I know it's been mentioned elsewhere - but I wanted to create a thread devoted to solely to this issue. The idea of there being 'Half-Dwarven' folk in Arda. I wanted to go over the theory of it regarding Tolkien's original work and in Peter Jackson's Middle-Earth as well.

First off I'll consider the significant 'other half...

Dwarves & Elves - No. Just no in regards to Tolkien's original work and to my own feelings on it, I just don't think this has or ever would happen. Even if there was (by some miracle) a Dwarf/Elf couple I don't think they would be capable of producing offspring that combines both Dwarven and Elven heritage.

As for Peter Jackson... this Kíli/Elf thing can't be serious. Hopefully.

Dwarves & Hobbits - Am I the only one who finds such suggestions a bit... off-putting? To me Hobbits look like children, undoubtedly they're not and they marry and have children of their own together. Fine. But it seems a bit off (to me) for a Dwarf or Man to take a Hobbit-lass for a wife, as she'd be habitually mistaken for a child...

Dwarves & Men - This seems more likely to me - that there has been some mingling between these races at some point. The only possible hint or suggestion I found of it in Tolkien's work was this;

Perhaps Men of a 'new sort' are derived from a Dwarf/Man couple... unlikely to be a Dwarf from Durin's Folk that we know most about from Tolkien's work - nor the Firebeards or Broadbeams who were originally from Nogrod and Belegost, but perhaps one from one of the others than awoke in the Orocani, in the East, like the Blacklocks/Stonefoots perhaps?

So - from the above quote I think that there being Half-Dwarven folk is possible (to some this isn't proof enough I imagine), from within Tolkien's work. The fact that they don't play a significant role in Middle-Earth doesn't surprise me - and it doesn't go against what I've gathered from the Sil, when Eru spoke of them. They're not Elves, and unlike the Half-Elven, they don't have great roles to play and so therefore don't feature at all in the books.

... though if we go by this quote, it would be that there aren't Half-Dwarven folk known anywhere in Gondor or beyond further West. That would suggest that the Dwarves of say, Durin's folk - the Firebeards and Broadbeams of the Blue Mountains don't breed with Men, or at least - they haven't known to have done so by Men in the South.

This raises some more questions for me, such as;

- How do/would Durin's Folk regard Half-Dwarven folk?

- How would Thorin Oakenshield regard them? Or say any other member of his Company?

- Would they (Dwarves) accept them (Half-Dwarves) into their own society?

- Would Half-Dwarven women be more accepted than men?

- And what becomes of these Half-Dwarven folk when they die? Are the counted alongside Dwarves or Men? Do they have a choice?

All in all, I think it would be a pleasing concept - for there to be Half-Dwarven folk. That the blood of Dwarves will, like that of the Elves, carry on in the Race of Men - so they won't be entirely gone from Middle-Earth even after the inevitable end of their people comes.

I thought so too at first, Brego - but with more reading and perhaps (more importantly) a true desire for it to be otherwise, I've come to a different conclusion. Or, I suppose a better word would be 'hope'.

In that I hope it's possible, because I feel that what they are - the Dwarves - deserves to be left some sort of living legacy, just as the Elves have in the lines of Elros, Mithrellas and Arwen.

I think that Aulë saw enough of what Men would be, in the Music - and what he created was derived from that and although they have differences, I think in fundamentals they're much alike - bodily, enough that would enable them to intermingle their bloodlines.

I like your idea of it being designed and brought about by dark arts implemented by a Dark Lord, but I think it would be a difficult task -  for Sauron in particular. Given how he greatly misjudged the strength Dwarves possessed in withstanding and resisting the "malevolent magic" of the Seven Dwarf Rings. I think that shows how little he understands them as a Race, which is strange considering he was a Maia of Aulë's himself once.

... that being said; I don't think it's so much an issue if they could - biologically - do this. I think in the case of Tolkien's work, in the true sense, is more down to would they WANT to?

They seem to lack the drive and need to reproduce and marry in the degree that Men possess - and completely lack the harmony and ease of which Elves marry and reproduce. They (Dwarves) choose not to, not because they don't find their women-folk attractive, I feel, but because - like Aulë - they love their craft, inventing and creating more than anything else and the haste/need/desire to reproduce wasn't at the forefront of Aulë's mind when he made them - more so, his concern about Melkor and how he made them to endure and resist.

As for Durin's Folk - this is where I become stuck. On how they would treat Half-Dwarven folk they encountered. I think perhaps because I know so little in canon to go off - but then, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is so fresh in my mind that it completely washes over what I recall from the books - since I haven't read them in some time.

But I feel their stubbornness has to count for something, and that if they decided upon loving and marrying someone - regardless of their Race - and if it was in their power to do so, they would do it. I think Gimli could be used as an example here, for his love of Galadriel. Okay, so he's not about to marry her any time soon but when there's a mere hint or suggestion of someone slighting her, he goes straight for his axe! Quite the u-turn, eh? I think when Dwarves love - they love deeply (ex: Gimli's open grief when he beheld Balin's tomb Moria, his love for Galadriel, for Legolas and Aragorn), and it's said they only marry once, if at all and when they fall for one - if they cannot have them, they'll have no one!...

So I suppose I'm left with more questions!

- What do Dwarf-men find attractive?

- What do Dwarf-men look for in a wife?

- Out of all the Men in Middle-Earth, which would be most compatible with Dwarves?

Isn't Gimli's mother said to have a "particularly fine beard"? I have no idea where this came from... could be canon or fanon for all I know.

I have it in my head that they would appreciate hair and eye colour they could associate with precious gems, stones or metals. Like golden blonde hair. Emerald green eyes. Red hair that's like copper.

I think they'd have a certain desire for a skillful wife - one with talent in her own craft who is admired greatly, I think they'd like a wife who is coveted by others...

Thinking over more Tolkien vs. Peter Jackson, I think in the latter's 'universe' Half-Dwarven folk are likely.