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[[Image:Gimli With Axe.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The Dwarf [[Gimli]], who figured prominently in the [[War of the Ring]], portrayed by actor John Rhys-Davies in [[Peter Jackson]]'s [[The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (film)|film adaptation]].]]

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 [[Hobbit]]s, although long suspicious of [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elves]]. They are typically [[smith (metalwork)|smiths]] and [[Stonemason|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 ''Gonnhirrim'' ('Stunted People' and 'Stone-lords', respectively), but they were not used in actual intercourse, being substituted by Hadhodrim or ''Dornhoth'' ('Thrawn Folk').
The '''Dwarves''' ([[Khuzdul]]: ''Khazâd'', [[Quenya]]: ''Kasári'', [[Sindarin]]: ''Hadhodrim'') are a race created by the [[Vala (Middle-earth)|Vala]] [[Aulë]] (and therefore not counted among [[Children of Ilúvatar]]) inhabiting the fictional world of [[Arda]] in the [[Tolkien's Legendarium|Legendarium]] of [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]. Other common terms used to refer to the Dwarves (by the [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elves]]) are ''Naugrim'' ('Stunted People') are ''Gonnhirrim'' ('Stone-lords'), and ''Dornhoth'' ('Thrawn Folk').

==Textural Development==

Tolkien's Dwarves are inspired by his own selective reading of medieval texts regarding the [[Jewish]] people<ref name="HotH">Rateliff, History of the Hobbit p.79-80 </ref> - being bearded, disposessed of their homeland and living among other groups whilst retaining their own culture, being warlike and having a propensity for making well-crafted and beautiful things and also the popular dwarves of fairy-tales (such as those the [[Brothers Grimm]]), from whom they take their characteristic mining. Almost all of Tolkiens [[dwarf|dwarves]] are given names of those from [[Norse mythology|Norse myths]].

In the [[The History of Middle-earth|earliest versions]] of the ''[[Silmarillion]]'', including ''[[The Children of Hurin]]'' Dwarves are portrayed as evil beings, often in conflict with the [[Elves]] - who are the imagined 'authors' of the myths, and are therefore biased against Dwarves.<ref>Tolkien, Christopher, ''The book of Lost Tales I', Chapter 10 Gilfanon's Tale.</ref> This representation changed dramatically with ''The Hobbit'' and was carried into ''The Lord of the Rings'' - whose imagined authors were the more neutral Hobbits. Here the Dwarves became occasionally comedic and bumbling (most notably in ''The Hobbit''), but largely as honorable and firmly aligned against the powers of the Shadow but still portraying some negative characteristics such as being gold-hungry and overly proud and occasionally officious. In ''The Hobbit'' all the names but one are taken from the single [[Old Norse]] poem "Voluspa" from the [[Elder Edda]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/lordoftheringstrilogy/lessons/two/handouts.jsp |title=Tolkien's Middle-earth: Lesson Plans, Unit Two |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |accessdate=2007-09-29}}</ref>, however more than just supplying names, the ''Tally of the Dwarves'' in the Voluspa appears to have inspired Tolkien to the idea of supplying meaning and context to the list of names - that they traveled together, and this in turn became the quest told of in ''The Hobbit''.<ref>T.A. Shippey ''Tolkien, Author of the century, HarperCollins, 2000, pp.17</ref>

In ''The Lord of the Rings'' Dwarves are given further characteristics similar to those of the Jewish people, in having their own internal language ''[[Khuzdul]]'' (an analogue of [[Hebrew]]) amongst themselves whilst using the Common (i.e. [[Yiddish]]) language of the peoples they lived alongside.<ref name="HotH"/>''Khuzdul'' shares the property of being [[triliteral]] with Hebrew and represents Tolkiens fictional version of a [[semitic]] language.

===Etymology of 'Dwarves'===
The original editor of ''The Lord of the Rings'' "corrected" Tolkien's plural ''dwarves'' to ''dwarfs'' <ref>[[The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien]]'', 138</ref>.According to Tolkien, the "real 'historical'" plural of ''dwarf'' is ''dwarrows'' or ''dwerrows''. He referred to ''dwarves'' as "a piece of private bad grammar" <ref>(''[[The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien|Letters]]'', 17)</ref> and . In Appendix F of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' it is explained that if we still spoke of ''dwarves'' regularly, English might have retained a special plural for the word ''dwarf'' as with ''goose'' - ''geese'', despite Tolkiens fondness for it, the form ''dwarrow'' only appears in his writing as ''Dwarrowdelf'', a name for Moria.

