Everything you ever wanted to know about Dwarves
From Library of the Randirim
... but were probably afraid to ask.
While Elves arguably suffer from too much information being available, dwarves tend to suffer from the opposite. They're so secretive that it can be hard to get a solid grasp of their history and culture without a fair amount of study. So, this page is an attempt to make it easier for the RPer to find out about Dwarves. As always, it is not any attempt to restrict how players choose to play their characters in any way. What's available here is just a casual summary of the lore that's out there but I'll provide links where possible to further information for the curious.
Contents |
What is a Dwarf exactly?
One of the harder aspects of grasping Tolkien's world is shedding all the stereotypes and conceptions from settings that have come after Tolkien and this can be seen especially with the Dwarves. In most settings, Dwarves are loud, obnoxious, boisterous and muscular midgets with a nigh ridiculous fondness for ale, gold, and battle. Oh, and they all have scottish accents.
In Tolkien's world though, Dwarves (aka Khazâd) are very reserved, always polite, seldom rash (unless in the grips of their "gold lust") and if anything probably have an accent that's closest to Finnish (the Moria dwarves seem to be spot on). Physically they're still short, stocky, sturdy powerhouses, but unless their honor is involved they're not too likely to just rush off into battle. Probably anyway. Ironically, even though the dwarves are arguably the most reclusive of the Free Peoples, they're also the most likely to travel abroad. Dwarves form the lion's share of Arda's merchant network, taking goods along the roads from point to point. This may be because they are also the world's greatest crafters (in some respects even better than the elves).
History
Given their reclusive nature, dwarves don't pop on the scene too often, but when they do it's almost always noteworthy.
Origins
You may've heard something about dwarves being created by this guy named Aulë (the dwarves call him Mahal the Maker) but weren't quite sure what the scoop was. As the story goes, way back when, the Valar are all sitting around waiting for the First Children of Iluvatar (as it turns out, the elves) to show up. So Aulë, being the builder guy, decides to make himself some of his own little guys. He makes seven dwarves (the Dwarf-Fathers) and then Ilúvatar points out that Aulë cannot give them life because only Ilúvatar can do that. Well Aulë gets all depressed (he was so looking forward to having some mortal friends after all) and raises his hammer to crush the Dwarf-Fathers but then they recoil. Ilúvatar puts it best:
"Even as I gave being to the thoughts of the Ainur at the beginning of the World, so now have I taken up thy desire and given to it a place therein ; but in no other way will I amend thy handiwork, and as thou hast made it, so shall it be. But I will not suffer this: that these should come before the Firstborn of my design, nor that thy impatience should be rewarded. They shall sleep now in darkness under stone, and shall not come forth until the Firstborn have awakened upon Earth ; and until that time thou and they shall wait, though long it seem. But when the time comes I will awaken them, and they shall be to thee as children; and often strife shall arise between thine and mine, the children of my adoption and the children of my choice."
~ Ilúvatar, Of Aulë and Yavanna, p 44 of the Silmarillion
Back in the First Age...
The Dwarves in the First Age are best marked in the events that happened in Beleriand. As such most of the stories revolve around the Firebeards of Nogrod and the Broadbeams of Belegost (both of which resided in the Blue Mountains on Beleriand's eastern border). During that time they helped to build Menegroth, proved just how badass they could be during the War of the Jewels (particularly the Battle of Unnumbered Tears), forged a Silmaril into Nauglamír for Thingol who they then killed and later sacked his city.
War of Orcs and Dwarves
This was an example of dwarves at their mightiest. And even though it happens round-abouts two centuries before 3018 (the current year in game), the events of this War directly influenced what happens during the Quest of the Ring.
You see, it all starts when Thrór gets killed by Azog in Khazad-dûm. His son Thráin hears about it and marshals all the Dwarven Houses into a massive army. This army sweeps over the Misty Mountains, destroying each goblin stronghold one by one until eventually they get to Moria. There, in the famous Battle of Dimrill Dale, the Dwarves obliterate the orcish forces against all odds, killed Azog, and probably would've retaken Moria if they hadn't spotted Durin's Bane lurking inside. Without that war (which killed thousands and thousands of orcs), it's unlikely that Thorin's Company or the Fellowship would ever have been able to cross the Misty Mountains at all.
Dwarven Houses
It's not mentioned in The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings (so, for licensing reasons, it's not mentioned in LotRO either) but, as there are three kins of the elves, there are seven houses of the dwarves.
Longbeards
All the NPCs you see in the game are apparently Longbeards due to the reason noted above (or at least the ones that mention their line). They come from Khazad-dûm and are descended from Durin the Deathless.
Firebeards
The Firebeards are the greatest crafters of all the Dwarves, and even of all the Free Peoples. Before the War of Wrath they lived at Nogrod. History notes them most for the Sack of Doriath.
