>lives underground
>uses an axe
not many trees down there, why do they have axes?

Because their weapon tech developed based on who they used them on historically throughout their war campaigns and elves make cities out of trees and shit. Makes sense if you think about it.

>>212480967 (OP)
>not many trees down there
Source?

>>212480967 (OP)
this nigger doesn't know about the underground trees

>>212480967 (OP)
If you're short, you want long-hafted weapons.
If you were a manlet you'd know this.

>>212480967 (OP)
In order to unlock the pickaxe node they first had to research axes, and its way easier/cheaper/faster to just grab battleaxes than work on the sword or polearm tech trees.

>>212481108
>>212481023
Its both of these. They zerg rushed the elves on spawn

>>212480967 (OP)
when you're a dwarf fighting humans is a lot like felling trees actually

>>212480967 (OP)
its the same movement of a pickaxe, next question

>>212480967 (OP)
Where do you think they get the roasted meat?

>>212480967 (OP)
Axes were the most effective weapons in medieval warfare (along with spears) since they were much more wieldable and maneuverable than swords on the battlefield. Swords were really only useful for one-on-one duels in settings with lots of elbow room

>>212480967 (OP)
according to jackson in the hobbit their preferred fighting style in general is shield wall with spears but they just elves jump over it and also net-launching catapults, gimli was an exception

They had to invent the axe after they broke off the elves and no longer had access to their rabbis.

>>212481230
Humans. Dwarves are capable of farming and ranching but they hate doing it and would prefer to outsource 100% of their food production so they can focus purely on their crafts, so they taught humans a lot of their farming and ranching techniques and essentially uplifted them in ancient times specifically so they could grow food for the dwarves. They would intice humans to settle near them with trade so they wouldn't have to farm for themselves and in exchange they would build the humans roads and buildings and trade tools. They're partially responsible for uplifting humans from tribal wildmen into an agricultural society just because they didn't want to produce their own food and would rather just focus on metal working and building

>>212481370
bait

>>212481043
The dwarves chopped them all down

>>212481474
based hikis

>>212480967 (OP)
To perfectly chop the liver.

>>212480967 (OP)
Obviously they're special equipment exclusively for use above ground.

Roots, ya pinhead.

>>212480967 (OP)
when you work a pickaxe all your life, a battleaxe feels natural since they're used and swung the same way

They forged metal. They would go out of the cave to get wood to fuel the fires.

>>212481023
Damn. fpbp, absolutely buttblasted OP

>>212483277
Check. Op got gaped HARD

>>212480967 (OP)
Killing living beings.

book Gimli > movie Gimli

it's not even close

It's a movie misinterpretation. Tolkien meant pickaxes, which are more like warhammers.

>>212483548
more like simpli

>>212481023
i choose to believe this

>>212480967 (OP)
Hey OP I did some thinking on your question and crafted a response, please see below.

Solid question, my friend — and you’re not the first to wonder about that.

At first glance, it does seem odd: dwarves live in stone halls and mines, not forests — so why are they always depicted swinging axes like lumberjacks?

Here’s the breakdown:

⸻

1. Axes are tools and weapons — and dwarves are smiths

Dwarves in Tolkien’s legendarium are master metalworkers and stonecutters. The axe is a practical, multi-use tool that fits their culture perfectly:
• It works for mining and shaping stone.
• It’s easy to forge and maintain (which dwarves are good at).
• In battle, it delivers brutal power in close quarters — ideal for the tight tunnels of dwarf strongholds like Moria.

⸻

2. Fighting in tunnels? Swords are awkward. Axes shine.

Underground combat is close-range, chaotic, and constricted. Axes:
• Don’t need as much swing space as big swords.
• Can crush armor or cleave through orcish hide.
• Feel more “natural” in dwarven hands, especially in narrow halls and stairwells.

⸻

3. Cultural symbolism — it’s a pride thing

For dwarves, axes aren’t just weapons. They’re a cultural symbol:
• They represent craftsmanship, resilience, and strength.
• Dwarves like Gimli wield axes not just because they’re useful — but because they’re iconic. Like samurai with katanas or Mandalorians with jetpacks.