Tolkien used ''Dwarves'', instead, which corresponds with ''Elf'' and ''Elves''. 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 [[North Germanic languages|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.

==Fictional Overview==
{{ME-in-universe}}
Unlike Elves and Humans or, in Middle Earth, [[Man (Middle-earth)|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.

Tolkien's 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 metal]]s 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 [[Troll (Middle-earth)|Olog-hai trolls]] instead.


==Characteristics==
==Characteristics==
The Dwarves are described as having been created to withstand both heat and cold. Though they are mortal, Dwarves have an average lifespan of 250 years. Shorter than men, they have beards and were both stubborn and prideful. They are inveriably by profession involved in the working of stone and metal, and they forged the greatest weaponry and armour in the world. Only one Dwarf female, Dís, was ever named in the legendarium, and Tolkien claimed that they did not make up more than 30% of the total Dwarven population.
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.
==Language==
{{main|Khuzdul}}
[[Image:Cirth.png|thumb|left|The Cirth runes used to write Khuzdul.]]
From their creation, the Dwarves spoke [[Khuzdul]], a constructed language made for them by Aluë. Because it was a constructed (though living) language, it was not related to any form of Elvish, as most of the languages of Men were, although it is suggested that the language may have had influence on the early languages of Men<ref>''The Languages of Tolkien's Middle Earth, Ruth S. Noel, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1980''</ref>. Khuzdul was for the most part a closely gaurded tongue (one of the few recoreded outsiders to have a knowledge of it was Eöl), however, and the Dwarves never revealed their Khuzdul names to outsiders, going so far as to omit them from even their tombs. Khuzdul was written in [[Cirth]], a [[runes|runic]] alphabet developed by the Elves. It was percived as an analouge of a [[Semetic language]] by Tolkien, and was influinced by [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] [[phonology]].


==History==
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 Dwarves are portrayed as a very ancient people, who awoke, like the Elves, at the start of the First Age, before the rising of the Sun or Moon.
===Creation===
In Tolkien's works, the Dwarves (in the form of their seven patriarchs) were created even before the Elves--during the [[Years of the Trees]] (also known as the Ages of Darkness), when all of Middle Earth was coltroled by the forces of [[Melkor]]. They were shaped by the Vala Aulë in secret from the other Valar, although Ilúvatar knew of their creation, despite Aluë's efforts. He decided that their creation was not an evil deed and sanctified them, though he did not allow them to "awake" before the Elves (whom he had designated as "Firstborn"), and sealed the [[Fathers of the Dwarves|Seven Fathers of the Dwarves]] in a stone chamber until after the Elves had awoken.
===First Age===
After the Elves had awoken at [[Cuiviénen]], the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves were released from their stone chamber. These seven patriarchs founded seven [[clan]]s. The three who enter Tolkien's histories are:
*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]].
*Firebeards, who founded [[Nogrod]].
*Broadbeams, who ounded [[Belegost]].
The histories of the other for clans are not revealed by Tolkien. They are:
*Ironfists.
*Stiffbeards.
* Blacklocks.
*Stonefoots.


After the end of the First Age, the Dwarves spoken of are almost exclusively of Durin's line.
==The Seven Houses of the Dwarves==


