Secretive, ill-mannered, yet brave and loyal to a fault, the dwarves of Middle-Earth are
some of the most curious creatures in all of Tolkien's works. And these sons of Durin
play a unique and truly special role in the history of the Lord of the Rings universe.
The dwarves have an origin unlike any other in Middle-Earth.
Long ago, the races of elves and men were given life by Ilúvatar the creator of Middle-Earth,
and they're known far and wide as his "children." The dwarves, however, come from somewhere else.
They're crafted by Aulë, one of the Valar,
the pantheon of angelic guardians who first helped Ilúvatar bring the universe into existence.
Known to his dwarven sub-creations as Mahal, Aulë fashions the dwarves in the very early
days of Middle-Earth's existence, having grown impatient at the slow awakening of the children
of Ilúvatar. Shaped deep under a mountain in Middle-Earth,
the first batch of Aulë's creations were known as the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves.
Eventually, the all-knowing Ilúvatar calls Aulë out on his impatience. He points out that,
while Aulë may be a master craftsman, he lacks the power to give each dwarf their own will.
Seeing that his creations are little more than empty husks, Aulë repents and offers
to destroy them. But Ilúvatar decides to spare his repentant servant's handiwork,
giving the dwarves independent will and adopting them into his "family" of children.
Each of the Seven Fathers is then put to sleep and spread across Middle-earth,
where they remain in silent slumber - until the elves finally begin to awake.
The first dwarf to stir from his slumber is Durin, the father of the dwarven clan known
as the Longbeards. After waking up, Durin wanders around Middle-Earth, before settling down in the
area that eventually becomes Khazad-dûm - or Moria, as the elves later call it.
Four of the other dwarven fathers wake up far to the east, and they aren't talked
about much in Tolkien's work. However, the last pair of dwarven fathers appear in the
Blue Mountains to the west of Khazad-dûm, and they found the famous cities of Belegost
and Nogrod. These two cities play an important part in the First Age of Middle-earth history,
as the inhabitants befriend the elven exiles who live in the western region known as
Beleriand - and join them in their war against the dark lord Morgoth. They also help the elves carve
out their vast underground palaces, craft their gems and weapons, and even aid them in battle.
Unfortunately, this peaceful time is short-lived. After a great elven king
refuses to pay up for their work, the dwarves kill him - setting off a bitter feud that sparks
several retaliatory conflicts and feeds into a less than savory reputation for the dwarves.
At the end of the First Age, Morgoth is defeated, Beleriand is sunk under the sea, and the surviving
dwarves in the Blue Mountains travel east to join their relatives in the Misty Mountains.
During the Second Age of Middle-Earth, many of the survivors from Belegost and Nogrod
join the thriving kingdom of Khazad-dûm, where their knowledge and experience launch
the dwarven realm into further glory. At this point, the western gates of Khazad-dûm
open right up into the elvish kingdom of Eregion - the region the Fellowship of the
Ring later travels through on their way to Mordor.
At first, the Second Age sees a healing of the relationship between the elves and the dwarves.
At one point, they even allow Galadriel to journey through Khazad-dûm, so that she can visit
Lothlorien for the first time. Later, war breaks out between the elves and Morgoth's greatest
lieutenant, Sauron - and in response, the dwarves pour out of Khazad-dûm to aid their allies.
But their help comes too late, and the dwarves are forced to retreat back into
their mountain kingdom. After that, the dwarves mostly stay out of the war.
It's not until the final showdown with Sauron, during the War of the Last Alliance,
that the dwarves of Khazad-dûm come out to support the Free Peoples of Middle-Earth.
But the battles of the later Second Age weren't the dwarves' first encounter with Sauron.
Earlier in that era, Sauron had attempted to bring
Durin's folk under his influence - by offering rings of power to the seven great dwarf-kings.
When Sauron forges his master ring, however, he's unable to control the dwarven kings. Instead,
he finds that the tough hardiness of the dwarves makes them more or less
impervious to his direct control. But that doesn't mean the dwarven rings are harmless.
Although they don't fall under Sauron's spell, the dwarf-rings kindle an overpowering greed for
gold in the hearts of their owners - a greed that later brings great ruin to no
small number of dwarven lords. These rings also amplify their skills and desires, and each one
is supposed to have been the foundation of a great dwarven hoard of wealth. Eventually, four of the
dwarven rings are destroyed by dragon fire, while the other three are recovered by Sauron... leaving
the dwarves to manage their great wealth without the powers of their magical rings.
After the first defeat of Sauron, the Third Age begins fairly quietly. The dwarves go on
busily mining in their underground kingdoms, and Khazad-dûm, in particular, continues to thrive.
Roughly 1,300 years into the age, orcs begin to repopulate and harass the dwarves in Moria,
but they're mostly held at bay by the warriors of Khazad-dûm. Then, in the year 1980 of the
Third Age, something terrible happens: the dwarves of Khazad-dûm wake a Balrog.
"You know what they awoke in the darkness of Khazad-dum. Shadow and flame."
This ancient servant of Morgoth kills King Durin the Sixth and forces the Longbeards to flee their
ancient home and scatter across the world. Some of them find their way to the Lonely Mountain
in Erebor, where they establish a new Kingdom under the Mountain.
