Disclaimer - I don't own Tolkien's Middle Earth, nor do I own Disa from The Rings of Power. When I first saw Disa, I thought - cool, a princess from Harad. And then - then I learned she was a Dwarf, and I connected the name Disa to Dis and thought to myself, "So wait, Thorin, his sister, and his nephews are Black now? I thought this was supposed to be a prequel to the trilogy?"
It's not a prequel, though, but now that I know where she fits in - I realized that seven of the thirteen Dwarf companions now have Black ancestry. And Gimli now has Black ancestry. And Dain now has Black ancestry. And I dug a little further and realized that three more of the Dwarves could be traced to the line of Durin, so ten of the thirteen companions now have Black ancestry, not just seven.
This in turn would mean the Dwarves would represent Black people unfairly imprisoned by white people even though they were trespassing, and Gimli and Legolas' friendship would become all about how the white Elf is wrong for being prejudiced against the Black Dwarf. And I know I'm thinking way ahead, but this is something I don't want. But supposedly because I'm not white, this is what I'm supposed to want? Nope.
Progenitor
"I am looking for my grandson," said the woman.
Kili stared, confused why a beardless woman with skin the color of the night would be looking for her grandson in the middle of a Dwarven community recently blessed with the chance of a second life for certain Dwarves who'd never been expected to be blessed as the Elves rarely had of a second life. And as he looked upon the woman, he remembered the words of an old Dwarf saying that such a gift couldn't come without a curse—which he ascribed as an overprotective Dwarven mother towards her youngest-as he said, "Excuse me?"
"Actually, it would be more accurate to say he's my great-grandson, as I've been blessed to have the chance to meet my decedents," the woman continued, ever so full of life, yet Kili couldn't place her; this woman from the race of Man.
"I still don't follow," Kili said as his older brother Fili rounded the corner.
"What's going on?" Fili asked. "Who is this woman?"
"You shouldn't speak like that to a Dwarf princess," the woman said.
Fili leaned over, whispering into Kili's ear. "Wait. Does she think she is a Dwarf? Where is her beard?"
"I am as confused as you are, but she says she is looking for her great-grandson," Kili said. "But she hasn't said who she thinks her great-grandson is."
"Don't you know? He's the king under the mountain, Thorin the second," the woman said.
At which Fili and Kili burst into laughter, Kili pointed, attempting to say something regarding what the woman—who was not a Dwarf, or was a Dwarf whose beard had been shaved out of shame—was saying, while Fili said, "You must be kidding me?"
"I kid you not," the woman said, puffing out her chest. "I am the progenitor, the mother of Thror, of Gror, and of Fanin." Which, of course, brought about even more laughter from the two brothers. "She frowned. "It isn't funny, nor have I finished. Thror's son named Thrain the second, and he a son named Thorin the second."
"And don't forget a daughter named Dis," Kili blurted out, attempting to keep a laugh in his belly by biting down slightly on his lip.
"Who is named after me, Disa, the wife of Durin the fourth," the woman said.
"Our mother is named after her?" Fili said, looking at her incredulously.
"Do you take issue with that fact because I am Black," said Disa.
"Um, no," said the brothers looking at each other. "Not at all." There were more pressing issues, such as nine missing Dwarf kings and a Dwarf with no beard standing in front of them.
Fili cleared his throat. "And we mustn't forget Gror had Nain and Dain had the second."
"Or that Farin had Fundin and Groin, from which there is Balin and Dwalin on Fundin's side, and Oin and Gloin on Groin's side," Kili said, then turned to his brother. "Did you purposefully leave the long one to me?"
"You forgot our cousin Gimli," Fili said.
"Ah. Gimli. The one who made friends with an Elf," Disa said, making Kili and Fili cringe.
"You know, Gimli is so much more than that," Fili said. "Albeit almost as annoying as a younger brother."
Kili cleared his throat, saying, "I don't believe what you say."
"Then you must be ignorant of your bloodline!" Disa said, still holding her head high.