====In Beleriand====
Most Dwarves mentioned in Tolkien's works are of [[Durin's folk]], the [[Kinship and descent|house]] founded by [[Durin|Durin I]] of Khazad-dûm, called the Longbeards. (The inhabitants of the dwarf-cities of [[Nogrod]] and [[Belegost]] in the [[Ered Luin|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:
[[Image:Beleriand.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Beleriand, where Belegost and Nogrod, two of the great dwarven realms of the First Age, were located.]]
[[Image:Narsil.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Narsil, the sword which cut the Ring from the hand of Sauron, forged by the Dwarf smith Telchar in Nogrod during the First Age.]]
The great dwarven cities of [[Belegost]] and [[Nogrod]] were founded in [[Ered Luin]] (The Blue Mountains) during the first age, before the arrival of the Elves in [[Beleriand]]. During this time they began their great works in stoge carving and forgery. The Dwarves of Belegost were the first to forge chain mail, and they also traded weaponry with the Sindar and carved the [[Menegroth|Thousand Caves of Menegroth]] for the Elf king [[Thingol]]. In Nogrod, the smith [[Telchar]] forged [[Narsil]] and [[Angrist]], two of the most fatefull weapons in the history of Arda.
====Petty Dwarves====
It was also during this time that, for a reason never revealed by Tolkien, the ancestors of the [[Petty-dwarf|Petty Dwarves]] were exiled into the area of the [[River Narog]] and [[Amon Rûdh]]. They were smaller than their eastern relatives. When the Sindar elves first arrived in Beleriand, they did not know what sort of creatures the Petty Dwarves, whom they called ''Noegyth Nibin'', and hunted them for sport<ref>''A Guide to Tolkien, David Day, Chancellor Press, 2002''</ref>. When they learned that they were a dwarf race they halted this practice, but the Petty Dwarves had already been reduced greatly in number and continued to wane as a people. By the 6th century of the first age only three remained: [[Mîm]], their king, and his two sons, Ibun and Khîm. They gave shelter to the Edain Túrin Turambar and his band at their home of Amon Rûdh. Mîm was later captured by a band of orcs and saved his own life by betraying Túrin, though his sons were killed. Mîm later became the posessor of a dragon horde abandoned by Glaurug, but was later killed by Húrin, Túrin's father.
====Wars of Beleriand====
The dwarves of Beleriand fought against the forces of Melkor during the first age, and the dwarves of Belegost were the only able to withstand the dragonfire in the [[Battle of Unumbered Tears]], when King Azaghâl, who died in the battle, stabbed Glaurug, the Father of the Giants.


The dwarves of Nogor fought against Melkor as well. However, they slew Thingol out of greed and stole the [[Silmaril]] they had been charged to set into the necklace called Nauglamír. A number of retalitory actions ensued, and the Nogorod army was destroyed by a force of [[Laiquendi]] and [[Ent]]s. Both dwarf kingdoms would eventually be destroyed, along with nearly all of Beleriand, after the [[War of Wrath]], with the dwarven refugees mainly resettling in Khazad-dûm.
# 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]].
====In Khazad-dûm====
# Firebeards. Originally from [[Nogrod]]. Paired with:
{{main|Moria}}
# Broadbeams. Originally from [[Belegost]].
[[Image:Dwarrodelf.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The ruins of Khazad-dûm (by that time called Moria) in the [[The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (film)|film adaptation of The Fellowship of the Ring]].]]
# Ironfists. Home unknown, somewhere in the Far East. Paired with:
After his awakening, the dwarf called Durin, eldest of the Dwarf fathers,wandered until he founded the city of Khazad-dûm in the natural caves beneath the three peaks under which Khazad-dûm was later situated: Caradhras, Celebdil, and Fanuidhol (known in Khuzdul as Baranzinbar, Zirakzigil, and Bundushathûr, respectively). The city, populated by the Longbeards or [[Durin's folk]], grew and prospered continiously through Durin's life (which was so long that he was called Durin the Deathless, also a reference to the belief by his people that he would be reincarnated seven times). It was the only of the dwarf mansions to survive the first age.
# Stiffbeards. Home unknown, somewhere in the Far East.
===Second Age===
# Blacklocks. Home unknown, somewhere in the Far East. Paired with:
Refugees from Belegost and Norgod added to the population of Khazad-dûm, and its wealth was also enriched with the discovery of [[mithril]], a magical and extremely valuable metal found only in its mines. During this time the Dwarves continued to trade with neighboring Men and the Elves of [[Eregion]]. When the Elven-Smiths forged the [[Rings of Power]], seven were made as gifts to the heads of the seven Dwarf clans. The Dwarves of Moria at first fought in the War of Sauron and the Elves, but in the year 1697 of the Second Age, the doors of Khazad-dûm were shut and its inhabitants no longer ventured forth into the world. Thereafter it was known by the elven name of Moria, meaning "dark chasm".
# Stonefoots. Home unknown, somewhere in the Far East.
===Third Age===
[[Image:NasmithGandalfBalrog1.jpg|thumb|left|250px|The Balrog of Moria.]]
During the Third Age the Dwarves of Moria continuied to prosper until the year 1980, when, in pursuing a vein of mithril, they broke open a chamber containing the last [[balrog]] known in the histories of Middle Earth. They battled against the demon for one year, and after the death of two kings, the Dwarves who had not been killed fled from the Misty Mountains. For more than a century they had no kingdom, but in the year 1999, Thrain I founded a kingdom at the [[Lonely Mountain]]. This kingdom prospered for a time, and the great jewel known as the [[Arkenstone]] was discovered.