Others, meanwhile, head north and settle in the Grey Mountains. Although these particular
refugees manage to rebuild their strength over the next few centuries, their relocation to the north
of Middle-Earth puts them in close proximity to the Withered Heath - a land populated by dragons.
Conflict soon erupts between the dwarves and their new fiery neighbors, and most of the survivors are
forced to relocate all over again - this time joining their kin under the Lonely Mountain.
Unfortunately, the dragons aren't done with the dwarves just yet. One drake in particular hears
of the great riches of the Lonely Mountain, and decides to pay a visit to the dwarves of Erebor.
When Smaug attacks the Lonely Mountain, it spells doom for the Longbeards. Already driven
out of Moria by Durin's Bane, the few surviving dwarves once again find themselves on the run.
Many head further east to the Iron Hills. Another group of dwarves under the king, Thrór,
head south, where they adopt a wandering, homeless lifestyle.
After that, the dwarf-king Thrór becomes tired of his people's constant defeats and lonely
wanderings and starts to go a little bit out of his mind. He decides to head back to Moria
to scout out the land, whereupon he's quickly killed and mutilated by the orcs that have taken
up residence in the dwarves' absence. This act of regicide sparks the War of the Dwarves and Orcs.
Over the next three years, dwarves from all of the seven households gather together
to attack the orcs of the Misty Mountains. The war culminates with an epic battle in front
of the gates of Moria, where, according to the books, they successfully kill the Orc leader Azog.
After their victory, the dwarves refuse to repopulate Moria, knowing that there's a Balrog on
the loose, and they scatter back to their homes, leaving the Longbeards still without a home.
Roughly 150 years after the battle outside Moria, Thorin Oakenshield meets Gandalf the Grey
in the inn at Bree. They recruit a dozen dwarves and a certain timid hobbit,
and set out on a quest to reclaim their treasure from Smaug.
"Nope."
After the dragon is defeated and the Kingdom under the Mountain is restored, the dwarves
find a new lease on life. With a new horde of gold and jewels in hand, they set up shop as one of the
dominant forces in northern Middle-earth... just in time for the War of the Ring.
While the dwarves aren't shown much throughout The Lord of the Rings, they do play an important
side role by helping to keep the forces of evil at bay in the north. In fact, in the appendix for The
Return of the King, Gandalf explains that Dáin, the dwarven king at the time, is killed fighting
Easterlings at the gates of Erebor. Nevertheless, the dwarves and their allies successfully keep the
northern regions of Middle-earth safe while the events in the main narrative unfold.
After the War of the Ring wraps up, Gimli returns to the Lonely Mountain and brings a group of his
people back to Rohan - or, more specifically, to Helm's Deep. There, the dwarves establish
a new home in the Glittering Caves, a place that Gimli himself dubbed one of the "marvels
of the Northern World" in The Two Towers. Gimli, now the lord of the Glittering Caves,
also helps to repair the broken gates of Minas Tirith around this time.
It's also said that king Durin the Seventh,
the last king to be named after the founder of the Longbeards, finally reclaims Khazad-dûm and
restores it to its former glory. Eventually, the dwarves begin to diminish in importance,
and their race slowly dwindles, until it comes to an end at an undisclosed point in time.
Perhaps the most fitting ending to the dwarven history is the touching story that Gimli,
friend to elves and avid devotee to Galadriel,
is eventually given permission to board one of the last ships to the Undying Lands. He
sails west with his friend Legolas, to enjoy an earthly retirement in the Blessed Realm
beyond the sea - and he's reportedly the only dwarf to ever be given such an honor.
So you know the history of the dwarves and how they first came to be - but here's the question:
just what are dwarves in Tolkien's mythology? It's clear enough from their origins that the
dwarves are unique among the many races of Middle-Earth - but they
have plenty of other facets that make them distinct from elves, men, or hobbits, too.
"Nobody tosses a dwarf!"
Take their basic physicality, for example. Dwarves are short, but not quite as short as hobbits,
who are typically between two and four feet tall. In comparison, dwarves usually come in
at around four to four and a half feet tall. They're also tremendously strong,
stout, and stocky. While hobbits are known for their clean-shaven faces, dwarves are
specifically marked by their remarkably long beards, which they wear with great pride.
When Aulë first created the dwarves, he designed them to be tough in order to endure the perils of
Middle-earth. They're also famously stubborn and always remain incredibly loyal to their
friends - and equally bitter to their enemies. While there's no hard and fast number regarding
their lifespan, they definitely outlive men and often live to be hundreds of years old,
with Dwalin, in particular, living to the ripe old age of 340.
Culturally, the dwarves share many things with the other Free Peoples
of Middle-earth - although they tend to put their own unique spin on each one.
Their music, for instance, is highly developed, and in The Hobbit, all of Thorin's companions
show off their musical skills on a number of different instruments. But unlike the music of
the elves, most of their songs aren't light and ethereal. They're slow, methodical, and moody.
The dwarven language is also unique. The Silmarillion states that Aulë
invented a language for them and began to teach it to them right at their inception.
Their language is said to be "cumbrous and unlovely," and is kept very secret indeed.
"Yanad Durinul!"
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