"We are?" the two brothers said, not buying it.
Fili let out a sigh. "I'll go and let our uncle know."
"You mean you're leaving me to deal with this?" Kili responded, still wondering how the curse in front of him had come into being, for he would have imagined her being a princess from Harad. He then said. "I'm quite sure you're not related to us."
"I'm sure she's not," said a voice from behind. Kili didn't turn to look at his king and uncle. "What makes you think that you are, indeed, who you say you are?"
"That is my truth," Disa said. "I simply speak my truth."
"You, lady, are not our kin," Thorin said firmly. "We look nothing like you."
Disa frowned. "I don't just you for not inheriting my skin color, for not being Black enough."
"What kind of nonsense is she speaking," Balin said, having followed his kind to advise him. "Not being Black enough? We are not the people of Hadar, nor have I any knowledge of them intermarrying with us. We Dwarf, after all, are known for our distrust of others outside our race."
"Because that's what the real world looks like," Disa said. "That is my truth, and I speak it." She said, "I'm surprised that those of Durin's line isn't darker, given the time that has passed. But then, perhaps only Durin the fourth was to marry a Black Dwarf without prejudice?"
And then came the thundering on the hills, and a familiar sight was seen, as a Dwarf and his men approached, his hair a fiery main as he road his boar forward, asking for food and drink, plus the traditional Dwarven revelry, with him bringing spoils-gifts-for two brothers who'd given up insisting he shouldn't as he kept insisting he should, given their previous short lives. He pulled his boar up, and grinned ear to ear. "Who is the lady? A noble from Harad seeking trade with the Dwarves of the North, my king?"
"She claims to be a Dwarf," Thorin sighed.
"Where's her beard?"
"Dwarf women do not have beards," Disa said. "That is my truth, and I speak it."
"She claims to be the wife of Durin the fourth, our kinswoman," Thorin said. "And she is here to see me, her line of decent."
"Well, I know I'm not the brightest Dwarf ever, but wouldn't enough time have passed for us to look nothing like the old broad? Though I don't understand someone of the race of Man ever came to marry a Dwarf."
"She's our great-grandmother," Thorin said. "And apparently, we're not Black enough, whatever that may mean."
"Does she not understand that we do not look like we could be her kin?" asked Dain.
"Well," Disa said, "You do look like you could be related to Durin the fourth. Are you sure you're not Thorin the second?"
Dain looked at her, then at Torin. "Is that meant to be a compliment?"
And then, "Kili!
What little color there was to Kili's features drained. "Oh no."
"Run, laddy! Run before your mother gets here!" Dain laughed as Kili quickly hid behind Fili, who rolled his eyes at his brother's antics.
And out came yet another Dwarf. "Thorin, have you seen my son?"
"You shouldn't speak to your king that way," Thorin responded.
"I will speak to my brother and kin the way I want, particularly when I'm looking for my youngest. And you'd better not think of dragging him off to war again! Curse you for taking a mother's child away, Thorin Oakenshield!"
Thorin glanced away, mistakenly looking at Disa, and flinched.
And Dis looked at the woman and said, "Who is she?"
"Who am I?" Disa said, quite proud. "I am Disa, Dwarven princess."
"She has no beard," Dis said.
"Wife of Durin the fourth."
"You're not a Dwarf."
"Says the male Dwarf,"
"Male Dwarf?" Dis said, her voice roaring. "I am a female Dwarf!"
"You have a beard!"
"All female Dwarfs have beards, for we don't look any different from our male counterparts!" Dis said, glaring at the woman."
"That isn't true," Disa said."
"What?"
"That is my truth, and I speak it."
"What nonsense!"
"What's nonsense is you claiming that you're female, when it is obvious your gender is female."
Thorin sighed. "What a nightmare we've been wrought, and simply to live through a new time. This is not escaping the madness I nearly succumbed to."
"What are you going to do about her?" Balin asked.
"I honestly don't know, and I think whoever sent her our way knew that."