In 2210 [[Thorin I]] founded a kingdom in the Grey Mountains to the north of [[Mirkwood]]. Both of these realms would eventually be consumed by dragons--the Grey Mountians in 2590 by a horde and The Lonely Mountain in 2770 by the dragon Smaug. The refugees from the Grey Mountains who did not return to The Lonely Mountain colonized the Iron Hills, one of the only Dwarf kingdoms never to be abandoned or taken. The main body of the Dwarves became a wandering people, and [[Thrór]], who had been king of the Lonely Mountain when it was captured, was slain by Orcs in the year 2790 and his body mutilated. This led to the [[War of the Dwarves and Orcs]], in which nearly all of the Orc hoardes of the Misty Mountains were exterminated but half of all Dwarf warriors (at least 35% of the total Dwarven population) was killed, a blow from which their population would never recover.
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 [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elves]] early in the First Age, and died out entirely before the First Age ended.


For a time an exile kingdom was founed in the Blue Mountains, but [[Thráin II]] was soon captured by Sauron during his time in Dol Goldur, tortured, killed, and his Ring of Power, the last of the Dwarf rings not yet taken or consumed by dragons, was taken. In 2491, Thorin II Okenshield, grandson of Thrór, recolonized the Lonely Mountain after Smaug the dragon was slain by Bard, the futre King of Dale. After the ensuing Battle of the Five Armies, in which the Eagles, the Elves of Mirkwood, the Men of Dale, and the Dwarves of the Iron hills (as well as Thorin's band) defeated an invading hoarde of Orcs and in which Thorin was killed, his cousin [[Dáin II Ironfoot]], already King of the Iron Hills, became King Under the Mountain, and the Lonely Mountain was not abandoned again.
== 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]].


Dwarves did not figure prominently in the major battles of the War of the Ring although the Lonely Mountain was besiged for a time and Dáin killed in the [[Battle of Dale]]. One dwarf, however, [[Gimli]], joined the Fellowship of the Ring and was a companion of the Ringbearer for a great part of his journey, and also fought at the [[Battle of Hornburg]], the [[Battle of the Pelennor Fields]], and the [[Battle of the Morannon]].
The party with [[Thorin Oakenshield]] used bows and arrows, though shot them in the dark, and spent many arrows.


== Location ==
===Fourth Age===
At the start of the Fourth Age, Gimli lead a group of colonists from the Lonely Mountain to the Glittering Caves, beneath Hornburg in Rohan, where he established another Dwarf kingdom and ruled there for more than a century, until the death of Aragorn in the year 120 of the Fourth Age, when he sailed into the Undying Lands. From that point on, Tolkien does not write of the fate of the Dwarves, though it stands to reason that they continued to dwindle.
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]].
*[[Lonely Mountain|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==
==Dwarf Kingdoms==
===First Age===
Male dwarves were overprotective of their women whom they sheltered from other races.
*Belegost (Elvish for "mighty fortress" and called ''Gabilgathol'' in Khuzdul), destroyed in the sinking of Beleriand
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).
*Nogrod (called Tumunzahar in Khuzdul),destroyed in the sinking of Beleriand
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.
*Khazad-dûm (later called Moria), lasted until 1980 of the Third Age, briefly recolonized from 2989 until 2994
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.
===Third Age===
*[[Lonely Mountain|The Lonely Mountain]] (called [[Erebor]] in Sindarin), colonized in the year 1999 by [[Thráin I]], captured and held by Smaug from 2770 until 2941
*[[The Grey Mountains]], founded as a Kingdom (it had previously been a colony) in 2210 by [Thorin I]] and lasted until 2590, when it was overtaken by dragons
*[[Iron Hills]], colonized around the year 2590 by Grór
*[[Blue Mountains]], where an exile kingdom was founded by [[Thráin I]] 2799 and inhabited until the return to The Lonely Mountain
===The Fourth Age===
*The Glittering Caves, founded by [[Gimli]] after the War of the Ring


==Textural Development==
==Language and writing systems==
Tolkien's Dwarves are inspired by his own selective reading of medieval texts regarding the [[Jewish]] people<ref name="HotH">Rateliff, History of the Hobbit p.79-80 </ref> - being bearded, disposessed of their homeland and living among other groups whilst retaining their own culture, being warlike and having a propensity for making well-crafted and beautiful things and also the popular dwarves of fairy-tales (such as those the [[Brothers Grimm]]), from whom they take their characteristic mining. Almost all of Tolkiens [[dwarf|dwarves]] are given names of those from [[Norse mythology|Norse myths]].
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 "[[Axe]]s of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you!"


