Dwarves are humanoid creatures who were one of the Free People of Middle-earth. They mostly lived in the mountains for mines and had their castles built inside them.
History[]
Creation[]
The Dwarves were made by Aulë, whom they themselves called Mahal, meaning “maker.” Aulë was unwilling to wait for the coming of the Children of Ilúvatar, for he was impatient and desired to have someone to teach his lore and crafts. Therefore, he made the first Seven Fathers of the Dwarves in secret in a hall under the mountains of Middle-earth.
It was, however, not within Aulë's power to create life. After being reprimanded by Ilúvatar and realizing his error, Aulë offered his creations to his father to do with as he would, including their destruction. Even as the offer was made, Ilúvatar accepted and gave the Dwarves a life of their own. So when Aulë picked up a great hammer to smite the Seven Fathers and destroy his presumptuous creations, they shrank back in fear and begged for mercy.
Ilúvatar was however not willing to suffer that the Dwarves should come before the Firstborn (Elves), and he decreed that the Seven Fathers should sleep underground and should not come forth until the Firstborn had awakened.
Years of the Trees[]
The Dwarves built two kingdoms in the Blue Mountains
About a century after the Elves awakened, the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves were roused. Of those seven, only the name of one is known, Durin I, who was called the deathless. Each one of the seven fathers became a king of his own clan, and each built his own great hall. Three major holds are known to have been built in this period. Belegost and Nogrod were built in the Blue Mountains, and the Dwarves of these holds formed alliances with the Ñoldor and fought in their wars. Durin I, on the other hand, wandered into a vale in the Misty Mountains he named Azanulbizar. In a still pool in that vale, he saw a reflection of himself with a crown of seven stars. Ever after, the constellation of stars that the Elves call Valacirca was called by the Dwarves Durin’s Crown, and it could be seen reflected in the water at any time of the day, though only Durin could see his own reflection. Durin I named the lake Kheled-zâram and proceeded to build his great hall, Khazad-dûm, in the mountains above.
First Age[]
The Dwarves fought the dragons in the First Age
In the First Age, the Dwarves made alliances with the Elves, and both prospered from trade. Dwarves from Belegost invented the famous Dwarf-mail of linked rings and fashioned the finest steel the world had ever seen. They also constructed the hall of Thingol, Menegroth, and were rewarded with the pearl Nimphelos. They fought alongside Elves and Men and participated in some of the major battles of the First Age, including The First Battle of Beleriand and the Nirnaeth Arnoediad in which the Dwarves of Belegost won great renown for being the only ones able to stand against the dragon Glaurung, for 'it was their custom moreover to wear great masks in battle hideous to look upon', which 'set them good stead against dragons', and besides they were 'naturally able to resist fire better than elves or men'. In that battle, Azaghâl the Lord of Belegost was killed by Glaurung, who crawled over him. Before dying, the dwarf stabbed at the dragon's belly with his knife and 'pricked him so deep that he fled back to Angband'.
The Dwarves of Nogrod were famous for the craftsmanship of their weapons. Most notable amongst their smiths was Telchar. Dwarves from Nogrod crafted the necklace Nauglamír, and Thingol requested Dwarven smiths from Nogrod to set a Silmaril into that necklace. Thus were united the greatest works of Elves and Dwarves. Those Dwarf-smiths were driven mad by gold-lust, however, and murdered Thingol and stole the necklace and the stone, igniting the bitter rivalry between Dwarves and Elves that would rage between the two races until the end of the Third Age.
The Elves of Doriath pursued the smiths to their deaths and reclaimed Nauglamír. But two of the slayers of Thingol escaped from the pursuit and in Nogrod told how Dwarves were slain by command of the Elven-king, who thus would cheat them of their just reward. The Dwarves of Nogrod lamented the deaths of their kin and their great craftsmen and took thought of vengeance. Though the Dwarves of Belegost tried to dissuade them from their purpose, the Dwarves of Nogrod invaded Doriath. After a hard battle in the Thousand Caves, the Dwarves of Nogrod were victorious and took Nauglamír and the Silmaril. On their return journey to the Blue Mountains, however, the Dwarves of Nogrod were assailed by a company that included Beren, his son Dior, and many Green-elves of Ossiriand. Many of the Dwarves were slain, and Beren himself slew the Lord of Nogrod and wrested from him the necklace Nauglamír. Some of the Dwarves escaped from the battle, but they were ambushed in the slopes beneath Mount Dolmed by the Shepherds of the Trees.
