Isn’t it odd how fanon dwarves [from ‘Hobbit’] are seen as ‘fatally and irrationally enamoured’ by the gold of the Lonely mountain? I mean, any other place and any other time, put an enormous heap of money in front of a few poor travellers, tell them it’s their, by right, and they would get attached to it and nobody would find it odd in the least. But Tolkien’s dwarves get the flak. Why?
What did you mean by “fanon dwarves”? Is that just a fan interpretation or do you think Tolkien intended it? In Tolkien’s idealized world, all economic motivations are marginal and deprecated. The dwarves are motivated partially by a desire for gold, but mostly by loyalty to their king and a desire to see their ancestral homeland restored to them. To the extent the treasure itself motivates Thorin & co., it causes disaster (for example his unwillingness to share the loot almost causes a battle against local men & elves.)
So it causes disaster. Disaster on this scale was already likely, even warned against. Somehow, the elves inviting themselves along—out of pure greed, no magic involved—is portrayed as less of a fault.
If there was a briefcase full of hundred dollar bills over there that someone told me was mine by right, I’d be pretty attached to it. If they then added the caveat that there was a massive dragon squatting on the thing who also believed the briefcase was theirs, I do not think I would try and steal the briefcase. Would you?
But they don’t get the flak for stealing it. They get the flak for claiming it afterwards “because of the curse”. It’s not avarice that is the main problem—it’s the being enthralled. And I can’t quite get it. Why not just say “boo greedy dwarves” but go the whole way of “boo greedy dwarves who up and got themselves enchanted”? What does the enchanted bit do?
...and then accuse them of standing by when the dragon was being investigated and slayed. Truly, what did they even do, fought some goblins and withheld intelligence from the elves?..
Isn’t it odd how fanon dwarves [from ‘Hobbit’] are seen as ‘fatally and irrationally enamoured’ by the gold of the Lonely mountain? I mean, any other place and any other time, put an enormous heap of money in front of a few poor travellers, tell them it’s their, by right, and they would get attached to it and nobody would find it odd in the least. But Tolkien’s dwarves get the flak. Why?
What did you mean by “fanon dwarves”? Is that just a fan interpretation or do you think Tolkien intended it? In Tolkien’s idealized world, all economic motivations are marginal and deprecated. The dwarves are motivated partially by a desire for gold, but mostly by loyalty to their king and a desire to see their ancestral homeland restored to them. To the extent the treasure itself motivates Thorin & co., it causes disaster (for example his unwillingness to share the loot almost causes a battle against local men & elves.)
So it causes disaster. Disaster on this scale was already likely, even warned against. Somehow, the elves inviting themselves along—out of pure greed, no magic involved—is portrayed as less of a fault.
If there was a briefcase full of hundred dollar bills over there that someone told me was mine by right, I’d be pretty attached to it. If they then added the caveat that there was a massive dragon squatting on the thing who also believed the briefcase was theirs, I do not think I would try and steal the briefcase. Would you?
But they don’t get the flak for stealing it. They get the flak for claiming it afterwards “because of the curse”. It’s not avarice that is the main problem—it’s the being enthralled. And I can’t quite get it. Why not just say “boo greedy dwarves” but go the whole way of “boo greedy dwarves who up and got themselves enchanted”? What does the enchanted bit do?
Put an enormous heap of money with a big nasty dragon on top of it in front a few poor travelers...
...and then accuse them of standing by when the dragon was being investigated and slayed. Truly, what did they even do, fought some goblins and withheld intelligence from the elves?..
They successfully provoked the dragon into an ill-advised attack :-D