doesn't give a single shit

telling him that you're upset doesn't even do anything except make him mad

like you're wasting his time

AND

not looking for the stone so like

what the fuck are you doing

if we're talking like after the war

everybody lives au ofc

it probably takes him a little while to notice that you're upset if you don't flat out say anything

he's just slightly busy rebuilding a kingdom

honestly when he does notice or when you tell him

he feels bad

he decides it's time for a break

even if it's just for an hour or two

will take you through the halls just to talk through things

or he'll sit and have tea with you

honestly whatever you wanna do he's down

you are his only priority

if only for an hour

Fili

i would say that he's probably pretty in tune with your emotions

hes a sweet dwarf

will make you tea because he knows your upset

sometimes forgets that hes a little shit

like doesnt realise that things he does can make people upset

let alone you

right over his head

you will have to sit him down and talk with him

he will feel bad immediately

will apologize

offers to make it up to you in any way he can

I feel like if this happens after like the battle and the reclaiming of his future kingdom

he might be a bit busy

but he wants to sit and talk to you every night before bed

even if its just for a few minutes

so when you went to bed without him one night

oh he knows he messed up

theres no way to misinterpret that

will wake you up with kisses and apologies

even if he doesn't know what he is apologizing for

hes just a big sweetie

Kili

sweet boy

another kind of clueless one

id assume that you probably get upset at him sometime during the journey

while yes he is sweet

he can be kind of neglectful without meaning to be

he feels like he has to prove himself to his uncle because he is different from the other dwarves.

has a lot on his mind

i feel like he deffo neglects your relationship at times bc of it

which is why you pulled back

not pushing for affection as much as you did before

letting him get himself into bad situations

reminding him to eat/sharpen his sword

setting up his bedroll while he goes off to help with camp set up

it takes him a couple days to realize something is off

bc he totally doesnt realize how much you're actually looking out for him

it hits him one night after dinner that his bed roll isnt set up? and its not next to you? and you're already asleep?

wait when did he actually sit down and talk to you last?

doesn't sleep that night, just sits and watches you while thinking back on the past like week

as soon as you wake up he's by your side and asking if you guys could take a walk before the journey starts for that day

you agree

he immediately starts apologizing and explaining himself

i think the best way to deal with it is to like

have a nice sit down and talk it out

maybe not right at that moment but

eventually you guys have a long talk where you both talk about how you're feeling with the relationship and just emotionally and i think that solves a lot

like he lets u know just how insecure he is bc of how different he is

and you can talk about feeling neglected

at the end of it all he promises to put more effort but also wants you to know that you dont HAVE to do all those things for him to notice you/love you

very healthy tbh

[clownboy-yeehonk]

AND ANOTHER THING

Murtagh spends like 200 pages being said lonely and disenfranchised from humans elves and dwarves due to some war crimes (he didn't mean it! Couldn't help it! Enslaved against his will! But he still carries guilt and everyone blames him anyway!)

But then he earns the loyalty and support of werecats, a race that's powerful and cool but sorta on the fringes, and becomes blood Brothers with an urgal (Uvek Windtalker, absolute GOAT), a race that's pretty much universally despised and mistrusted by most of alagaesia for the front half of the series.

Like yes yes yes give me the most patchwork random assortment of a found family for my blorbo. I want dinner at Naduada's table with urgals and werecats and dragons and a random child with an enchanted fork and taste for blood. It's perfect.

Also I want someone to give Uvek a dragon if eragon said urgals could be riders 👏 GIVE 👏 UVEK👏 DRAGONNNN👏👏👏👏

[skyeventide]

there's like, things about Dragon Age and the ancient elven empire there that I don't believe can quite be grasped unless you have a cursory understanding of either Tolkien or the Tolkien-generated trope of elves as an advanced civilisation of superior beings with magic/technology/knowledge/lore that is now lost and/or that largely influenced the remnants of the human empire, which substituted the elven one as the leading force in the continent. fantasy worlds like Dragon Age are deeply in conversation with that (and I guess like the Witcher or smth but I never read or played that, and didn't finish season 1, so my knowledge is second-hand; but either way).

the thing in Tolkien and Tolkien-generated tropes is that these elves are good. they're superior, they teach things to the second-coming races, they're narratively exalted, they're borderline divine, any kind of more or less violent colonialism (it happens) and feudalism (also happens) they instate is good, narratively obfuscated, or even justified. Tolkien has criticism of colonialism in his work, but rarely if ever goes all the way when it comes to elves. criticism of elven hierarchies based on clan and level of holiness and greatness are often narratively undermined (e.g. Eol, a character whose criticism of Turgon and the Noldor is diluted by the fact that he's awful as a person)(you can go into detail about Galadriel and Nimrodel but this post is technically a Dragon Age post lmao).

there's a Tolkien paper called "The Wretched of Middle Earth: An Orcish Manifesto" by Charles Mills, which goes into scathing detail about how the narrative sets up the elves as a superior race and consistently characterises the other groups, orcs, humans, dwarves, as racial inferiors. it's not afraid to call out "aryan" comparisons, without trying to argue that Tolkien actively believed in that ideology. the racial herarchy is there, in the text.

