Dwarves

Dwarves are a race in Middle-earth also called Naugrim, Khazâd, and Gonnhirrim. The correct pluralization of Dwarf in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien is noted to be Dwarrows or sometimes Dwerrows.

Creation
The Dwarves were made by Aulë whom they themselves call 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 his 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 and authority to create life. After being reprimanded by Eru 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.

The First Age


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 the First Age. Belegost and Nogrod were built in the Blue Mountains (Ered Luin) and the dwarves of these holds formed alliances with the Noldor 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, which 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 Kheld-zâram and proceeded to build his great hall, Khazad-dûm, in the mountains above. 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 participated in some of the major battles of the first age and fought alongside Elves and Men including The First Battle of Beleriand and the Nirnaeth Arnoediad (Battle of Unnumbered Tears) where Dwarves of Belegost won great renown. They were the only ones able to stand against the dragon Glaurung because of their superior equipment and ability to withstand the heat of the dragon’s breath. In that battle Azaghâl the Lord of Belegost was killed by the dragon but in turn wounded the wyrm so badly that it fled the battle.



The Dwarves of Nogrod were famed for the craftsmanship of their weapons. Most notable amongst their smiths was Telchar. Dwarves from Nogrod crafted the necklace Nauglamír and Thingol requested smiths from Nogrod to insert a Silmaril into that necklace. Thus were united the greatest works of Elves and Dwarves. Those Dwarven smiths were however driven mad by gold-lust and murdered Thingol and stole the necklace and the stone. The Elves of Doriath pursued the smiths to the death and reclaimed the 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 reward. The Dwarves of Nogrod lamented the death 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. Since the death of the King and the silence of Melian the captains of the Grey-elves were cast into doubt and despair and offered little resistance. There was a hard battle in the Thousand Caves where the Dwarves of Nogrod were victorious and took the Nauglamír and Silmaril. On the return journey to the Blue Mountains the Dwarves of Nogrod were assailed by Beren and his son Dior with many Green-elves of Ossiriand. There many of the Dwarves were slain and Beren himself slew the Lord of Nogrod and wreslted from him the Necklace of the Dwarves. Some of the Dwarves escaped from the battle but those 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 were 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 and aided Túrin in his adventures.

The 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.

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 the year 750. His reign was an era of great prosperity when 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.

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 to resist evil domination. The only apparent effect of the rings was that the Dwarves became more greedy, 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 hordes. The ring of Durin, Sauron did not reclaim until the 2845th year of the Third Age when he captured Thrain II.

50,000 of Durin's folk helped the Last Alliance,but some worked for Sauron.

The Third Age
Durin VI was born in the 1731st year of the Third Age. At that time the race of Dwarves had already begun to dwindle. In the year 1980 of the Third Age the Dwarves were deepening their mithril mines when they stumbled upon a Balrog of Morgoth. Durin VI was slain by the Balrog and a year later his son Nain I (TA 1832 - TA 1981). After that the Dwarves of Durins line fled and abandoned Khazad-dûm but the Balrog remained.

Most of Durin’s Folk went to Grey Mountains (Ered Mithrin]) where they built new halls. However Nain’s son Thrain I (TA 1934 - TA 2190) now King of Durin’s Folk went to the Lonely Mountain and founded the kingdom of the Lonely Mountain or Erebor in the year TA 1999. Deep within the mountain he found an extraordinary jewel that he called the Arkenstone and was regarded as the greatest treasure of his house.

Thrain’s son Thorin I chose to rather stay in Grey Mountains than Lonely Mountain so between TA 2190 and TA 2590 Grey Mountains was the seat of Kings. In TA 2589 however the Dwarven halls in that region were attacked by cold-drakes from the north. The King at the time, Dain I (TA 2440 - TA 2589) was slain along with one of his sons, Frór (TA 2552 - TA 2589). The older son Thror (TA 2542 - TA 2790) fled with his people to Lonely Mountain.

