The Seven Fathers of the Dwarves were the first seven of the founding fathers of the Dwarven race.
History[]
The Vala Aulë created the Dwarves because he was impatient for the arising of the Children of Ilúvatar (Elves and Men). He created seven Dwarves, and was teaching them the language he had devised for them. When Ilúvatar confronted him about what he had done, Aulë prepared to destroy his creations, but Ilúvatar adopted them and gave them life.
However, the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves had to wait until the Elves first arrived, and Aulë laid them to rest in various places in the continent of Middle-earth.
The eldest of all, Durin, "lay alone" at Mount Gundabad in the north of the Misty Mountains. He later founded the line of the Longbeards (or Sigin-tarâg in Khuzdul), the Dwarves of which were most friendly to Elves and Men, mostly referred to as Durin's Folk. His city was Khazad-dûm.
Two others were laid to rest near Mount Dolmed in the Blue Mountains, and they founded the lines of the Broadbeams and the Firebeards who later lived in Nogrod and Belegost. Neither of these father's names are known.
The other four fathers were laid to rest in the far east, two of them at the northern end of the Orocarni, and the other two near the southern end of the range. These founded the lines of the Ironfists and Stiffbeards, and Blacklocks and Stonefoots. No Dwarves of these lines appear in the tales. After the end of the First Age, when the ancestral homes of the Broadbeams and Firebeards were destroyed, these two lines merged with Durin's Folk, so that Khazad-dûm had a mixed population.
Of the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves, only Durin is said to have "lain alone". This can be interpreted as referring to the fact he was indeed laid down to rest alone while the other Fathers were laid to rest in pairs, but older versions of the story suggest that it meant Durin alone had no female companion. The other fathers did: references are made by Tolkien to the "Thirteen Dwarves" created by Aulë (Durin and the six pairs). By this version of the story, Durin's Folk was formed out of Dwarves from the other six lines, as a mixed people arose when all Dwarves went to Gundabad.[citation needed]
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afrikaans | Dwergevaders |
| Albanian | Babai i Xhuxhët |
| Arabic | إباء الأقزام |
| Armenian | Թզուկների հայրեր |
| Azerbaijani | Dwarfların ataları |
| Basque | Ipotxen Gurasoak |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Айцы Гномаў |
| Bengali | ডুয়ার্ফের বাবা |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Бащите на джуджетата |
| Catalan | Pares dels Nans |
| Cebuano | Mga Amahan sa mga Dwarve |
| Croatian | Patuljaka oci |
| Czech | Otcové trpaslíků |
| Danish | Dværgefædre |
| Dutch | Dwergenvaders |
| Esperanto | Patroj de la Enanos |
| Estonian | Kääbused isad |
| Finnish | Kääpiöiden Seitsemän isää |
| French | Pères des nains |
| Galician | Padres da enanos |
| Georgian | მამათა ჯუჯები |
| German | Zwergenväter |
| Greek | Πατέρες των Νάνων |
| Hebrew | האבות של הגמדים |
| Hindi | बौने के पिता |
| Hungarian | A törpék atyja |
| Icelandic | Feður af Dvergarnir |
| Indonesian | Ayah para kurcaci |
| Irish Gaelic | Aithreacha de na Mion ? |
| Italian | Padri dei Nani |
| Japanese | ドワーフの父親 |
| Kannada | ದ್ವಾರ್ವ್ಸ್ನ ಪಿತಾಮಹರು |
| Kazakh | Гномдардың әкелері (Cyrillic) Gnomdardıñ äkeleri (Latin) |
| Korean | 드워프의 아버지 |
| Latin | Patres Nani |
| Latvian | Tēvi no rūķisi |
| Lithuanian | Tėvai nykštukai |
| Luxembourgish | Zwergerpappen |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Отци на Џуџињата |
| Malaysian | Bapa daripada orang kerdil |
| Marathi | बौने च्या पूर्वज |
| Norwegian | Dvergfedre |
| Persian | پدران کوتولهها |
| Polish | Ojcowie Krasnoludów |
| Portuguese | Pais dos Anões |
| Punjabi | ਡਵਵਰਜ਼ ਦੇ ਪਿਤਾ |
| Romanian | Părinții lui Gnomi |
| Russian | Семь Праотцев гномов |
| Scottish Gaelic | Athair nan Luspardanan |
| Serbian | Патуљци очеви (Cyrillic) Patuljci očevi (Latin) |
| Sinhalese | ක්ලවුස් පියවරුන් |
| Slovak | Otcovia trpaslíkov |
| Slovenian | Škrati očetje |
| Spanish | Siete Padres de los enanos |
| Swahili | Babu wa Wanaoishi |
| Swedish | Dvärgarfäderna |
| Tamil | டோவ்ஸ் தந்தையர் |
| Telugu | ద్వార్వ్స్ యొక్క ఫాదర్స్ |
| Thai | บิดาของแคระ |
| Turkish | Cüceler Babalarıman |
| Turkmen | Derwüş Atalar |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Отці Гноми |
| Urdu | آبائے بونوں ? |
| Vietnamese | Cha của những người lùn |
| Welsh | Tadau'r Chorrach ? |
| Yiddish | אבות פון די דוואָרווז |