In the [[The History of Middle-earth|earliest versions]] of the ''[[Silmarillion]]'', including ''[[The Children of Hurin]]'' Dwarves are portrayed as evil beings, often in conflict with the [[Elves]] - who are the imagined 'authors' of the myths, and are therefore biased against Dwarves.<ref>Tolkien, Christopher, ''The book of Lost Tales I', Chapter 10 Gilfanon's Tale.</ref> This representation changed dramatically with ''The Hobbit'' and was carried into ''The Lord of the Rings'' - whose imagined authors were the more neutral Hobbits. Here the Dwarves became occasionally comedic and bumbling (most notably in ''The Hobbit''), but largely as honorable and firmly aligned against the powers of the Shadow but still portraying some negative characteristics such as being gold-hungry and overly proud and occasionally officious. In ''The Hobbit'' all the names but one are taken from the single [[Old Norse]] poem "Voluspa" from the [[Elder Edda]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/lordoftheringstrilogy/lessons/two/handouts.jsp |title=Tolkien's Middle-earth: Lesson Plans, Unit Two |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |accessdate=2007-09-29}}</ref>, however more than just supplying names, the ''Tally of the Dwarves'' in the Voluspa appears to have inspired Tolkien to the idea of supplying meaning and context to the list of names - that they traveled together, and this in turn became the quest told of in ''The Hobbit''.<ref>T.A. Shippey ''Tolkien, Author of the century, HarperCollins, 2000, pp.17</ref>
They used the [[Cirth]], a writing system invented by the Elves.

==Adaptations==
<center>
<gallery>
Image:Bakshi_Gimli.jpg|[[Gimli (Middle-earth)|Gimli]] in [[Ralph Bakshi]]'s cartoon adaptation of ''[[The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)|The Lord of the Rings]]''.
Image:Dwarves.jpg|Dwarves in [[Peter Jackson]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (film)|The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring]]''.
Image:Gimli_With_Axe.jpg|Gimli in ''The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.''
Image:Dwarf_Lords.jpg|The Dwarf-lords in ''The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring''.
</gallery>
</center>

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 [[The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II - The Rise of the Witch-king|expansion]], dwarves were shown with throwing axes, war hammers, and circular and Roman-esque shields.


===Etymology of 'Dwarves'===
The original editor of ''The Lord of the Rings'' "corrected" Tolkien's plural ''dwarves'' to ''dwarfs'' <ref>[[The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien]]'', 138</ref>.According to Tolkien, the "real 'historical'" plural of ''dwarf'' is ''dwarrows'' or ''dwerrows''. He referred to ''dwarves'' as "a piece of private bad grammar" <ref>(''[[The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien|Letters]]'', 17)</ref> and . In Appendix F of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' it is explained that if we still spoke of ''dwarves'' regularly, English might have retained a special plural for the word ''dwarf'' as with ''goose'' - ''geese'', despite Tolkiens fondness for it, the form ''dwarrow'' only appears in his writing as ''Dwarrowdelf'', a name for Moria.


Tolkien used ''Dwarves'', instead, which corresponds with ''Elf'' and ''Elves''. 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 [[North Germanic languages|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.


==See also==
==See also==
*[[List of Middle-earth Dwarves]]
*[[List of Middle-earth Dwarves]]
*[[Dwarf]]
*[[Dwarf runes]]
*[[War of the Dwarves and Orcs]]
*[[Petty-dwarf]]
*[[Aulë]]


==References==
==References==
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<references />
<references />
</div>
</div>
==External Links==
*[http://www.uib.no/people/hnohf/khuzdul.htm The Ardalambion study of Khuzdul]


{{dwarves}}
{{dwarves}}

Revision as of 03:06, 6 January 2008

"Khazad" redirects here. For the block cipher, see KHAZAD.
The Dwarf Gimli, who figured prominently in the War of the Ring, portrayed by actor John Rhys-Davies in Peter Jackson's film adaptation.

