marillaraina
Nargothrond
Sep 4 2013, 3:01am
Views: 4767
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That Thorin, Fili, and Kili's lack of hair adornment (or for that matter, beards- although I could claim that Fili and Kili's were short because they were young) could be respective of the singed hair that Thror and Thrain had after Erebor's ruin?
I know it wasn't really shown in the movie, but didn't RA say something about Thorin refusing to grow his beard out until after Erebor was reclaimed due to that reason?
Maybe the lack of hair adornment is part of that.
Or it could also be that Gloin is a well to do merchant who financed the quest, whereas Thorin, though a King in exile, was a blacksmith? I would think with the culture that merchants made significantly more money than blacksmiths did. Maybe they just simply could not afford the adornments.....
But as I pointed out Thorin's father also did not have much adornment in his hair. He had plenty of hair and plenty of beard but only a few adornments, and no obvious braids. Thorin himself only had a simple braid in his slightly longer beard, pre Smaug.
It really does seem to be entirely up to personal preference. Thror liked his beard bling, it appears Thrain and Thorin weren't much bothered about it and went with minimal ornamentation. Thorin yes wears a short beard now, but his hair always was relatively simple and there wasn't that much ornamentation. A few small beads. Kili and Fili have their hair clips and Fili has a couple beads on his mustache(aww...much like the grandad he never knew),
While I think individual pieces of jewelry may have special personal meaning, it appears that beards, hairstyles and jewelry are up to individual preference mostly. Nothing in the books, the film or the film tie material really suggests there is anything significant about the braids or types of braids or how many braids or about the beards, clips and jewelry they choose to wear beyond the fact that dwarves in general seem to have a great appreciation for their hair, whether of head or face.
Which I like, it suggests that as much as the dwarves seem to have a lot of cultural pride and things that bind them together, they also seem to have an ability to express themselves as individuals. Much like human artists have often been individualistic in their personal styles.
(This post was edited by marillaraina on Sep 4 2013, 3:02am)
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