Dwarves in Middle-earth

"Khazad" redirects here. For the block cipher, see KHAZAD.

In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, Dwarves (also known as the Naugrim) 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 Khazâd, the name Aulë gave them; the corresponding definition in Sindarin is Hadhodrim, and in Quenya Kasári. The common words for Dwarves among the Elves were Naugrim or Nogothrim ('Stunted People'), but they were not used in actual intercourse, being substituted by Hadhodrim or Dornhoth ('Thrawn Folk').

Overview

Unlike Elves and Men, the Dwarves are not counted among the Children of Ilúvatar. They were created by Aulë the Smith.

The Valar Aulë, impatient for pupils onto whom he could pass his knowledge created the Dwarves, in anticipation of the Children of Ilúvatar. However, he did not have a clear idea of what the Children of Ilúvatar would be like, and because of the presence of the chaos caused by Melkor, Aulë made the Dwarves strong and unyielding, and not willing to endure the domination of others, as well as embodying some of his values and desires for Middle-earth. However Aulë did not have the power to give independent life to his creations, they could act only when his thought was on them.

When Aulë had completed his work he began to instruct the Dwarves in their language, Khuzdul. Then Ilúvatar spoke to him, asking why he would seek to exceed his power and authority by attempting to make new life. Aulë repented, answering that the drive to create was kindled in him by Ilúvatar, and that he only wished for other beings to love and teach, with whom to share in the beauty of the world. He admitted that his impatience had driven him to folly and submitted his creations to Ilúvatar. Assuming that they should be destroyed, he made to smite the seven Fathers of the Dwarves with a great hammer, weeping as he did so. But as the Dwarves shrank from the blow, Ilúvatar stayed Aulë's hand and showed that he had already accepted his offer by gifting the Dwarves with spirits of their own, else they could not have been afraid.

Ilúvatar accepted them as his adopted children, however as it was ordained that the Elves were to be the first-born race, he set the Dwarves to sleep until after the Awakening of the Elves. He told Aulë that while both were his children, their creation was outside the scope of the Music of the Ainur, and often strife would arise between the Dwarven race and the Elven race as the events of the world unfolded.

The Dwarven race believes that after they die their spirits remove to halls Aulë has set aside for them, and their role will be to rebuild Arda after the Final Battle that is yet to come.

In the mountains of Middle-earth, Dwarves mined and worked precious metals and stones with consummate skills 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.

Dwarves were famous for using axes and mattocks in battle. However, as seen in The Hobbit, they also used swords, shields and bows. The Dwarves of the Iron Hills, in addition to mattocks, carried shields slung on their backs, with short swords 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.

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, but slow to teach their own. Their homes are often underground, and are usually very large and hospitable.

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.

The Seven Houses of the Dwarves

Most Dwarves mentioned in Tolkien's works are of Durin's folk, the house founded by Durin I of Khazad-dûm, called the Longbeards. (The inhabitants of the dwarf-cities of Nogrod and Belegost in the Blue Mountains, spoken of in The Silmarillion, are exceptions). The seven different Dwarf kindreds 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 houses 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:
3. Broadbeams. Originally from Belegost.
4. Ironfists. Northern part of the Red Mounatins . Paired with:
5. Stiffbeards. Northern part of the Red Mountains.
6. Blacklocks. Southern part of the Red Mountains. Paired with:
7. Stonefoots. Southern part of the Red Mountains.

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 early in the First Age, and died out entirely before the First Age ended.

Skills

The dwarves were great smiths and forged many a famous weapon, like Narsil - the sword of Elendil, later the sword of Aragorn - was originally forged by Telchar in Nogrod. They made the first armour that is resistant to the breath of a dragon. Their metalsmiths and craftsmen rivalled even those of the High Elves. They mined mithril, gold, and silver. They reforged the gates of Minas Tirith and repaired the walls of Helm's Deep after the War of the Ring. Little is known about their use of weapons beside axes but it is known that the dwarves of the Iron Hills used mattocks, swords, and shields in the Battle of the Five Armies.

The party with Thorin Oakenshield used bows and arrows, though shot them in the dark, and spent many arrows.

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.

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.

Language and writing systems

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, though a few loan-words appear to have influenced the early languages of the ancestors of the Edain before they came to Beleriand. 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!"

They used the Cirth, a writing system invented by the Elves.

Adaptations

• 
  Gimli in Ralph Bakshi's cartoon adaptation of The Lord of the Rings.
• 
  Dwarves in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
• 
  Gimli in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
• The Dwarf-lords in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
  The Dwarf-lords in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

In the New Line Cinema version of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, several square shields were seen in the ruins of Moria.

In the real-time strategy game The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II, and its expansion, dwarves were shown with throwing axes, war hammers, and circular and Roman-esque shields.

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). In this matter, one has to consider the fact that the etymological development of the term dwarf differs from the similar-sounding word scarf (plural scarves). The emendation dwarrow is probably Tolkien's own construction. The English word is related to old Norse dvergr, which, in the other case, would have had the form dvorgr. But this word was never recorded, and the f/g-emendation (English/Norse) dates further back in language history.
• 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.
• 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.

See also

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