#caradhras

"‘Ah, it is as I said,’ growled Gimli. ‘It was no ordinary storm. It is the ill will of Caradhras. He does not love Elves and Dwarves, and that drift was laid to cut off our escape.’" - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring, "The Ring Goes South"

@esotolkienweek day 1: mountains & valleys, climb ⇢ CARADHRAS

[ID: two graphics in shades of brown, grey, and white.

Well met,

Thank you for that question.

Before anything else, a small clarification. The idea of “stone-sense” is not an official term in Tolkien’s writings, so its exact meaning is open to interpretation. That said, the general idea is clear enough, a heightened awareness or affinity with stone, something many readers intuitively associate with Dwarves.

To answer the question properly, we first need to take a step back and look at what concrete actually is, and whether it even fits within a Middle-earth context.

Concrete, in its most effective historical form, was developed and widely used by the Ancient Romans. Their mixture of lime, water, and volcanic ash produced a material that could set underwater and endure for centuries. After the fall of Rome, much of that knowledge was largely lost in Europe. Lime mortars continued to be used throughout the Middle Ages, but true high-quality concrete was not widely reproduced in the same way.

Middle-earth, while not a direct analogue, broadly reflects a pre-modern, largely medieval level of technology. Based on Tolkien’s writings, it does not appear to have concrete in the modern, poured sense.

That said, the most advanced civilisation in Middle-earth, the Númenóreans, possessed building techniques that far exceeded ordinary masonry. Structures such as Minas Tirith and Orthanc, built by the Faithful of Númenor, are described as having an almost impervious strength. In some cases, the stone is described as vitreous, almost glass-like, and in the case of Orthanc, possibly formed as a single mass.

"Orthanc in the Second Age" by Ted Nasmith This suggests not poured concrete, but something closer to fused or vitrified stone, achieved through methods, whether technological or “magical,” that were later lost. By the Third Age, this knowledge had faded, and even the people of Gondor could only maintain such structures, not recreate them. So even at the height of human craftsmanship in Middle-earth, we do not see the use of mundane, reconstituted concrete, but rather something far more refined, and, crucially, still respecting the integrity of stone rather than reducing it to aggregate.

Concrete is, at its core, reconstituted stone, broken down, mixed, poured, and set. It lacks the internal integrity, grain, and natural formation of true stone. To a human, that difference is mostly structural or aesthetic. To a Dwarf, it would likely be far more fundamental. The grain, the pressure lines, the history of its formation, these are part of how stone is understood. Concrete, by contrast, has no geological story. It is assembled rather than formed.

We see in Tolkien’s work that mountains themselves are, at times, treated as if they possess will and temperament. Consider Gimli’s view of Caradhras, known to the Dwarves as Barazinbar, “the Redhorn.” He does not describe the storm on the mountain as mere weather, but as the mountain’s ill will. Caradhras “does not love Elves and Dwarves,” and “has not forgiven” those who attempt to cross it. In that moment, the mountain is not a passive backdrop, but an active, living force.

The Pass of Caradhras in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings

If one follows that line of thought, stone is not inert in Dwarven perception. It carries memory, presence, perhaps even a form of being. From that perspective, the act of grinding stone down, breaking it apart, and reforming it into concrete could be seen as something more than a practical process. It becomes, in a sense, the destruction of that integrity, the killing of the stone’s being.

Concrete, then, would not simply be “artificial stone.” It would be dead stone.

So would Dwarves hate it, if it existed?

“Hate” may be too strong, but they would almost certainly distrust it, and perhaps even regard it with a degree of unease. Not because it feels “fuzzy” like sand, but because it would feel mute, unresponsive, stripped of the depth and resonance of true stone.

And if it did exist, I doubt very much any Dwarf would choose to use it.

Dwarves, as Tolkien presents them, are masters of stonecraft. They shape stone to their will rather than dissolving and reforming it. The idea of grinding down good stone only to reassemble it into a homogenised material would likely strike them as wasteful at best, and a betrayal of the stone at worst.

In short: I doubt it existed in Middle-earth, but if it did, to a Dwarf, concrete would not feel like sand, but neither would it feel like stone. It would feel like stone that has lost its life.