For 200 years the wealth and fame of Lonely Mountain grew until the coming of Smaug the Golden in TA 2770. Thror managed to escape through a back door with his family but most of the Dwarves of Lonely Mountain were slain by the dragon and the wealth of Durin’s folk was lost. Some time later Thror gave his son Thrain II (TA 2644 - TA 2858) the ring of power and started wandering the world with his friend Nar. He ended up in Khazad-dûm where he was murdered and mutilated by the orc king Azog.

This was the catalyst of a war that was called the War of Dwarves and Orcs. The war lasted seven years and ended in the Battle of Azanulbizar where Dain Ironfoot (TA 2767 - TA 3019) killed Azog. In the years to come the ring slowly poisoned Thrain’s heart with greed and in 2845 Thrain set out alone to reclaim Erebor. This resulted in him being captured by Sauron and he died in the dungeons of Dol Guldur.

In 2941 Thorin Oakenshield son of Thrain, 12 other Dwarves, and the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, reclaimed Erebor, at the cost of Thorin’s life. Dain Ironfoot took up rule in the Lonely Mountain after that, and for a while the kingdom prospered in trade with the Elves of Mirkwood and Men of Dale. One of Thorin’s companions, Balin (2763-2994) took in 2989 a host of Dwarves from the Lonely Mountain to reclaim Khazad-dûm. For five years they fought the balrog and an army of orcs. Balin was killed by an orc arrow in 2994 and the remainder of his host was cut off when the orcs captured the Bridge of Khazad-dûm and the east gate. Not so much as one dwarf lived to tell the tale.

Gimli son of Gloin won considerable renown for the role he played in the War of the Ring. After the war he founded a new Dwarf Kingdom named Aglarond in the caves behind Helms Deep. Near the end of his life Gimli sailed with Legolas to the undying lands of Valinor. He is likely to be the only Dwarf to ever have made the journey.

Also, after the Battle of Pellenor Fields, a force of 30,000 Longbeards and 20,000 Bardings stood within the Lonely Mountain in a similar castle siege from 200,000 Men of Rhun, 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 having lost over 100,000 troops, as opposed to the defenders losing 14,000 Dwarves and 12,000 Men. The sturdy nature of the Mountain Rock combined with the Dwarven masonry and the Dwarven quality of the defenders' weapons reduced the hitting power of the Easterlings' [It is uncertain what the Easterlings used for siege, other than that their machines were advanced weaponry] two-armed catapults and semi-automatic ballistas (or, in the movies' case, artillery cannons.), and allowed the defenders to push the attackers away from the Mountain and out of Brand's nation.

The last known dwarf of Durin’s Folk was Durin VII who lived at some point in the Fourth Age.

Appearance
"It was a dwarf with a blue beard tucked into a golden belt, very bright eyes under his dark-green hood."

- The Hobbit

When Aulë created the Dwarves he had only a vague idea of what the Children of Ilúvatar should look like. Ilúvatar had not granted the Valar with the permission to bring such a new race into the world, and when He perceived what Aulë had wrought, Aulë took up a giant hammer, and prepared to smite the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves. But Ilúvatar was moved to mercy as the Seven Fathers flinched at the coming blow, and so He allowed Aule to keep his creation, with the caveat that they would not be allowed to awaken into the world until after the true firstborn had emerged. Because of the threat of Morgoth over the world Aulë made them very strong both in body and character. Dwarves grew thick luxuriant beards in which they took great pride, and often forked or braided them and tucked them into their belts.

They seem to have favoured simple durable clothing, coloured hoods and heavy cloaks for travelling, and belts of gold or silver. For battle they would have do elaborately crafted armour and helmets bearing masked symbols (after the manner of those used in forges for shielding the eyes) that were hideous to look upon.

There is no mention of the appearance or fashion of dwarf women; however it is mentioned by Aragorn in the Motion Picture Trilogy that the difficulty in identifying dwarf women is the presence of beards, implying that dwarf women have beards. In fact there is only mention of one female dwarf in the entire works of Tolkien: Dís, the daughter of Thráin II and the mother of Fíli and Kíli.