tl dr elves have all the rhetorical trappings of an empire... without ever being one. they're good, they're paternally helpful towards the humans they educate (who are therefore the superior humans), and they're good also and particularly in the sense that they never "fell" in a religious sense, no matter their individual actions (fastidious details and contradictions notwithstanding). they didn't abandon the true god.

what's happening in Dragon Age is that these elves, who are narratively presented as the "true" elves, the lost ideal, the immortals before modern elves turned from their ways and lost that immortality, the great advanced civilisation that probably taught humans before humans feasted on their remnants, these elves... are an empire. they conquer, enslave, pillage from the dwarves (another trope turned on its head; don't tell me the dwarves-elves peaceful companionship where the dwarves keep digging to satisfy the demand of material but they're also best friends with elves, turned to explicit war of conquest for possession of raw material in Dragon Age, doesn't elicit mithril-lyrium comparisons), have pantheon wars. this is the sole logical conclusion of those tropes. it's the subtext, the unspoken, the unspeakable, brought straight to light. it's the rhetoric of empire that's been buried in stories about elves brought to its only possible sensible end: this is an actual empire. there's no way it could have been anything else.

(this goes deeper with the numenor-gondor-tevinter comparisons, which are absolutely blatant when you know that gondor's precursors, numenor, went full empire, and that their last action before the island sank was attack the elves' blessed realm. if ar-pharazon and numenor had won, we could have gotten something very similar to Tevinter in storyline. only the Tolkien racial hierarchy simply cannot be toppled like that, it's practically divinely mandated and protected. the maker-the allfather directly and personally intervenes. but without this extremely disruptive and literal deus ex machina, that too is turned on its head in Dragon Age: it's not god who sinks the capital of the human empire to prevent their violent conquest AND traps the fighting humans underground, after the elves have fled instead of choosing to fight; it's humans who arrive, the elves flee, and then humans presumably sink the capital city into the ground. once again, when the ontological hierarchy of races and the divine decree of goodness and favour is removed, the true logical conclusion comes to the fore. one empire substitutes the other.)

[tanoraqui]

[spins the Silm Headcanons Nobody Else Shares (Yet) wheel]

Though Elrond was, inevitably, involved in the politics of building Lindon, he was not only NOT Gil-Galad’s official herald yet at the start of the Second Age, but he was only tangentially involved with the new government. Instead, Elrond spent the first few centuries of the Second Age as an adventuring anthropologist/archeologist.

He traveled around Lindon, and inland and up and down the shore, talking to all variety of refugees and recording the histories and cultures of their people, from ancient myths to recent war stories to how this group of Men (or Elves or Dwarves) cooks their porridge vs how that one does. He dug and sometimes dove into ruins of forts rent by Light and Shadow, often with foul lingering malaise, to retrieve papers and goods warped by flame, sea, and worse.

Because Elrond’s childhood was filled with many refrains of loss, and one was,

“This is how we baked nutcakes in Menegroth!” his mother explained, hands sticky with chestnuts and honey. Under her breath, not meaning her even stickier sons to hear, she added, “I think.”

“Oh yes, there were…” Eärendil’s fingers twitched as he counted in his head. “…eleven different major fountains in Gondolin! One for each Great House, though all were managed by Lord Ecthelion—oh, no, but then that must be ten…?”

“Now, in a proper course of musical education, I would be starting you on basic dancing songs today. But Filúriel is the only one of us left who knows how to dance a good gavotte—”

“Filúriel died three years ago. Orcs on the way back from Sirion.” Maedhros didn’t look up from the daggers he was sharpening. Only his words gave any indication that he was even aware of the lesson taking place across the room.

“—But there is no one left who knows how to dance a good Tirion Gavotte.” Maglor never missed a beat. “So instead I will start you on basic Songs for striking fear into the hearts of your enemies. Have you both done your warm-up exercises today?”

[smash cut to 200 years later]

Elrond: Are you telling me. That there is a chance. That a portion of the Great Library of Thargelion, greatest collection in Beleriand of books and art brought physically from Aman, is still intact?

Random improbably still alive Nargothrond-Fëanorian #6: If the cases were water-proof as well as orc-proof and fire-proof…if they were orc-proof and fire-proof at all…especially dragonfire-proof…or dragon-ice-proof… If they stayed hidden, if we even shut them all properly in the first place, as we evacuated just ahead of the— my lord, where are you going?!

Elrond, sprinting past them down the corridor: Deep-sea diving!

(In the late Third Age, the Library of Rivendell is widely regarded as Arda’s single greatest repository of historical records of life in Middle Earth. This is incorrect—the single greatest such repository is an ever-growing library on Tol Eressëa, to which Elrond spent 3000 years sending copies of everything from Hobbit almanacs to Dwarvish epic poems to account books from three Elvish kingdoms to an Age’s worth of Dúnedain Ranger journals. Anyone Sailing with extra cargo space has been cajoled into taking at least a few tomes. People and places may be lost to time, but part of why he chose an Elvish life is so that they will not be forgotten.)