The Dwarves (Khuzdul: Khazâd, Quenya: Kasári, Sindarin: Hadhodrim) are a race created by the Vala Aulë (and therefore not counted among Children of Ilúvatar) inhabiting the fictional world of Arda in the Legendarium of J. R. R. Tolkien. Other common terms used to refer to the Dwarves (by the Elves) are Naugrim ('Stunted People') are Gonnhirrim ('Stone-lords'), and Dornhoth ('Thrawn Folk').

Characteristics

The Dwarves are described as having been created to withstand both heat and cold. Though they are mortal, Dwarves have an average lifespan of 250 years. Shorter than men, they have beards and were both stubborn and prideful. They are inveriably by profession involved in the working of stone and metal, and they forged the greatest weaponry and armour in the world. Only one Dwarf female, Dís, was ever named in the legendarium, and Tolkien claimed that they did not make up more than 30% of the total Dwarven population.

Language

Main article: Khuzdul
The Cirth runes used to write Khuzdul.

From their creation, the Dwarves spoke Khuzdul, a constructed language made for them by Aluë. Because it was a constructed (though living) language, it was not related to any form of Elvish, as most of the languages of Men were, although it is suggested that the language may have had influence on the early languages of Men[1]. Khuzdul was for the most part a closely gaurded tongue (one of the few recoreded outsiders to have a knowledge of it was Eöl), however, and the Dwarves never revealed their Khuzdul names to outsiders, going so far as to omit them from even their tombs. Khuzdul was written in Cirth, a runic alphabet developed by the Elves. It was percived as an analouge of a Semetic language by Tolkien, and was influinced by Hebrew phonology.

History

The Dwarves are portrayed as a very ancient people, who awoke, like the Elves, at the start of the First Age, before the rising of the Sun or Moon.

Creation

In Tolkien's works, the Dwarves (in the form of their seven patriarchs) were created even before the Elves--during the Years of the Trees (also known as the Ages of Darkness), when all of Middle Earth was coltroled by the forces of Melkor. They were shaped by the Vala Aulë in secret from the other Valar, although Ilúvatar knew of their creation, despite Aluë's efforts. He decided that their creation was not an evil deed and sanctified them, though he did not allow them to "awake" before the Elves (whom he had designated as "Firstborn"), and sealed the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves in a stone chamber until after the Elves had awoken.

First Age

After the Elves had awoken at Cuiviénen, the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves were released from their stone chamber. These seven patriarchs founded seven clans. The three who enter Tolkien's histories are:

The histories of the other for clans are not revealed by Tolkien. They are:

  • Ironfists.
  • Stiffbeards.
  • Blacklocks.
  • Stonefoots.

After the end of the First Age, the Dwarves spoken of are almost exclusively of Durin's line.

In Beleriand

Beleriand, where Belegost and Nogrod, two of the great dwarven realms of the First Age, were located.
File:Narsil.jpg
Narsil, the sword which cut the Ring from the hand of Sauron, forged by the Dwarf smith Telchar in Nogrod during the First Age.

The great dwarven cities of Belegost and Nogrod were founded in Ered Luin (The Blue Mountains) during the first age, before the arrival of the Elves in Beleriand. During this time they began their great works in stoge carving and forgery. The Dwarves of Belegost were the first to forge chain mail, and they also traded weaponry with the Sindar and carved the Thousand Caves of Menegroth for the Elf king Thingol. In Nogrod, the smith Telchar forged Narsil and Angrist, two of the most fatefull weapons in the history of Arda.

Petty Dwarves

It was also during this time that, for a reason never revealed by Tolkien, the ancestors of the Petty Dwarves were exiled into the area of the River Narog and Amon Rûdh. They were smaller than their eastern relatives. When the Sindar elves first arrived in Beleriand, they did not know what sort of creatures the Petty Dwarves, whom they called Noegyth Nibin, and hunted them for sport[2]. When they learned that they were a dwarf race they halted this practice, but the Petty Dwarves had already been reduced greatly in number and continued to wane as a people. By the 6th century of the first age only three remained: Mîm, their king, and his two sons, Ibun and Khîm. They gave shelter to the Edain Túrin Turambar and his band at their home of Amon Rûdh. Mîm was later captured by a band of orcs and saved his own life by betraying Túrin, though his sons were killed. Mîm later became the posessor of a dragon horde abandoned by Glaurug, but was later killed by Húrin, Túrin's father.