Some stories from the first age tell of petty Dwarves who were called Noegyth Nibin. Those were Dwarves exiled from their homes during the Peace of Arda and were the first Dwarves to enter Beleriand. It was petty Dwarves who first inhabited and carved out The Caverns of Narog, which they called Nulukkizdîn, but were later taken over by Finrod and called Nargothrond. The last of this line were Mîm and his two sons who lived at Amon Rûdh. Mîm aided Túrin in his adventures, but subsequently betrayed him to Orcs.
Second Age[]
After the First Age most tales telling of Dwarves are about the Dwarves of the line of Durin, who are commonly called Durin’s Folk or Longbeards. Durin I enjoyed a very long life and lived through most of the First Age. Every now and then through the following ages a Dwarf was born of this line that was so alike to Durin that he was considered to be Durin reborn. Prophecy told that Durin would be reborn seven times and the coming of Durin VII would mark the decline of the Dwarves.
The Dwarves were prosperous in Moria
Durin II was born in the Second Age. It is not known exactly when, but he was in power when the smith Narvi built the west gate of Khazad-dûm in the year 750. His reign was an era of great prosperity in which the halls of Khazad-dûm were greatly expanded and the Noldorin Elves of Lindon moved into Eregion to trade with the Dwarves for mithril. Population boomed because many refugees from Belegost and Nogrod, which were destroyed at the end of the First Age, moved to Khazad-dûm.
The Dwarves received seven Rings of Power
Durin III was in power around the year 1600 of the Second Age. He was gifted with the seventh and most powerful of the Dwarven Rings of Power. It was the Elven smith Celebrimbor and not Sauron who gave him the ring. The rings of power did not have the effects that Sauron had intended, possibly because Aulë had made the Dwarves especially resistant to evil domination. The only apparent effect of the Dwarven rings was that the Dwarves became more greedy with gold lust, but they were not turned into wraiths like men. Sauron tried to recover the rings. Two he reclaimed fairly soon and four ended up in dragon hoards. Sauron did not reclaim the ring of Durin until the 2845th year of the Third Age when he captured Thráin II.
Of the Dwarves, few fought upon either side; but the kindred of Durin of Moria fought against Sauron.
Third Age[]
The Dwarves fled the aroused Balrog in Moria
In Third Age 1980, after centuries of greedy digging for mithril and other minerals, the Dwarves woke a Balrog that was sleeping in the deeps of the Misty Mountains since the First Age. The Dwarves fled Khazad-dûm, which from then on was called Moria, which means "Black pit".
Durin's Folk prospered in the kingdom of Erebor
Most of Durin's folk left for the Grey Mountains in the North, while some followed the new king, Thráin I, who briefly went to Erebor. For more than 300 years the Dwarves of the Grey Mountains prospered until the Dragons in the far North started to gain strength. Some fled to the Iron Hills, while most followed the new king Thrór to Erebor to start a new Kingdom under the Mountain. There, they prospered for over 200 years until the dragon Smaug descended in TA 2770. The King and his company went in exile South, while most of the survivors went to the Iron Hills.
Durin's Folk settled in Dunland, and King Thrór traveled North to Moria where he was killed by the Goblin king Azog. Thrór's son Thráin II (who had received the Last of the Seven Rings from his father before his departure) summoned all the Houses of Dwarves to war. Thus began the War of Dwarves and Orcs, in which the Dwarves destroyed all the Goblin strongholds in the Misty Mountains culminating to the great Battle of Azanulbizar where all the dwarven clans united. The Goblin hosts issuing from Moria were strong and relentless until the arrival of fresh Dwarves of the Iron Hills. The Battle ended with the victory of Dwarves, but at great cost. The Dwarven clans however were unwilling to repopulate Moria. Thráin therefore came to the Blue Mountains and established his realm there.
