Dwarf (Middle-earth)

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"Khazad" redirects here. See KHAZAD for the block cipher named after Khazad-dûm.

Dwarves at the Council of Elrond in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, Dwarves are beings of short stature who all possess beards and are often friendly with Hobbits, although long suspicious of Elves. They are typically smiths and stoneworkers by profession, unrivalled in some of their arts, even by the Elves. The Dwarves called themselves the Khazad, the name Aulë gave them; the corresponding definition in Sindarin is Hadhodrim, and in Quenya Casari. Casari was the common word for Dwarves among the Noldor, but the Sindar usually called them the Naugrim or Nogothrim, the Stunted People.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Characteristics 3 Variation 4 Location 5 Decline 6 Trivia 7 See also 8 References

[edit] Overview

Unlike Elves and Men, the Dwarves are not counted among the Children of Ilúvatar. They were created by Aulë the Smith. They were kept asleep until after the Awakening of the Elves. Aulë created the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves, from whom all other Dwarves are descended. Aulë's work was doomed, though, because he did not have the power to grant independent life to his creations, that is, free will — that power belonged to Ilúvatar alone. Aulë later repented and confessed to Ilúvatar. When the Dwarves were completed, though, the voice of Ilúvatar spoke to Aulë and agreed to grant them true life and include them in his plan for Arda. Ilúvatar granted the Dwarves life, and therefore they are known as the Adopted Children of Ilúvatar.

They mined and worked precious metals and stones throughout the mountains of Middle-earth. They were great miners and craftsmen, derived from their maker Aulë. Gandalf described gold and jewels as the dwarves' toys and iron as their servant. In ancient times, they were said to have preferred working with copper and iron, though in later days they wrought gold and silver, and the mithril they found in the mines of Khazad-dûm.

Since they mainly live underground, Dwarves do not like farming or herding, and they obtain all their food supplies through trade with Elves and Men. As stated in 'Of Dwarves and Men,' the Dwarves have often formed trade relations with Men whereby they exchange the items of their smithcraft in return for food grown by the Men, in a mutually beneficial relationship.

The Dwarven language was created by Aulë and was known as Khuzdul. It was a strange language to Elves and Men and few non-Dwarves learned it because the Dwarves guarded it jealously. However, one Dwarven phrase is well known: the ancient battle cry, going back to at least the First Age: "Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!", which means "Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you!" Dwarves were famous for using axes. However, as seen in The Hobbit, they also used swords, shields and bows. The Dwarves of the Iron Hills, in addition to axes, carried shields slung on their backs and short swords, used as secondary weapons. Unlike in other fantasy settings, there is no mention of Tolkien's Dwarves using war hammers; these weapons are used by the Olog-hai trolls instead.

Seldom were females seen among the Dwarves. When they were seen, they were often mistaken for male Dwarves, because they too had beards.

[edit] Characteristics

Aulë made the Dwarves at a time when the world outside Aman still lay under the dominion of Melkor, so he made them sturdy and hardy to survive the dangers and hardships of that time. In nature, the typical Dwarf is stubborn and secretive. Though they make loyal and good friends, they are also a proud and stern race. They do not suffer grievance or insult, and their hatred is long-lasting. They are said, though, to be quick to learn new skills.

In many ways, they were in between the Elves and Men. They were not immortal but usually lived to about two hundred and fifty years of age. They were less corruptible than Men but committed their share of rash and greedy acts (among these was the slaying of Elu Thingol and the sacking of Doriath because of the dispute over the Nauglamír). Also, Thorin Oakenshield and the Dwarves of the Iron Hills were willing to go to war with the Elves of Mirkwood and the Men of Esgaroth over the treasure of Erebor, refusing to share any of it.

