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<   No. 2560   2010-01-29   >

Comic #2560

1 Spanners: Hi. We're looking for the Ruby of Dwarven Might.
1 Ruby: Aye, that's me. I'm Ruby. {translation: Yes, that's me. I'm Ruby.}
2 Iki Piki: You are? But... Ruby is a girl's name!
2 Ruby: Aye. {translation: Yes.}
3 Iki Piki: But... you have a beard!
3 Ruby: Aye. And whut's so weird aboot that? {translation: Yes. And what's so weird about that?}
4 Serron: Well that explains the odd behaviour we saw in that strange dwarven bar near the Golden Citadel...

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And you thought the bars in Bangkok were odd.


2024-02-24 Rerun commentary: It's a common, although not universal, conception of fantasy dwarves that the womenfolk also have beards. Depending on the source, this can be played perfectly straight, or used as a source of humour.

Some interpretations even play it as in-world folklore that dwarven women have beards whereas in the fictional reality they don't.

Yet others play with the idea in unusual ways, such as stating that all dwarves do in fact have beards, but this is due to the fact that they are all male, and there is no such thing as a female dwarf. (Questions of reproduction then arise, which may be addressed in various creative and interesting ways.)

And in the works of one author who I definitely have never read, all dwarves have beards and are culturally all male, even though underneath the facial hair and armour they have different reproductive parts.

In short[1], if you want to have fun exploring the possibilities of sex and gender roles in a fictional society, dwarves are a great resource.

[1] Pun intended.

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