Did Dwarf women have beards? it seems so.

[stormcrow]

Interesting essay on the topic:
(source: http://tolkien.cro.net/dwarves/women.html)

Did Dwarf women have beards?


It seems they did. In the note on Dwarf women in Appendix A it was told:
It was said by Gimli that there are few dwarf-women, probably no more than a third of the whole people. They seldom walk abroad except at great need. They are in voice and appearance, and in garb if they must go on a journey, so like to the dwarf-men that the eyes and ears of other peoples cannot tell them apart. The Return of the King, 360 (App A)]
Since beards were part of the appearance, not the garb, of dwarf-men, we must conclude that dwarf-women did in fact have beards.

The question has been raised as to whether all dwarf men necessarily had beards (the above conclusion depends upon this premise). Insofar as the matter was mentioned at all, it was shown through either direct statements or casual references that at least Thorin, Dwalin, Balin, Fili, Kili, Gloin, Bombur, and Gimli all definitely had beards The Hobbit, 20-22, 159, 186, 198; The Fellowship of the Ring, 240; The Return of the King, 148); it is natural to assume that the others did as well. While no definite statement about the beard status of dwarf-men in general was ever presented as a matter of lore, a thought which reflects the assumed view was given to Bilbo early in the The Hobbit: [as Bilbo rode along wearing Dwalin's hood]
"His only comfort was that he couldn't be mistaken for a dwarf, as he had no beard." (The Hobbit, 42)
In any event, the notion of bearded dwarves seems an assumption with fairly firm foundations.

References:

The Hobbit, 20-22 (Ch I), 42 (Ch II), 159 (Ch VIII), 186 (Ch X), 198 (Ch XI);

The Fellowship of the Ring, 240 (II, 1);

The Return of the King, 148 (V, 9), 153 (V, 9), 360 (Appendix A, III).

[Ñólendil]

In The Peoples of Middle-earth it is said that they had beards. Possibly in the Of Durin's Folk chapter. It was lost in the haste with which the Appendices were put together. It is also said in one of the revisions of the Silmarillion, at least in one edition. Maybe only in England. I used to think the idea was absurd, but I was proved wrong.

[juntel]

Has it been explicitely stated in the works of Mr.T that Thorin, Dwalin, Balin, Fili, Kili, Gloin, Bombur, and Gimli were all male dwarves?!


hmmm...

[Finmandos12]

Well, I think they were all referred to as he , so it seems so..

[ArwenEvenstar]

I've read the sil and LoTR and the hobbit and it never mentions female dwarves except in the appendix in LoTR. They dont seem to be very important. although in my mind, Mim sounds like a female name, but i guess it isn't

[Comic Book Guy]

So does Kili and Fili...

[Mr Underhill]

Dwarf women have beards?

No wonder Gimli was so wowed by Galadriel.

[easterlinge]

Galadriel wowed everyone, she was BLOND.....

[juntel]

[ArwenEvenstar]

was her hair died or natural