⸻

4. Dwarves don’t hate trees — they just don’t need them

While dwarves don’t build in wood, they still trade and travel aboveground. Gimli’s axe wasn’t made from Moria — it could’ve been crafted or acquired elsewhere. Plus, Tolkien never says dwarves are anti-tree — just that their homes and lifestyles don’t rely on them.

⸻

TL;DR:

Gimli has an axe not because he needs to chop trees, but because it’s the perfect dwarf weapon — powerful, practical, symbolic, and suited for underground warfare.

It’s a vibe. And it slaps.

>>212483228
they would use coal

>>212483638
So youre saying... that dwarves... burn coal?

>>212480967 (OP)
Even without trees they'd still need something to perform a circumcision with

>>212483631
>It’s a vibe. And it slaps.
Have you trained your ChatGPT to talk like a broc?

>>212483631
Kill yourself

>>212480967 (OP)
plump helmet aint gonna cut itself down

>>212483737
I have. I named him "Max" and commonly use bro slang with him. Now he responds like an aging copywriter trying to mimic youth slang.

For example I asked him about repotting a plant and he opened with:
>Ayyy let’s repot that beast! Here’s the no-BS, plant-savin’, root-lovin’ step-by-step to get your pothos into its new digs without stressin’ it out:

Doesnt one of the dudes in the hobbit use a bow? Wassup wittat?

>>212483850
Good heavens.

>>212483851
War trophy he got from a kniglfe ear that he started using ironically, but that was forever ago and spmewhere along the way it became unironic. And when he realized this, what happened? Well, some in the Shire say his heart grew three sozes that day.

>>212483851
The real answer is that Tolkien actually sucked when it came to knowledge of medieval weapons and warfare. It's actually one of his biggest weaknesses as an author. LoTR would unironically be so much better if he had access to modern hema nerds knowledge helping him with the weapon / equipment side of things. Dwarves canonically have very sharp eyesight and very strong muscles so that's conceivably why he decided they're good with bows, but in reality their short arms would mean they'd be terrible with them. Even with small compound bows you need to be able to draw them far back enough and their short arms would just not be good for it.

>>212484034
Feel like theyre built for crossbows. Imagine the kind of poundage those lil guys could pull. Theyre the perfect hight to deadlift the xbow string.

>>212481059
we call them roots esl

>>212484240
You're thinking of above-ground roots.

>>212484240
Theyre actually called stelagmites, ya sun loving excuse of a man. Bet yer daddy floated off and left yer single mother to raise ya all by herlself and taught ya tah piss sittin down

>>212484114
I agree, including mounted ones like mini-ballista mounted on walls would be cool and fitting

In the late middle ages chainmail armor, sword and shield was replaced by plate armor and double handed polearms like halberds, which were essentially long axes with additional spikes for penetrating armor and hooking your opponent. It is likely dwarves underwent a similar transformation due to the very high quality of their armor. A double edged axe however is impractical, you don't need 2 edges that are exactly the same, it is dead weight and rarely is there a situation you need to rapidly strike in the other direction without taking time to turn the weapon around. It could be a ceremonial axe which Gimli took to the meeting at Rivendell, and his decision to join the fellowship was spontaneous and since even ceremonial weapons among the dwarves are expertly crafted it was still useful, if not optimal.

All this speculation is pointless however, most combat in lord of the rings is not historically accurate, even excepting lore accuracy like the gymnastic talent of the elves or the super strength of the dwarves, spinning around and waving their shield around leaving themselves open is just pointless. The best "world building" is when you take reality and add only a few clear changes and make sure everything consistently follows these rules. If you want something zany and exciting to happen in your story, it is lazy to just retcon or deus ex machina it rather than work it into the plot. Though they did put in more effort than most. I liked the Uruk Hai formations at Helm's Deep and the siege engines and different phases of battle instead of just a wild charge as you often see.

>>212480967 (OP)
pretty sure it's a weapon for fighting

>>212484944
>Battle of the Five Armies
>Dwarves form spear line to confront charging horde of orcs
>they look badass in their heavy armor with spears, actually using tactics for once!
>the Elves jump over them and start sword fighting one on one right in front of thousands of pointy spears...
I'll never forgive them for that travesty

>>212485636
you know all they had to do to show the elves and dwarves unified is have the elven archers shoot over the dwarf phalanx. Instead hackson had the elves fucking kill themselves.

