Dwarves and hearing

col...@gil.com.au

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Jun 13, 1996, 3:00:00 AM6/13/96

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Does anyone have a opinion as to whether the dwarves of tolkien had
good hearing or not.

In the fellowship of the ring in the chapter Lothlorien, Frodo thinks he hears
the quick patter of feet. Gimli asks what is it and Frodo replies that he
thought that he heard feet. Gimli halts and stoops to the ground and says " I
hear nothing but the night speech of plant and stone."

Yet later in the two towers when Gimli, Legolas and Aragorn were following the
orcs and the horsemen were approaching after killing the orcs. Tolkien writes
" At length even Gimli could hear the distant beat of galloping hoofs"

This implies that his hearing was not as good as either elf or man. Legolas
could certainly hear better and see better and further than the other
two.Aragorn could probably hear more than most other beings.

These two paragraphs appear to be contradictory in that Gimli was the last to
hear the pounding of hoofs yet could hear the night speech of plant and stone.

Please post your views and I will check in again in a couple of days. I look
forward to reading them

Colin

Michael Martinez

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Jun 14, 1996, 3:00:00 AM6/14/96

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In article <colinm.16...@gil.com.au>, col...@gil.com.au wrote:
>These two paragraphs appear to be contradictory in that Gimli was the last to
>hear the pounding of hoofs yet could hear the night speech of plant and
>stone.

Um. Well. What exactly does "the night speech of plant and stone" sound
like? Maybe it's a low base that carries well through the ground. Maybe it's
a poetic way of saying, "Geeze, Frodo boy! I can't hear a thing. Been like
that ever since the Orcs started putting up a row...."

Of course, Aragorn was also the greatest hunter in the world. Maybe his
hearing was particularly *good*.

However, the trick of laying on the ground and listening for sounds is quite
ancient. Gimli was probably doing what just about anyone in Middle-earth
would have done. If his hearing was average, then there should have been
nothing spectacularly significant about what he would have heard.

And keep in mind the fact that Gollum knew he had been detected. He stopped
moving, so there was nothing for Gimli to hear at that point anyway.

--
++ ++ "Well Samwise: What do you think of the elves now?"
||\ /|| --fbag...@mid.earth.com
|| v ||ichael Martinez (mma...@basis.com)
++ ++------------------------------------------------------

Vinay Somasundara Rao

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Jun 16, 1996, 3:00:00 AM6/16/96

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In article <colinm.16...@gil.com.au> col...@gil.com.au writes:

Does anyone have a opinion as to whether the dwarves of tolkien had
good hearing or not.

In the fellowship of the ring in the chapter Lothlorien, Frodo thinks he hears
the quick patter of feet. Gimli asks what is it and Frodo replies that he
thought that he heard feet. Gimli halts and stoops to the ground and says " I

hear nothing but the night speech of plant and stone."

It is a little unfair to compare Frodo's hearing here. He had the
ring. It heightened his senses in general. Also remember Hobbits are
creatures that could walk and move about very silently (nothing of
this sort is mentioned about the Dwarves)

I never figured what the night speech of plant and stone was. It could
be silence. Dwarves ought to know a lot about stone.

Vinay (out on a limb...)
--
See the happy moron, he doesn't give a damn;
I wish I were a moron, My God! Perhaps, I am. -Anon

Lirazel

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Jun 25, 1996, 3:00:00 AM6/25/96

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Hmmm... Well, try this.

We know (from the Silmarillion) that Dwarves were created by Aule, in his
impatience with the slow arrival of the Children of Eru. They were then
given independent will by Eru and left to "sleep" until the Firstborn (and
the Followers?--another interesting point...) should appear; possibly with
the exception of Durin, who MAY have been left "awake" for a prolonged
period. (This long-lasting Durin's Day is a debatable point, and I'm sure
it will be!)

Now, Aule the Smith was the spouse ("husband" seems an inappropriate term
in this context) of Yavanna, the Valar devoted to trees and non-mobile
growing things. So, Aule is the Valar of things wrought (including
stone), and Yavanna is the Valar of plant life--and Gimli hears the
night-speech of plant and stone. Makes sense to me.

I would think that dwarven senses might function a little differently from
the senses of other rational beings in any case, given the difference in
origin...

Lirazel