1 Are there female dwarves? If not, do they just find baby dwarves in the
"rock patch" much like we were told about babies being found in cabbage
patches? Eruviell's answer sums it up. It's also in the appendices.
2 Does Tolkien ever mention the stone-giants in any of his other works or
letters? (Over Hill and Under Hill) I can't think of what you are
referring to, so I'd say no. I can be an incredibly dense reader, please
enlighten me as to what they are.
3 Do the goblins take Bilbo and the dwarves under an extention of
Moria? Unlike Bilbo, I'm not a "map person", but my impression has always
been that Bilbo & co. crossed the Misty Mountains north of Moria. Again, I
could be wrong. I'm going to take a look at a passage from Hobbit though
so I'll post back.
4 Did Tolkien change his view on elves after the Hobbit? Because I noticed
that they way they act in LotR and the Sil are really different from the way
they act in the Hobbit. Or is it just that they are the Wood-elves? Yes
and no. He changed his view on The Hobbit more than his view on Elves.
He had written all of the mythology of Middle Earth before, and then after
writing the Hobbit, he decided that that was the world Bilbo had "wandered
into." That's also why Hobbits don't seem to fit in as well as other peoples.
Also, I've seen the theory (I think Reverend posted it) that the Mirkwood elves
were Avari or Moriquendi; that is they never saw Valinor and are therefore less
civilized. Anyway, you're right, they do act differently, and Thranduil doesn't
really "fit in" with the Elvish culture. (My theory about Thranduil is that he
was a bit of a character and not quite like the other Elves. I believe he was
one of the Sindar and then moved east, where he evidently meet up with this
tribe of wood-elves who so admired him and his culture that they set him up as
King, which of course he never refused. He seems a little opportunistic to me.)
The main thing to remember with The Hobbit is a pinch of salt. It was
written before LOTR and in a lighter tone. It wasn't meant to be part of the
overall picture, but it (through its commercial success) opened the door for
Tolkien to be able to write a book like LOTR.
I'm kind of glossing over all of this. I'm sure someone else will have more to
say, but if you don't understand,
ask.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
"Well then, thank pitchforks and pointed ears!"
"You could hardly claim to be an angel with those pointed ears of yours, Mister Spock. But say you landed someplace with a pitchfork..."