>>212480967 (OP)
It's an anti-ring of power axe

I guarantee axes were invented to kill before felling trees.

Who wrote the best Tolkien-like Dwarves?

>>212485699
>Instead hackson had the elves fucking kill themselves.
Based, fuck elves

>>212485817
Poul Anderson, "The Broken Sword"

When you are 4 foot 5 can you even swing an axe properly? Seems like they'd be better off with stabbing weapons, shields and crossbows.

>>212485729
Interesting hypothesis; care to elaborate?

>>212486016
The live in mountains, which they generally defend from entrances up the mountainside. This position immediately suggests the perfect weapon of the dwarf: the human (er, dwarven) bowling ball.

>>212483631
Can you run the dwarven bowling ball through your ZoomerGPT?

>>212485636
For me, it was the twurly wurlies

https://youtu.be/Cuu1SKxSqOg?si=k_sY6-lT3BhbUfI0

>>212481076
If I was a manlet, I'd kill myself.

>>212483588
kek lil guy can't catch a break

>>212486511
I thought the title was a joke. Someone wrote that into a Tolkien script. Maybe considering some of the songs in the source material, it fits, but...

>>212486624
I literally threw my open large soda at the screen over the head's of everyone sitting in front of me when I saw that scene in the kinoplex

>>212480967 (OP)
when was it ever stated that the dwarves live underground? moria was a mine.

>>212483588
He got three hairs, unlike the turbo simp who ruined everything with his autistic screeching over not getting any

>>212480967 (OP)
elves

>>212486798
>Seven to the Dwarf-Lords, great miners and craftsmen of the mountain halls.
In the opening scene and pretty much every time they're ever mentioned. Gimli and his buds came from mountains. Bilbo and the Dwarves went to the lonely mountain to reclaim it. And Moria was not its real name.

>>212486798

>>212487343
I've heard and read that line dozens of times (dozens!!!) and I've only just now put it together than they were 7 dwarfs!

>>212480967 (OP)
Handaxes in general are good for cramped areas like inside towers staircases.
Those huge battleaxes meanwhile? Not so much.

>>212480967 (OP)
spears would work better in caves

if the race of dwarves fought the race of elves in lotrverse who do you think would win?

>>212487700
Man

>>212480967 (OP)
Because you need to cut back the forest every few years to keep the long eared magical niggers of your lawn.

>>212487454
Tolkien, you hack!

>>212487454
>>212488054
>ywn watch it with Lewis and Tolkien while hearing their autistic screeching

>>212487700
I want to say Dwarves since they can destroy the forest ruining Elven power but Elves can't destroy their underground kingdoms. However, not all Elves are equal and when they have an Elf demigod that can solo multiple Balrogs, well I think they will win

>>212487481
Swords are the better weapon for cramped spaces because they're sharp all over so don't require huge arm movements, they can do massive damage just by coming into contact with the enemies skin. This is why sailors use cutlasses not axes. Sailors are the best real world example of people who fight in cramped areas, in the halls and stairways of ships or even on the deck with masts and rigging above them everywhere are pretty much the most cramped real world fighting space you could find an example of, and it was universally concluded that a short/medium sword like a cutlass is the best weapon for that. Boarding axes are also a thing but not nearly as universally distributed as cutlasses. The real world is always the best place to find examples for these kind of questions.

>>212481023
OP BTFO

>>212487700
They did fight in the first age and the elves won

>>212480967 (OP)
take a guess on what the fuel for their furnaces was

>>212481043
Tree roots dumbass

>>212488431
coal

Do dwarves ever strike oil? Imagine how fucking terrifying that would be.