Wars of Beleriand

The dwarves of Beleriand fought against the forces of Melkor during the first age, and the dwarves of Belegost were the only able to withstand the dragonfire in the Battle of Unumbered Tears, when King Azaghâl, who died in the battle, stabbed Glaurug, the Father of the Giants.

The dwarves of Nogor fought against Melkor as well. However, they slew Thingol out of greed and stole the Silmaril they had been charged to set into the necklace called Nauglamír. A number of retalitory actions ensued, and the Nogorod army was destroyed by a force of Laiquendi and Ents. Both dwarf kingdoms would eventually be destroyed, along with nearly all of Beleriand, after the War of Wrath, with the dwarven refugees mainly resettling in Khazad-dûm.

In Khazad-dûm

Main article: Moria
The ruins of Khazad-dûm (by that time called Moria) in the film adaptation of The Fellowship of the Ring.

After his awakening, the dwarf called Durin, eldest of the Dwarf fathers,wandered until he founded the city of Khazad-dûm in the natural caves beneath the three peaks under which Khazad-dûm was later situated: Caradhras, Celebdil, and Fanuidhol (known in Khuzdul as Baranzinbar, Zirakzigil, and Bundushathûr, respectively). The city, populated by the Longbeards or Durin's folk, grew and prospered continiously through Durin's life (which was so long that he was called Durin the Deathless, also a reference to the belief by his people that he would be reincarnated seven times). It was the only of the dwarf mansions to survive the first age.

Second Age

Refugees from Belegost and Norgod added to the population of Khazad-dûm, and its wealth was also enriched with the discovery of mithril, a magical and extremely valuable metal found only in its mines. During this time the Dwarves continued to trade with neighboring Men and the Elves of Eregion. When the Elven-Smiths forged the Rings of Power, seven were made as gifts to the heads of the seven Dwarf clans. The Dwarves of Moria at first fought in the War of Sauron and the Elves, but in the year 1697 of the Second Age, the doors of Khazad-dûm were shut and its inhabitants no longer ventured forth into the world. Thereafter it was known by the elven name of Moria, meaning "dark chasm".

Third Age

File:NasmithGandalfBalrog1.jpg
The Balrog of Moria.

During the Third Age the Dwarves of Moria continuied to prosper until the year 1980, when, in pursuing a vein of mithril, they broke open a chamber containing the last balrog known in the histories of Middle Earth. They battled against the demon for one year, and after the death of two kings, the Dwarves who had not been killed fled from the Misty Mountains. For more than a century they had no kingdom, but in the year 1999, Thrain I founded a kingdom at the Lonely Mountain. This kingdom prospered for a time, and the great jewel known as the Arkenstone was discovered.

In 2210 Thorin I founded a kingdom in the Grey Mountains to the north of Mirkwood. Both of these realms would eventually be consumed by dragons--the Grey Mountians in 2590 by a horde and The Lonely Mountain in 2770 by the dragon Smaug. The refugees from the Grey Mountains who did not return to The Lonely Mountain colonized the Iron Hills, one of the only Dwarf kingdoms never to be abandoned or taken. The main body of the Dwarves became a wandering people, and Thrór, who had been king of the Lonely Mountain when it was captured, was slain by Orcs in the year 2790 and his body mutilated. This led to the War of the Dwarves and Orcs, in which nearly all of the Orc hoardes of the Misty Mountains were exterminated but half of all Dwarf warriors (at least 35% of the total Dwarven population) was killed, a blow from which their population would never recover.

For a time an exile kingdom was founed in the Blue Mountains, but Thráin II was soon captured by Sauron during his time in Dol Goldur, tortured, killed, and his Ring of Power, the last of the Dwarf rings not yet taken or consumed by dragons, was taken. In 2491, Thorin II Okenshield, grandson of Thrór, recolonized the Lonely Mountain after Smaug the dragon was slain by Bard, the futre King of Dale. After the ensuing Battle of the Five Armies, in which the Eagles, the Elves of Mirkwood, the Men of Dale, and the Dwarves of the Iron hills (as well as Thorin's band) defeated an invading hoarde of Orcs and in which Thorin was killed, his cousin Dáin II Ironfoot, already King of the Iron Hills, became King Under the Mountain, and the Lonely Mountain was not abandoned again.

