Went to see The Hobbit this afternoon, which was fun. For me, it was far more accessible than any of the Lord of the Rings movies. It's mainly the story of a quest by a bunch of dwarves to retake the halls of their forefathers.
At one point, the dwarves are having a banquet in Bilbo Baggins' house. They were happily quaffing and chomping and generally...y'know, being fantasy dwarves, and d nudged me, grinning.
"Oh god...you're a dwarf!"
I nodded back. It's kinda one of my things.
In my time, I have been a geek of all almost all kinds. I have played Dungeons and Dragons. I have read fantasy novels and watched fantasy novels, and there's some sort of body-image thing going on every time. I've never felt able to "be" an Elf, or even a human - or indeed to especially identify with them. But the dwarves...famously, the life of a dwarf in fantasy worlds is "nasty, brutish and short" - much like them. But something about their underground existence, their shortness and roundness and beardiness, and general fondness for double-headed axes, makes them appeal to me more than any other inhabitants of a standard fantasy world.
Can't help but wonder whether at any point in my life, I'll identify with the tall, willowy Elven folk, or even the muscle-bound warriors of the Human kingdoms, or whether, having grown up to be nasty, brutish and short myself, my mental self-image will always be twinned with the Dwarves.
Right...am off now to have a good hard quaff and fling some axes at things...
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