Dwarf women debate solved?

[goldfinger]

I've been meaning to post this for a while so here it goes. I believe I have solved the great debate of dwarf-women having beards. In Appendix A of the RotK in the section about Durin's folk, there is a paragraph about dwarf-women thats talks about their numbers and such. Here is a section of that paragraph that should end the silly debate.

"They seldom walk abroad except at great need. They are in voice and appearance, and in garb if THEY MUST GO ON A JOURNEY, so like to the dwarf-men that the eyes and ears of other peoples cannot tell them apart. This has given rise to the foolish opinion among Men that there are no dwarf-women, and that the Dwarves 'grow out of stone'."

This says that they If they go on a journey that they dress up like dwarf-men. So this leads me to believe that they probably don't have beards, but just are so private that if they go on trips that they don't want others to see them. Any opinions?

[MatthewM]

Well, I would like to think they don't have beards

I doubt Tolkien would picture his dwarf women bearded. But hey, it's yet another of Tolkien's mystery "appearance of characters" situations. We're given only so much and to the little details we will never know we let our imagination deal with.

Originally Posted by goldfinger

"They seldom walk abroad except at great need. They are in voice and appearance, and in garb if THEY MUST GO ON A JOURNEY, so like to the dwarf-men that the eyes and ears of other peoples cannot tell them apart. This has given rise to the foolish opinion among Men that there are no dwarf-women, and that the Dwarves 'grow out of stone'."

But it still says "in voice and appearance". The only thing it actually implies is that they were usually dressed differently. Is that to say they did or didn't put on false beards when they went traveling? In mythology there are no dwarf women, period. When they're mentioned, mysteriously they always have sons but no wives or daughters. They were said to have been created from maggots, but even the giants had women so you'd think the dwarves would have them too.

[goldfinger]

Originally Posted by Starfall

But it still says "in voice and appearance". The only thing it actually implies is that they were usually dressed differently. Is that to say they did or didn't put on false beards when they went traveling? In mythology there are no dwarf women, period. When they're mentioned, mysteriously they always have sons but no wives or daughters. They were said to have been created from maggots, but even the giants had women so you'd think the dwarves would have them too.

I think you need to check the grammar of what he's writing. The sentance is dragging on with adjectives amnd then gets to why this is so. "But it still says voice and appearance" well doesn't appearance mean what they look like? I simpley imply consider you the way the sentance was written. If this was so wouldn't he just say "and they whore different clothes on journeys".
What you're saying doesn't really make sense. Why would he put ths info on the dw when he was talking about journeys and not elsewhere in there description? I meancome on it makes much more sense to me that they would change there appearance so that other races wouldn't be able to tell them apart. Look at the language Khizdul, very few people other than the Dwarves have learned because they try to keep it a closely guarded secret, why not the same s the Dwarves? Which something of this sort is stated farther down the dw paragraph.
If they did have beards wouldn't Gimli have said so or wouldn't he have stated something like "Dwarf-women were different from other races of women in the fact that they had beards". Come on we just can't explain away the reason for this.

I'm a little scattered brained so you'll have to forgive me if I'm not making sense.

[Elmo]

Does anyone other than me think it would be humorous if the Hobbit was like Terry Pratchett's Monstrous Regiment

[Thinlómien]

Dwarf women did have beards.

This is a quote which Findengil posted once:

Originally Posted by The History of Middle-Earth, Vol 11, "The War of the Jewels"; part II: "The Later Quenta Silmarillion"; chapter 13: "Concerning the Dwarves"

The Naugrim were ever, as they still remain, short and squat in stature; they were deep-breasted, strong in the arm, and stout in the leg, and their beards were long. Indeed this strangeness they have that no Man nor Elf has ever seen a beardless Dwarf - unless he were shaven in mockery, and would then be more like to die of shame than of many other hurts that to us would seem more deadly. For the Naugrim have beards from the beginning of their lives, male and female alike; nor indeed can their womenkind be discerned by those of other race, be it in feature or in gait or in voice, nor in any wise save this: that they go not to war, and seldom save at direst need issue from their deep bowers and halls. It is said, also, that their womenkind are few, and that save their kings and chieftains few Dwarves ever wed; wherefore their race multiplied slowly, and now is dwindling.

For further reading, see this thread.