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enanito
Rohan
Aug 29 2016, 10:50pm
Post #1 of 5
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"The Hobbit" as elf-centric, or "The LOTR" as dwarf-centric?
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So we have in "The Hobbit" a tale where the world of M.E. is seen through traveling with dwarves. Sure we see Elrond and Thranduil's kingdoms a bit, but our experience is dwarf-centric. In many ways, I'd argue that much of the LOTR is elf-centric. Or at least, even though we travel with Gimli and see Moria first-hand, our exposure to dwarves is minimal, whereas we get much more insight into Elvish culture and the like.
Does anyone think Tolkien could have created "The Hobbit" as an elf-centric tale, or "The LOTR" as dwarf-centric? I don't mean to have the discussion veer off into reasons why each work came to be the way it is, how Tolkien's world-building would have required LOTR to be a story with Elves at the center, or that kind of scholarly discussion (but if that's where people take it, n.p.!).
I was just considering if the tale of "The Hobbit" could somehow have been written as an elven quest of sorts, and still accomplished Tolkien's objectives when he was writing the story. Or in reality, would anything other than how it turned out, have required too many major alterations to the 3rd Age? Could 3rd Age elves realistically have a quest like Thorin and Co. did?
And could LOTR have somehow been more dwarf-centric? Or likewise, would this have drastically altered the theme of 3rd Age loss, centered on the Elves with the dwarven kingdoms essentially taking a backseat to the storyline?
I am not suggesting that this is desired or preferred!! Simply thinking out loud whether it could have even worked.
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Elizabeth
Half-elven
Aug 30 2016, 12:16am
Post #2 of 5
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Yes, we do have a few more Elves than Dwarves, especially the lovely stopover in Lorien, but the major theme is that the time of the Elves is ending, the time of Men has come.The Sil is totally Elf-centric, with Men mostly an afterthought except for a few exceptions. But the big heroes of LotR are Men and Hobbits (who are sort of subset of Men).
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sevilodorf
Tol Eressea
Aug 30 2016, 12:45am
Post #3 of 5
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Hobbit is Dwarf focused but not centric
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Bilbo is the center .... everything is through his lens.
Just as LOTR is hobbit lensed with IMHO Man focused.
If the dwarves had told (as I'm sure they do) the tale of Erebor it would probably have been far more politically correct .... the Elves would always be wrong, the Dwarves always right and Thorin would not have mean a megalomaniac but a misunderstood leader in a situation forced upon him by those cursed Elves..
Rewriting from another view is interesting... Take Helm's Deep.... imagine the pov of a Dunlend warrior... did he choose or did he end up there due to his leader's decisions... how does he really feel about fighting alongside Orcs?
Fourth Age Adventures at the Inn of the Burping Troll http://burpingtroll.com
Home of TheOneRing.net Best FanFic stories of 2005 and 2006 "The Last Grey Ship" and "Ashes, East Wind, Hope That Rises" by Erin Rua
(Found in Mathoms, LOTR Tales Untold)
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Elarie
Grey Havens
Sep 2 2016, 9:13pm
Post #4 of 5
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If The Hobbit had been written as an elf centric quest what role would Bilbo have played? It's very difficult to imagine elves needing a hobbit to rescue them at any point, so would Bilbo have grown and changed in the same way on an elf quest, or would he have been, in his own words, just baggage on the trip? Would 13 elf warriors have been captured by orcs and spiders? And more importantly, would they all have rhyming names?  
__________________
Gold is the strife of kinsmen,
and fire of the flood-tide,
and the path of the serpent.
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Dame Ioreth
Tol Eressea
Sep 7 2016, 10:35am
Post #5 of 5
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I always thought of both The Hobbit and LOTR as hobbit-centric
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Both are told with a hobbit as a central character around whom the story focuses. They are a purely Tolkien-created character not seen in any other literature where dwarves and elves are both seen elsewhere (albeit not necessarily in the same forms or ways that Tolkien used them). Making his stories dwarf- or elf-centric to me would make them more... errrr... generic; just another fantasy story. It's the hobbits and how they react to exploring the larger Middle Earth world outside their hometown Shire is what makes them unique for me, and charming and inspiring too. We do see other realms and our fearless hobbits interact with all manner of living beings, but the frame of reference is always through their eyes.
_
Heed WBA when building blanket forts.
ITLs don't get enough FAS. :)
Where there's life there's hope, and need of vittles.
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
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