Characteristics
Dwarves were a proud and stern race and were made to be sturdy to resist the dangers of their time. They were physically much stronger than humans, elves, and hobbits, and had great endurance, especially in the ability to resist  great heat and cold, and they made light of heavy burdens. Dwarves lived up to two hundred and fifty years and had the ability to learn new skills quickly. A normal dwarf was usually stubborn and secretive, but they had the capacity to be loyal friends. Most of the time, the only thing they cared about were mining and crafts, drawing the hatred of the elves. Dwarves were not hurt by insults, but they had a propensity to hold a long-lasting grudge. Dwarves were greedy, but still way less corrupt than Men, as shown by what happened to the Dwarven Rings of Power and their owners. Whereas the Men who owned the nine Rings were corrupted and became the Nazgûl, the Dwarves were unaffected. The only power that the rings had over them was the power to inflate their greed for gold.Some of the wicked oneslikley Blacklocks and perhaps Stonefoots made aliances with Orcs and Goblins.

Dwarves were taught special skills by Aulë and lived by mining for precious minerals such as gold, iron, copper, and silver from all over mountains in Middle-earth. In ancient times, the dwarves also found Mithril in the mines of Khazad-dûm. They were also able masons, and smiths. They crafted many famed weapons, armours, and items of art and beauty, amongst them Narsil, the sword of Elendil, the Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin, and the necklace Nauglamír. They built many famed halls including Belegost, Nogrod, Khazad-dum, and Menegroth. Dwarves also reforged the gates of Minas Tirith and rebuilt the walls of Helm's Deep after the War of the Ring. They had a knack for starting a fire almost anywhere out of almost anything. Dwarves did not farm and herd because they lived mostly underground. They traded smithcraft to men and elves in exchange for food. The number of Dwarf women were few, only about 1/3 to 1/4 of their total number, which is the reason for the slow Dwarf population growth, and is in peril when dwellings are scant. Because of their rarity, Dwarf-men who kept them concealed within their mountain halls to protect them from other races closely guarded Dwarf women. Dwarf women were seldom seen walking about and seldom do they travel except in great need, and when they do, they dress as Dwarf-men. They are rumored to be similar to dwarf-men in voice and appearance, usually other peoples cannot tell them apart. For this reason, Men have the opinion that there are no dwarf-women and that the Dwarves grow out of stone. Dwarves usually take only one spouse in their lives (unless their spouse died) and, as in all things, are jealous of their rights. Less than one-third of dwarf-men take a wife. Many dwarf-men do not wish to marry, as they are too busy with their crafts. Also, not all dwarf-women take husbands, as they may not have an interest in marriage, or some desire dwarf-men they cannot have and will settle for no other.

Language
"Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!"

- -Ancient dwarven battle cry meaning "The axes of the dwarves! The dwarves are upon you!"

The Dwarven language was a harsh sounding tongue created by Aulë and was called Khuzdul. The Dwarven language was strange to non-dwarves, but few learned to speak it because the dwarves kept it secret. The dwarves used the Elvish runes Cirth as their written language.

Names
The Dwarves called themselves the Khazad, the name Aulë gave them; this translates as the Hadhodrim in Sindarin, and the Casari in Quenya. Casari was the common word for Dwarves among the Noldor, but the Sindar usually called them the Naugrim or Nogothrim, the Stunted People.

Dwarves would as a rule not tell people of other races their real names but take names in Westron instead and keep their real names secret.

Many dwarven names in the works of Tolkien are taken from the poetic Viking prophecies Völuspá. A significant part of the prophecy describes the pagan world view of the Vikings and in that part can be found the Count of Dwarves, which is mostly a list of names. All the dwarf names from the Hobbit are taken from that source as well as the name of Gandalf. Some other names such as Gimli (meaning shelter from fire) are taken from the Icelandic language but not from Völuspá. Only a few Dwarves in the works of Tolkien have original names in Khuzdul. These include Azaghâl, and Telchar.