[edit] Variation

Most Dwarves mentioned in Tolkien's works are of Durin's folk, the clan founded by Durin I of Khazad-dûm, called the Longbeards. (An exception is the inhabitants of the dwarf-cities of Nogrod and Belegost in the Blue Mountains, spoken of in The Silmarillion). The seven different groups of Dwarf-folk originated in the locations where the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves first awoke before the First Age. There were three pairs of Fathers that awoke together, and their Folk would build their halls near each other, though Durin himself had awoken alone. (In his letters, Tolkien adds that all the Fathers except for Durin also had wives who awoke with them). Therefore the halls of the Longbeards at Khazad-dûm were not located near the halls of another Dwarf-kingdom. The seven clans of the Dwarves were:

1. Longbeards. Durin's Folk. Durin originally awoke at Mount Gundabad in the Misty Mountains and wandered alone, but eventually founded the city of Khazad-dûm.
2. Firebeards. Originally from Nogrod. Paired with the:
3. Broadbeams. Originally from Belegost.
4. Ironfists. Home unknown, somewhere in Far East. Paired with:
5. Stiffbeards. Home unknown, somewhere in Far East.
6. Blacklocks. Home unknown, somewhere in Far East. Paired with:
7. Stonefoots. Home unknown, somewhere in Far East.

There was also an eighth group of Dwarves that was not a separate member from these seven kindreds but composed of exiles from each: the Petty-dwarves, who were hunted like animals almost to the point of extinction by the Elves in the First Age.

[edit] Location

The Dwarves lived and mined in several locations throughout Middle-earth at various times, including:

• Moria or Khazad-dûm, along with other places in the Misty Mountains.
• Erebor, the Lonely Mountain.
• The Emyn Engrin or Iron Hills.
• The Ered Luin or Blue Mountains, where the cities Nogrod and Belegost existed in the First Age.
• The Ered Mithrin or Grey Mountains, although they were later driven out by Dragons.
• Possibly the Orocarni or the Red Mountains of the East.

[edit] Decline

Male dwarves were overprotective of their women whom they sheltered from other races. Few female dwarves were seen by other races, hence the myth of Men which lead to the belief that Dwarves grow out of stone (supported by the fact that both male and female Dwarves looked similar). In addition, no more than one third of the dwarven population was female, and few men took wives because they were too busy in the mines. The female dwarves too are reluctant to marry males that they do not like. Often, if a dwarven female has her eye on a particular dwarven male, and if she cannot have him, she will accept no other. As a result, they had a slow population growth rate and the attrition caused by the many wars they fought would take many years to recover from, if ever. They dwindled after the Fourth Age like the Elves, until Men were the only of the great races left to rule Middle-earth.

[edit] Trivia

• In the earliest versions of Tolkien's Middle-earth mythology, the Dwarves were evil beings created by Melkor.
• The enduring popularity of Tolkien's books, especially The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, has led to the popular use of the term dwarves to describe this race in fantasy literature. Before Tolkien, the term dwarfs (with a different spelling) was used, as seen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. In fact, the latter spelling was so common that the original editor of The Lord of the Rings "corrected" Tolkien's dwarves to dwarfs (The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, 138).^[1]
• Tolkien's Dwarves are loosely based upon those of Norse myths. Also, for The Hobbit almost all the names of the dwarves of Middle-earth are taken from the Icelandic saga of Völuspá.^[2]
• In the movie Lord of the Rings, The Fathers of the Dwarves were portrayed as receiving the Seven Rings. However, the Rings of Power were forged in the Second Age, long after the Fathers must have died. However, these could just be the Seven Kings of the Seven Kindreds, descendants of the Seven Fathers but not the originals.

[edit] See also

• List of Middle-earth Dwarves
• Dwarf
• Dwarf runes
• War of the Dwarves and Orcs
• Petty-dwarf
• Aulë

[edit] References

Dwarves from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium

Azaghâl | Balin | Bifur | Bofur | Bombur | Borin | Dáin I | Dáin II Ironfoot | Dís | Dori | Durin(s) | Dwalin | Fíli | Flói | Frerin | Frár | Frór | Fundin | Gamil Zirak | Gimli | Glóin | Gróin | Grór | Ibûn | Khîm | Kíli | Lóni | Mîm | Náin I | Náin II | Náin son of Grór | Náli | Nár | Narvi | Nori | Óin | Ori | Telchar | Thorin I | Thorin II Oakenshield | Thorin III | Thráin I | Thráin II | Thrór

Kingdoms of the Dwarves

Belegost | Iron Hills | Khazad-dûm | Lonely Mountain | Nogrod