Axes on dwarves are a tolkien psyop
Swinging axes is the most retarded thing to do for a pack of dwarves inside a tunnel
You have no reach and actively hinder your group
Best weapon for tunnel fighting is polearms/spears. Or giant rolling boulders, maybe.
I'm partial towards machinery like this one tho
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh_R8AkkU50

>>212488431
gold and gemstones

>>212488530
Gimli was the only dwarf who primarily used as axe.
Most of them in the hobbit used swords, staffs, daggers or mattocks

>>212480967 (OP)
imaging
being so stupid that you think that bipen axes are made to shop trees...

really it is summer

>>212487700
The spontaneous answer is that Elves, if organized and not fading into nothingness, would most likely slaughter the dwarves. But it would probably be a more even struggle than that. I would still give the edge to the elves due to them at all times being literal supernatural beings, but dwarves have always been hardcore without any special blessings from the gods. While given the spark of life by Eru, its not even clear if they have actual souls as they are not present in the halls of Mandos. But they still fight like hell.

>Last of all the eastern force to stand firm were the Dwarves of Belegost, and thus they won renown. For the Naugrim withstood fire more hardily than either Elves or Men, and it was their custom moreover to wear great masks in battle hideous to look upon; and those stood them in good stead against the dragons. And but for them Glaurung and his brood would have withered all that was left of the Noldor. But the Naugrim made a circle about him when he assailed them, and even his mighty armour was not full proof against the blows of their great axes; and when in his rage Glaurung turned and struck down Azaghâl, Lord of Belegost, and crawled over him, with his last stroke Azaghâl drove a knife into his belly, and so wounded him that he fled the field, and the beasts of Angband in dismay followed after him. Then the Dwarves raised up the body of
Azaghâl and bore it away; and with slow steps they walked behind singing a dirge in deep voices, as it were a funeral pomp in their country, and gave no heed more to their foes;
and none dared to stay them.

>>212488668
>imaging
>being so stupid that you think that bipen axes are made to shop trees...
>really it is summer

>>212488431
Bituminous coal

>>212488754
Look we praised the living shit out of the seventh seal

Did it saved movies?

>>212485729
nigga how would they make the axe handle then nigga shit u retarded

>>212480967 (OP)
Dwarves run forges, forges need wood for fuel, axes harvest wood, done.

>>212488668

>>212481023
Fippy bippy
OP obliterated into dust
I kneel

>>212486542
with an axe?

>>212489269
But they'd need the axe first to harvest the wood for the fire. But they'd need the fire first for the forge to max the axe. But they'd need the wood first to make the fire. But...

>>212489478
>not just punching trees for wood
lmao, also wood? For smelting? For smithing? Please.

>>212489615
>how it was done for centuries before propane and coal is unpossible

>>212488249
That's just because their Tolkien's favorites so they get thick plot armor

>>212489772
It works when all you need to do is melt tin and copper, but thats level 1 smithing. Dwarves are smithing full rune platebody sets.

>>212488431
Balrog Farts

>>212480967 (OP)

They use axes to cut down trees to fuel their forges.

>>212481023
Elves have ranged weapon and their targets are little people with melee weapons. Dwarves can’t win against elves.

>>212480967 (OP)
They use hammers, and an axe is a bladed hammer.

>>212488431
coal

>>212490029
dwarves also have ranged weapons and elves are larger targets than dwarves

>>212490029
Power of friendship. Checkmate.

>>212490285
killing people even more differenter than you is a great way to bond

>>212489927
It takes 2 seconds to google wood forge and you can see how wrong you are, yet you sit here confidently ignoring the infinite information machine right in front of you.

>>212490427
k

>>212490620
Did I say smelter faggot? it also says they converted WOOD to charcoal. Thanks for playing.

>>212490802
so they used charcoal and not wood? k

>>212490932
They used wood whatever spin you want to put on it so you feel like you're right, fine.

>>212491028
wood forges use wood though, and they were your gotcha

>>212491028
I use my wood, and I put spin on it.

>>212491091
naice

>>212490029
Dwarf artillery

For chopping down mushrooms.

>>212481023
FUCK trees (if they’re inhabited by elves)

>>212480967 (OP)
He usually fights with a hammer but he brought the axe to destroy the One Ring at the council meeting. Kind of a blunder on his part and that's all he had to fight with

>>212491568
I can believe in magical Elves, Wizards, and Dwarves that like to mine. But I can't believe in Dwarves having ballistas with giant spinning bolts that destroy huge volleys of arrows then slam into Elven archers

Dwarves are meant to be shaven

>>212484034
>LoTR would unironically be so much better if he had access to modern hema nerds knowledge helping him

>>212492348
It's true. Tolkien knew less about medieval weapons and equipment than a modern hema nerd. It is by far not his specialty and it shows in the writing

>>212492421
it's utterly irrelevant unless you're a hema nerd yourself

>>212492124
Do not shave Dwarves. You will expose which ones are male and which female.

