Question for the grognards: Why does D&D have dwarves/elves/hobbits etc.?

[Brennin Magalus]

*still thinks it because no one thought of Ratmen and Assatthi*

Still only one string on your banjo, I see.

 

[William drake]

Okay, I have known since almost day one that LotR was not a big influence on D&D, despite the fact that it has elves, dwarves, and hobbits. However, it never occured to me to turn the question around: if Tolkien wasn't a big influence, why did Gygax and/or Arneson put 'em in? Was it a marketing gimic? Or what?

A secondary question would be where the !@#$% gnomes came from. Not like the game needs THREE little people races...

The elves are differnt, in LOTR their taller than men. In D&D their shorter.
the hobbits, are magical in D&D, and in LOTR their just small people...cast off race of MEN.
Dwarves are more indepth in D&D, in LOTR, you only really know gimly, the others are all dead or just away from the plot.


And TOLKIEN didnt creat all these fantasy races...nors folklore, celitic legends and myths...all of that is where Tolken got it from

but about gnomes, I hate them too and really have never had a player play one. True, I dont think they should be in there, but just like every other fantasy race, they have some part to play in myth and legends. I used to just tie them into Hobbits just to shut those up whod day anything about it.

 

[Greg V]

I have no doubt that EGG is not a fan of LotR, and I completely agree that weird fiction from the pulp magazines was much more important to his personal conception of the fantasy genre. And certainly other fantasy sources were also vitally important to making D&D "D&D." But Gary's personal tastes weren't the only input into the game. I don't think Arenson had such antipathy to LotR, and clearly Gary's players were tremendous fans of Tolkien (I believe Rob Kuntz is an avowed fanatic). Maybe it was their influence alone that brought the Tolkien races (and many other influences) into the game.

I think this is probably true. I seem to recall Uruk-hai in an encounter in Arneson's original Blackmoor supplement. And I think they're relatively rare in European mythology.
I do wonder if they were the precursors to half-orcs in the game, though. My D&D roots don't quite go back that far, so I don't recall when that race became available.