Dwarves + axes... why?

[kenobi65]

For fuel, I always assumed they would use coal, oil, or some other fossil fuel found underground.

Orc and goblinoid bodies probably burn very nicely.

 

[Staffan]

Orc and goblinoid bodies probably burn very nicely.

As I understand it, corpses don't burn well at all. There's too much water in the human body. That's why you need a lot of fuel to cremate someone.

 

[Wyrmwood]

I've always found the Dwavish / Viking link to be suspect. Afterall:
1.) Vikings were feral raiders, Dwarves are mostly lawful
2.) Vikings were well know for their seamanship, Dwarves hate water

There are better cultural links to follow for Dwarves. Consider that there are historical examples of European people who live underground, are bitter and ill-mannered, and drink a lot.

Obviously, Dwarves are French!
(or maybe Scottish)

Ironically the Scotts, like most of the UK and other water accessible areas of Europe were influenced by the Norse (Viking) raiders. I don't know about French Dwarves, but I've always played my dwarves with a Scottish brogue (I hope that's spelled right.) But back to my point, dwarves come from Norse mythology, hence the viking influence.

 

[Sejs]

As I understand it, corpses don't burn well at all. There's too much water in the human body. That's why you need a lot of fuel to cremate someone.

You are correct, sir. Bodies don't burn well at all. They require a lot of heat, and a good chunk of time to reduce.

They'd make dandy fertilizer, but really poor (to the point of being unusable) fuel.

 

[Christian]

I don't know about French Dwarves, but I've always played my dwarves with a Scottish brogue (I hope that's spelled right.)

Does that mean they can pronounce 'stratosphere' but not 'the'?

(Oh, yeah, we're OotSin' tonight.)

 

[WizarDru]

I like Peter Woodward very much and he's excellent at what he does... but that's acting, not an expert on weaponry or a historian.

Actually, he's also worked as a stunt and fight-coordinator and is a member of the British Academy of Dramatic Combat, so he's not entirely without knowledge of the topic.

As for Tolkien, there's really one one Axe I've found any reference to at all in Middle Earth, and that's Dramborleg, the Great Axe of Tuor. BUT, by the same token, the only named weapons of legend that any dwarf wielded that I'm aware of is Orcrist, when it fell into Thorin's hands...and that was an elf-blade. So, really, there's only one truly famous bow and axe throughout (although we see Gimli, the quintessential dwarf, wield the axe A LOT).

Now, why hammers? Well, remember who created the dwarves in Tolkiens world: Aule the Smith. They were craftsmen, created by the Vala of the Forge. Hammers would have been a natural tendency. Regardless of weighting, axes, picks and hammers use the same martial style, this certainly would make using them easy.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Saw another show (maybe the same one?? It's been a while...) where this wasn't the case. The shows narrator had an axe, which he used on an armored volunteer (armed with the sword). Once said narrator got in a hit, he just kept up with the momentum (no wide-up for a second swing was involved). The hits kept the armored opponent off balance. He never had time to retaliate.

That was Peter Woodward in his excellent, though short lived, History Channel show, Conquest.

Why axes?

While many/most dwarves would be using hammers and picks to mine and shape metals and minerals, somebody had venture outside the mountains & cave systems to cut down trees to use as fuel and building material. Yes, coal is good, but it is hard to produce by manual labor, and trees are plentiful...

I always assumed dwarves were such masters of the earth, that they would make tunnels without the use of supports, much like a natural cave. Such construction is a fantasy of course, but this is dnd, after all. For fuel, I always assumed they would use coal, oil, or some other fossil fuel found underground.

By mining, you're also weakening the ore and surrounding rock- you need those supports.

Petroleum, Oil Shales and Natural gas were relatively recent discoveries. Granted, dwarves spend a LOT more time under the earth than any human, but even for them, discovering, producing, refining and using such fuels require a lot of technology. Coal is a bit easier, but it still is a more labor intensive fuel source to recover than wood, and Dwarves are notoriously few in numbers.

 

[WayneLigon]

Why the association between dwarves and axes?

This, and about a hundred similar questions can be answered with the phrase 'Because they had them in LoTR'. Really, that's about it. There are really only about a half-dozen cool weapons. Men got swords, Elves got bows, so Dwarves were pretty much left with axes.

 

[Baron Opal]

It always seemed to me that the dwarves adapted their main tools, the hammer, pick and axe, to warfare. They are not exactly the same, but they are similar. Rather pragmatic of them rather than invent a whole new tool just for killing, like the humans did.

 

[BWP]

Ironically, the dwarves in Tolkien that we saw were always armed with either swords or mattocks, never axes.

You're joking, right? Gimli was all about the axe.