>>212492462
I don't think so weapons and armour are irrelevant to lord of the rings

>>212481500
Retard

>>212492572
changing the subject

>>212492421
LOTR's battles are usually something ypu as the reader envision. Tolkien is not specifically writing these as medieval warfare novels. They're fantasy with the occassional battle that's a couple pages long.

>>212492616
You are retarded if you think axes are more suitable for combat than swords. If we look at europe specifically axes were only used by very specific people in very a very narrow timeframe, and even those people switched to swords being their main nonspear weapon after just a few years. meanwhile swords are the universal sidearm the world over in every time period. They are simply better than axes. If you look outside of europe the only places axes were extremely prevalent are places they didn't have the technology to produce swords

>>212492640
I am aware and agree. That's why I said it's rhe weakest part of his writing. They are not the point of the books nor his expertise, hence they're the weakest point of his writing. This was in response to someone directly commenting on tolkiens weapon choice for dwarves.

>>212492421
it's a complete non issue because the details of the battles aren't described. He doesn't go for blow by blow descriptions, instead talking about flashing of blades, hewing of limbs and valour of the warriors.
I don't give a shit if Aragorn is improperly using the woman's guard while fending off the orc chieftain in Moria with Narsil, because all you need to know is already described for you to imagine.

>>212492870
I don't disagree but this doesn't contradict what I said. It's not about the fight scenes not being described, it's about dwarves written specifically being good with bows when they wouldn't be or the men of dale going to the battle of five armies in formation with longswords instead of spears when longswords aren't a formation fighting weapon. It's not that fighting needed to be described more or that it's a serious flaw or anything, it's just a fact that tolkien wasn't very knowledgeable on these things.

>>212484114
Dwarves with mechanical crossbows three times the size of their body would be extremely kino

>>212493041
> it's about dwarves written specifically being good with bows when they wouldn't be
Thorin's company had been wandering for the better part of a century, and dwarfs in general weren't bound to the inside of mountains. They'd have absolutely reason not to use bows.
>the men of dale going to the battle of five armies in formation with longswords
Tolkien clearly described the men of the third age as being anglo saxon, and since they almost all used shields you'd have to be intentionally dense to not infer what swords they were using.
>muh spears
everyone hates spears.
Arthur and cuchulainn can use them, that's it

>>212493306
>They'd have absolutely reason not to use bows.
Nice reading comprehension. I said that Tolkien wrote that dwarves were specifically good with bows. Nothing to do with thorin's company, Tolkien wrote specifically that dwarves as a race are known to be good with bows.

>>212480967 (OP)
are all of you limp wristed zoomie faggots just retarded? i mean i know people are trying to be ironic about it or something but you seriously dont seem to understand a war axe isnt an axe, they just look alike

you *can* chop some tree down with a war axe but you would fuck it up and its the same as if you used a sword to cut one down. war axes are just good weapons and dwarves like using them

Too bad we couldn't have more stories exploring what happened to the other Dwarven kings possessing rings. Moria is legit the best and most comfy part of LOTR. Something about the fellowship spending days in that enormous, dark, spooky underground kingdom trying to quietly, sneakily make their way through to the other side

>>212481023
Anyone do a wellness check on OP yet?

>>212496332
Paramedics said it a case of third-degree faggotry. If he takes two cocks and a cold compress he'll be fine by morning.

>>212488529
oil? bitch you cookin?

Are there Dwarves in the South and East of Mordor?

>>212484240
stupid idiot lmao.

>>212498106
There are dwarves in a place called "the red mountains" which are described as far to the east but not anywhere tolkien has ever mapped out so we don't know exactly where. Extremely vague where the red mountains are. It's also implied the nazgul visited them to try and convince them to join sauron just like they did to the dwarves of erebor and no one knows their response because it's too far away for fast contact

Let's not be shortsighted