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Hiking in the hills outside of Bangalore I found some absolutely ancient stone dwellings completely covered in thick shrub. The villagers down below told me tha

by d13 9y ago

Hiking in the hills outside of Bangalore I found some absolutely ancient stone dwellings completely covered in thick shrub. The villagers down below told me that they "belonged to an ancient race of dwarves." And a few km away, I stumbled across an obviously very old cave painting in a style I've never seen before anywhere in the world. Not soul in sight and miles from the road. My guess is that there are huge archaeological discoveries waiting to be found in India for anyone who takes the trouble to look for them.

AdmiralAsshat 9y ago
"Dwarves"? Is that just the closest word you have for the rendering, or is that really a thing in their local mythology? I thought they were strictly a Germanic/Norse staple. I've never seen them mentioned in Hinduism.
- jdtang13 9y ago
  Looks like Hinduism has a precedent for dwarves, and it's not a trivial mention either: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vamana https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vamana
- d13 9y ago
  Yes, I was told, in English, "an ancient race of dwarves."
ChuckMcM 9y ago
Well that would match up, apparently the Elven city was in Guatemala (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-42916261 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-42916261)
- sologoub 9y ago
  Why Elven?
  - ChuckMcM 9y ago
    The implication is that the Elves lived in cities in the forests (perhaps like Guatemalan rain forests), Depending on if you are more of Tolkien fan or a Pratchett fan, Dwarves are more mountains/rocky types. And of course there are neither Dwarves nor Elves (in the fantasy fiction sense) around today.
    - sologoub 9y ago
      Not really seeing any connection beyond the jungle part. Mayan world and religion doesn’t appear to share much with Tolkien: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_religion https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_religion vs https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elf_(Middle-earth) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elf_(Middle-earth)
jdtang13 9y ago
Lol, wish I could see this ancient race of dwarves
abc_lisper 9y ago
That is fascinating. Any pics?

by d13 9y ago

AdmiralAsshat 9y ago

"Dwarves"? Is that just the closest word you have for the rendering, or is that really a thing in their local mythology? I thought they were strictly a Germanic/Norse staple. I've never seen them mentioned in Hinduism.

jdtang13 9y ago
Looks like Hinduism has a precedent for dwarves, and it's not a trivial mention either: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vamana https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vamana
d13 9y ago
Yes, I was told, in English, "an ancient race of dwarves."

ChuckMcM 9y ago

Well that would match up, apparently the Elven city was in Guatemala (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-42916261 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-42916261)

sologoub 9y ago
Why Elven?
- ChuckMcM 9y ago
  The implication is that the Elves lived in cities in the forests (perhaps like Guatemalan rain forests), Depending on if you are more of Tolkien fan or a Pratchett fan, Dwarves are more mountains/rocky types. And of course there are neither Dwarves nor Elves (in the fantasy fiction sense) around today.
  - sologoub 9y ago
    Not really seeing any connection beyond the jungle part. Mayan world and religion doesn’t appear to share much with Tolkien: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_religion https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_religion vs https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elf_(Middle-earth) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elf_(Middle-earth)

jdtang13 9y ago

Lol, wish I could see this ancient race of dwarves

abc_lisper 9y ago

That is fascinating. Any pics?