Broadbeams
The Broadbeams are second in crafting only to the Firebeards, they've had the best relations with other races (usually). It was their king that fought during the Battle of Unnumbered Tears and earned so much acclaim. They lived in Belegost until it was "ruined" in the War of Wrath.
Ironfists, Stiffbeards, Blacklocks, & Stonefoots
All these guys apparently lived way off in some mountains to the East and really never entered into the History. The only time they (arguably, because they're not explicitly mentioned) do is during the War of Dwarves and Orcs.
Petty-Dwarves
These are not so much a House of Dwarves as the cast-offs of all the other houses. The Petty-dwarves were supposedly all killed off during the First Age but as this was a social distinction rather than a biological one it's unclear if there may have been any other ones. The Dourhands might certainly classify as Petty-dwarves, but as they were a creation of Turbine it may be inappropriate to classify them as such.
Writing & Language
Khuzdul
Khuzdul is the native language of the Dwarves and it's quite unlike any other language in Middle-Earth. This is partly because it is such a closely guarded secret. No dwarf would ever teach Khuzdul to an outsider. Because of this secretiveness there's very few words known in Khuzdul (about 30) but if you'd like to see what is known, here's a good page for it (scroll to the bottom for a wordlist).
Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!
You've doubtless heard this shouted by many a Dwarf heading into battle! This is probably the only phrase of Khuzdul that Dwarves speak openly in public and it can be enough to strike fear in the hearts of orcs and foes everywhere. The phrase is said to mean: "Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you!" Its use supposedly stretches back into the First Age.
Cirth
These are the runes the dwarves most often use for writing, because the hard angles and sharp lines work well with carving in stone. It's an odd note though that the runes were actually invented by a Sindarin named Daeron.
Lifespan
I've yet to find a definitive source for the lifecycle of a dwarf (it's quite possible one doesn't exist) but it seems like they reach physical maturity around 40-50 years (they're stated as being "battle-ready" by about 30) and probably live to be about 250 on average. That said, there's certainly cases of Dwarves that far surpass that age such as Dwalin who lives to be close to 340. By most accounts it seems like Dwarves maintain their vitality even through old age, though one assumes that there is some diminishing as they pass the 250 mark.
Relations with other Races
Men
Dwarves don't seem to have any particular fondness or enmity for men. They probably see them as fine trading partners but they're still Outsiders.
Hobbits
Until the events at the end of the Third Age, the Shire was just a stop along the East Road for traveling dwarven merchants. So the Dwarves have the longest relationship with hobbits, but it's still fairly loose.
Elves
There's a constant tenseness between Dwarves and Elves that erupts into outright hostility every now and then. They can usually get along well enough under most circumstances, but at the slightest prod a lot of old offenses (on both sides) tend to come up.
Orcs & Goblins
It is extremely unlikely that dwarves would ever tolerate the presence of orcs and goblins. However, there are precedents where they have worked together, though the dwarf was always a petty-dwarf.
Ents
Most dwarves have only heard of Ents in legends by this point in history. Likely they'd be a bit bewildered by them.
Mating Habits
Dwarven Women?
This is a topic that seems to come up in any conversation of dwarves: the profound and apparent lack of female dwarves. Well, they do exist but there's a twist. The dwarven race is 2/3 male, so females only make up a third of their entire population. Because of their scarcity it's rare for them to ever leave the Dwarf-holds. To make it even better, they're described as being so much in body and stature like the males so as there is no visual distinction between the two. So yes, that would mean that dwarven females likely have beards and a rather "butch" appearance. This does lead to an amusing anecdote in one of Tolkien's Letters that when two dwarves meet for the first time they can speak for hours just trying to subtly and politely find out the gender of the other. Despite the anecdote, it seems to be generally assumed that dwarven females do dress in the "fairer fashion" while inside a Hold, but on the rare occasion they would be traveling they typically dress as the males. Gimli notes that since this results in non-dwarves being unable to tell male dwarves from female dwarves, the rumor is that there are no dwarven women.
And there you have it. =)
Marriage
Because of the relative few females, only a third of all dwarven males ever take a wife. When they do though, they remain faithful to that wife for the rest of their lives. There is some indication that dwarven women can freely refuse marriage for their own reasons and some take this as indicating a degree of gender-equality for the dwarven race.
Other races & Hybrids?
There is no reference anywhere in the lore to a dwarf choosing a member of another race as a mate and given their culture it seems extremely unlikely (practically impossible). This would of course make hybrids with other races an impossibility.
Names
Dwarves usually have two names. One is Khuzdul and used only amongst other dwarves. The other is Westron and that's their given name amongst other races. Their birthname (the Khuzdul one) is such a closely guarded secret that only one such name is known in the whole of the lore.
