Talk:Dwarfs (Discworld)

message: I think we ought to mention "minesign" in here somewhere; I'm already adding the Summoning Dark to the list of Discworld gods. --Yar Kramer 22:16, 28 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Minesign

message: The sad story of Glod and his endless replication suggested that humans and dwarfs could interbreed. Which story was that in? I think it would be useful to includeSerendipodous 23:47, 28 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Just in case this is still relevant, it was mentioned in the footnotes of Witches Abroad. Soul Music had a Glod. --Kizor 23:05, 3 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Glod

message: Does Discworld ever pastiche Tolkien? There's a lot of Fritz Leiber, (Lankhmar -> Ankh-Morpork), a bit of Conan, a little Lovecraft.... But I'd struggle to name very much that's Tolkien in them. Adam Cuerden 17:01, 6 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: The biggest Tolkien homage, apart from female and male dwarfs being indistinguishable, is the language, which is phonetically similar, as the article says, to Khuzdul, Tolkien's dwarvish language. Many Dwarvish names in Discworld, such as Gimlet and Glod, are smilar to Tolkien's Dwarf names, such as Gimli and Gloin. Pratchett draws inspritation from many sources, but even he admits that, as he says, "Modern fantasy is just re-arranging the furniture in Tolkien's attic." Serendipodous 17:25, 7 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, but homages aren't the same as pastiches. A pastiche would require Tolkien to be dominant for long periods, with an attempt to emulate him.  For instance, Going Postal is a Dickens pastiche: It deals with themes Dickens dealt with, it features characters that are noticably Dickensian, the setting and description of same is very evocative of Dickens, famous quotes from Dickens appear throughout and so on. The only major deviation from Dickens is that Dickens was horrible at writing women and Pratchett is not. ...Maybe I'm quibbling too much about one word, and should just change it? Adam Cuerden 18:13, 8 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Changed to "which they were originally a homage to. or something like that. Ends a sentence with a preposition, but I don't really think it matters. Suppose you could change it to "to which they were originally a homage." if you're pedantic. Just   aren't used the way Tolkien used them, which kind of puts them out of pastiche territory. Adam Cuerden 18:24, 8 April 2006 (UTC)

text: Witches Abroad has a lengthy scene based on the Mines of Moria, followed by the first appearance of dwarf bread, and a Gollum-like creature. But I'm quite happy with "homage" rather than "pastiche". When I wrote that bit I was really just trying to avoid calling them a "parody". Daibhid C 15:51, 25 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Tolkien?

message: Why is there such an extensive section about Devices in an article about Dwarfs? I realize that the dwarfs possess most of the known Devices, but IIRC they did not create them, and they don't seem to affect Dwarfish culture or daily life that much. I could understand giving the Devices a passing mention, but the specifics definitely don't belong here.
Chrismith 18:21, 6 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Devices? 

message: The description seems to imply that all dwarven bread is inedible. But there are several references to humans eating dwarven bread - even liking it (Imp y Cellin). A Dwarf in Witches Abroad(?) mentions that modern dwarven bread isn't as good as the old, so perhaps the edible sort is a new development?--Cyberman TM (talk) 12:43, 30 October 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Bread

message: Should the article be updated now that Rhys Rhysson has openly identified herself as the Low Queen?88.104.83.134 (talk) 19:41, 16 November 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  SPOILER ALERT - Feminisation