Actually, Tolkien meant the dwarves to be Jews - beards, dispossessed of their homeland, retaining a secret language, tight with gold. All the stereotypes of the mediaeval Jew. (N.B. not to be confused with the modern New York stereotype from "When you wish upon a Weinstein". You won't see Woody Allen fighting orcs with a battle axe.)
Apparently he went so far as to give their language the same phonology as Hebrew.
As for Muslims, this Australian blog loves defending Muslims. His favourite tactic is to say "Yeah, Muslims do that, but so do Jews. And I bet you won't criticise them!" But it seems to me there's plenty of criticism to go around!
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Are muslims like dwarves? Which one has the smaller beard?
Actually, Tolkien meant the dwarves to be Jews - beards, dispossessed of their homeland, retaining a secret language, tight with gold. All the stereotypes of the mediaeval Jew. (N.B. not to be confused with the modern New York stereotype from "When you wish upon a Weinstein". You won't see Woody Allen fighting orcs with a battle axe.)
Apparently he went so far as to give their language the same phonology as Hebrew.
As for Muslims, this Australian blog loves defending Muslims. His favourite tactic is to say "Yeah, Muslims do that, but so do Jews. And I bet you won't criticise them!" But it seems to me there's plenty of criticism to go around!
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