Thorin and Company's feats restored Erebor and destroyed Smaug
The Wizard Gandalf was instrumental into helping Thráin's son Thorin in reclaiming the Kingdom of Erebor. Thorin gathered around him twelve Dwarves, mostly from his own line, and was joined by Gandalf and Bilbo Baggins. The Quest of Erebor ended with the death of Smaug. After a quarrel with the Men and Elves over the unguarded hoard, the Dwarves - assisted by those from the Iron Hills - united with the Men and Elves to fight Azog's legions under Sauron's command, in what was called the Battle of Five Armies, where Thorin was killed.
Gimli, son of Gloin, a member of the Company, joined the Fellowship against the returned Sauron
The Dwarves of Erebor fought the Easterlings in the Battle of Dale
Gimli son of Glóin joined the Fellowship of the Ring as a representative of the Dwarves and befriended Legolas during the War of the Ring. After the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, a force of Longbeards and Men of Dale held the Lonely Mountain in a similar siege against an army of Easterlings who had taken all of Brand's lands, leaving only his capital city of Dale. The Dwarves and Men of Dale stood for three days against the Easterlings, and once the news of Sauron's death spread to the Lonely Mountain the Easterlings retreated.
Fourth Age[]
During the Fourth Age, which began after the destruction of Mordor and Sauron, Dwarves and Men reforged their friendship. Dáin was killed during the War of the Ring, and was succeeded by his son Thorin III Stonehelm who ruled well into the Fourth Age. During this time, Dwarves from the Lonely Mountain helped rebuild cities in Gondor and the fortress of the Hornburg, and some went to the newly established Dwarven realm of the Glittering Caves where Gimli was lord. The Kingdom of the Lonely Mountain apparently continued to prosper throughout the Fourth Age. Subsequently, Gimli went on many undocumented travels with his friend Legolas. It was rumored that in FO 120, Gimli and Legolas boarded a ship that sailed down the river Anduin, and then sailed to Valinor . Gimli was thus the only Dwarf to ever be permitted to cross to the Undying Lands.
Durin VII (the Last), retook Moria and brought Khazad-dûm back to its original splendor, and the Longbeards lived there till the "world grew old and the days of Durin's race ended."
Dwarf realms[]
- Khazad dum (Misty Mountains)
- Nograd and Belegost (under the Blue Mountains)
- Lonely Mountain
- Grey Mountains
- Iron Hills
- Glittering Caves
- Orocarni (Red Mountains)
Physiology[]
Dwarves were a proud and stern race and were made to be sturdy to resist the dangers of their time. They were physically very strong, had great endurance, especially in the ability to resist heat and cold, and they made light of heavy burdens. Dwarves lived longer than Men, often up to two-hundred-and-fifty years. Dwarves had the ability to learn new artisanal skills quickly, especially those dealing with metal or stone.
Dwarves were typically stubborn, secretive, and fiercely loyal to friends and family. They treat and care for each other, even strangers among their kind like family. They cared greatly about mining, crafting, crafts, gold and gems, their acquisition of which often fueled the envy of the Elves. Dwarves were easily offended by rude comments, and had a propensity to hold long-lasting grudges. Dwarves were often seen as greedy, but their nature gave them resistance to many external influences, including to the evil of the Rings of Power given them. Whereas the Men who owned the nine Rings were corrupted and became the Nazgûl, the Dwarves were unaffected, save by an increase of their goldlust and hatred for anything that stood between them and what they perceived as their treasure.
Crafting[]
Dwarves were taught special skills by the Vala Aulë and spent most of their time crafting, smithing and mining in their massive underground cities.