Dwarves did not figure prominently in the major battles of the War of the Ring although the Lonely Mountain was besiged for a time and Dáin killed in the Battle of Dale. One dwarf, however, Gimli, joined the Fellowship of the Ring and was a companion of the Ringbearer for a great part of his journey, and also fought at the Battle of Hornburg, the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, and the Battle of the Morannon.

Fourth Age

At the start of the Fourth Age, Gimli lead a group of colonists from the Lonely Mountain to the Glittering Caves, beneath Hornburg in Rohan, where he established another Dwarf kingdom and ruled there for more than a century, until the death of Aragorn in the year 120 of the Fourth Age, when he sailed into the Undying Lands. From that point on, Tolkien does not write of the fate of the Dwarves, though it stands to reason that they continued to dwindle.

Dwarf Kingdoms

First Age

  • Belegost (Elvish for "mighty fortress" and called Gabilgathol in Khuzdul), destroyed in the sinking of Beleriand
  • Nogrod (called Tumunzahar in Khuzdul),destroyed in the sinking of Beleriand
  • Khazad-dûm (later called Moria), lasted until 1980 of the Third Age, briefly recolonized from 2989 until 2994

Third Age

  • The Lonely Mountain (called Erebor in Sindarin), colonized in the year 1999 by Thráin I, captured and held by Smaug from 2770 until 2941
  • The Grey Mountains, founded as a Kingdom (it had previously been a colony) in 2210 by [Thorin I]] and lasted until 2590, when it was overtaken by dragons
  • Iron Hills, colonized around the year 2590 by Grór
  • Blue Mountains, where an exile kingdom was founded by Thráin I 2799 and inhabited until the return to The Lonely Mountain

The Fourth Age

  • The Glittering Caves, founded by Gimli after the War of the Ring

Textural Development

Tolkien's Dwarves are inspired by his own selective reading of medieval texts regarding the Jewish people[3] - being bearded, disposessed of their homeland and living among other groups whilst retaining their own culture, being warlike and having a propensity for making well-crafted and beautiful things and also the popular dwarves of fairy-tales (such as those the Brothers Grimm), from whom they take their characteristic mining. Almost all of Tolkiens dwarves are given names of those from Norse myths.

In the earliest versions of the Silmarillion, including The Children of Hurin Dwarves are portrayed as evil beings, often in conflict with the Elves - who are the imagined 'authors' of the myths, and are therefore biased against Dwarves.[4] This representation changed dramatically with The Hobbit and was carried into The Lord of the Rings - whose imagined authors were the more neutral Hobbits. Here the Dwarves became occasionally comedic and bumbling (most notably in The Hobbit), but largely as honorable and firmly aligned against the powers of the Shadow but still portraying some negative characteristics such as being gold-hungry and overly proud and occasionally officious. In The Hobbit all the names but one are taken from the single Old Norse poem "Voluspa" from the Elder Edda[5], however more than just supplying names, the Tally of the Dwarves in the Voluspa appears to have inspired Tolkien to the idea of supplying meaning and context to the list of names - that they traveled together, and this in turn became the quest told of in The Hobbit.[6]

Etymology of 'Dwarves'

The original editor of The Lord of the Rings "corrected" Tolkien's plural dwarves to dwarfs [7].According to Tolkien, the "real 'historical'" plural of dwarf is dwarrows or dwerrows. He referred to dwarves as "a piece of private bad grammar" [8] and . In Appendix F of The Lord of the Rings it is explained that if we still spoke of dwarves regularly, English might have retained a special plural for the word dwarf as with goose - geese, despite Tolkiens fondness for it, the form dwarrow only appears in his writing as Dwarrowdelf, a name for Moria.

Tolkien used Dwarves, instead, which corresponds with Elf and Elves. 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.

See also

References

  1. ^ The Languages of Tolkien's Middle Earth, Ruth S. Noel, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1980
  2. ^ A Guide to Tolkien, David Day, Chancellor Press, 2002
  3. ^ Rateliff, History of the Hobbit p.79-80
  4. ^ Tolkien, Christopher, The book of Lost Tales I', Chapter 10 Gilfanon's Tale.
  5. ^ "Tolkien's Middle-earth: Lesson Plans, Unit Two". Houghton Mifflin. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
  6. ^ T.A. Shippey Tolkien, Author of the century, HarperCollins, 2000, pp.17
  7. ^ The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, 138
  8. ^ (Letters, 17)

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