Weapons and Armour


"Each one of his folk was clad in a hauberk of steel mail that hung to his knees, and his legs were covered with hose of a fine and flexible metal mesh.... In battle they wielded heavy two-handed mattocks; but each of them had also a short broad sword at his side and a round shield slung at his back. Their beards were forked and plaited and thrust into their belts. Their caps were of iron and they were shod with iron, and their faces were grim."

- The Hobbit

Dwarves 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 also used hatchets, mattocks, short swords, war hammers and short bows and arrows, as well as tridents like the one picked up by Aragorn in Moria. Sometimes the dwarves threw their axes and hammers at the enemy. At the ends of battles dwarves often collected old axes because they didn't have the heart to leave them behind. Most of the axes were in polygon shapes, perhaps as a tribute to the rocks and stones the dwarves worked with, in contrast to the elven weapons and armor which resembled plants and organic beauty.

For armour, dwarves favoured chain-mail and other metallic armour — the most expensive and precious of which was ring mail made of mithril. (A vest of mithril was given to Bilbo by Thorin after The Battle of the Five Armies. It was never used by Bilbo himself but later protected his nephew Frodo when he was stabbed at by a goblin captain in Moria.) It was said that the this small coat was worth more than the whole of the shire combined. The dwarves of Belegost and Nogrod wore heavy helms with mask-like visors that were hideous to look upon.

The Seven Clans
The Dwarves' seven clans were:
 * 1. Longbeards. Durin's Folk. Originally from Mount Gundabad they also founded the great Dwarf Mansion of Khazad-dûm (a.k.a. Moria or Dwarrowdelf) in the Misty Mountains, the Iron Hills, the holds in the Grey Mountains and, finally, Erebor (under the Lonely Mountain).


 * 2-3. Firebeards &amp; Broadbeams. Originally from the Blue Mountains, they were paired but Tolkien never cleared which tribe built Nogrod and which Belegost.


 * 4-5. Ironfists &amp; Stiffbeards. Originated somewhere far in the East.


 * 6-7. Blacklocks &amp; Stonefoots. Originated somewhere (else) far in the East.


 * Note: There was an 8th group of dwarves, Petty-dwarves, but they were hunted to extinction by the Elves.

Location
The Dwarves lived and mined in several places throughout Middle-earth many times, which included:


 * Moria or Khazad-dûm and other places in the Misty Mountains.
 * Lonely Mountain or Erebor.
 * Mount Gundabad.
 * The Iron Hills.
 * The Blue Mountains or Ered Luin, where the cities Nogrod and Belegost existed during the First Age.
 * The Grey Mountains or Ered Mithrin, although the dwarves were later driven out by dragons.
 * They possibly lived in the Orocarni or the Red Mountains of the East.



Known Dwarves

 * Thorin Oakenshield brought twelve Dwarves (Fili, Kili, Ori, Nori, Dori, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Oin, Gloin, Dwalin and Balin Lord of Moria) to Bag End to recruit Bilbo for their treasure hunt in The Hobbit.
 * Gimli, son of Gloin, joined the Fellowship of the Ring and befriended Legolas in The Lord of the Rings.
 * Durin, the first Father of the Dwarves
 * Thrain
 * Durin VI, killed by the Balrog, Durin's Bane
 * Dain Ironfoot, became King Under the Mountain after the Battle of the Five Armies
 * Thrór, Thorin Oakenshield's grandfather, was slain by Azog starting the Goblin-Dwarf War.
 * Fror, brother of Thrór.
 * Gror, brother of Thrór and Fror.
 * Dain, father of Thrór, Fror, and Gror. Slain by a Dragon in 2589.
 * Nain, father of Dain.
 * Mîm, last Petty-Dwarf, Father of Ibûn and Khîm.

thumb|right|300px|dwarves of Durins folk thumb|300px|right|dwarves of Blue Mountains

Earlier Versions of the Legendarium
In the earliest versions of Tolkien's Middle-earth mythology (see: The History of Middle-earth) the dwarves were evil beings created by Melkor.

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