The Dwarves were some of the greatest miners ever to exist in Middle-earth. The Dwarves dug immense halls under mountains where they built their cities. Dwarven miners dug for precious minerals such as gold, iron, copper, and silver from all over mountains in Middle-earth, though the Dwarves considered coal mining degrading. In ancient times, the Dwarves found Mithril in the mines of Khazad-dûm. While mining beneath the Lonely Mountains, they discovered the Arkenstone at the Heart of the Mountain.
They were also capable masons and smiths - Dwarven smithing skills were said to be rivaled only by those of the Elves, and their masonry creations were bested by none. The skill of the Dwarves was unmatched; they crafted objects of great beauty out of diamond, emerald, ruby and sapphire. Everything Dwarven was beautifully crafted and intricate. They crafted many famed weapons, armors, and items of art and beauty, among them Narsil, the sword of Elendil, the Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin and the necklace Nauglamír.
Dwarven armies were vast and powerful, and possessed vast legions of soldiers, cavalry and siege weapons, and their soldiers were equipped with powerful weapons, armors and tools for battle. Many different weapons were utilized by their soldiers, such as swords, axes, throwing axes, throwing knives, and warhammers.
They had a knack for starting a fire almost anywhere out of almost anything. Although they knew how, Dwarves did not farm or herd often, as they preferred to spend their time underground mining and crafting. They rather traded crafted items with men and elves in exchange for food.
Architecture[]
They built many famed halls including the Lonely Mountain , Belegost, Nogrod, Khazad-dum, the Halls of Thranduil, and Menegroth. The Dwarves also reforged the gates of Minas Tirith and rebuilt the walls of Helm's Deep after the War of the Ring.
Their cities appeared to be constructed just under mountains or mountain ranges. Dwarven miners would excavate into the mountains to create an entrance, and then dig through and under the mountain to create the groundwork for their cities. Dwarven cities were absolutely massive and very expansive, reaching the far depths of the earth. Dwarves continued to mine in their cities to expand them and discover more resources like precious metals and minerals.
Dwarven cities ran throughout mountains and mountain ranges, stretched up, down and side-to-side in the massive caverns beneath the surface, but it was largely unknown how cities were structured and sectioned off. In Khazad-dum, there was a section of the city known as the Chamber of Mazarbul, also known as the Chamber of Records. There were also sections of the city mentioned in the Book of Mazarbul such as the "First Hall," "Second Hall," "Third Deep," "Twenty-first hall" and the "North end."
The beauty of the Dwarves' cities was legend. One stronghold, Erebor (located in the Lonely Mountains), had its wealth coming from precious gems hewn from rock and in "great seams of gold running like rivers through stone."
A name for where the Dwarves' were located was Phurunargian, which meant Dwarf-delving in the Common Tongue.
Language[]
The Dwarven language had been created by Aule. They called it Khuzdul (also known as Dwarvish. It had a harsh sounding tongue for it to be harsh to outsiders. They never gave away their secret langauge. (However, Aragorn is an exception, seeing that he knew what Gimli said to the elves)
Writing system[]
Their writing system consisted of Dwarven runes. Most notable ones to have this was the book of Mazarbul, Thror's map and the key to the side door.
Weaponry[]
Dwarven soldiers usually used axes as their weapon of choice because it can be used as a tool or a weapon, but in addition to axes they used hatchets, mattocks, short swords, war hammers, and very occasionally there is mention of Dwarven archers.
As for armor, Dwarves favored chain-mail and other metallic armor — the most expensive and precious of which was ring mail made of Mithril. (A vest of mithril was given to Bilbo by Thorin before the Battle of the Five Armies. It was worn during the battle and later protected his nephew Frodo throughout his quest.) Gandalf said that this small coat was worth more than the whole of the Shire combined.
The Dwarf clans[]
- Longbeards[2]
- Firebeards
- Broadbeams
- Ironfists
- Stiffbeards.
- Blacklocks
- Stonefoots
Known dwarves[]
- The Dwarves of Thorin's company
- Dwarves of the Iron Hills
- The Dwarf clans
Notes and references[]
- ↑ The Complete Guide to Middle-earth
- ↑ Also known as Durin's Folk