[edit] Dwarves

[edit] Quick Facts

[edit] The children of Aulë

Unlike Elves and Men, the Dwarves were created by Aulë the Smith. Aulë made seven Fathers of the Dwarves, and these slept through many ages until after the Awakening of the Elves. Almost all the Dwarves that appear in Tolkien's works were descended from the eldest of the Seven Fathers, Durin the Deathless.

Like Aulë their maker, the Dwarves delighted in smithcraft and stoneworking; they mined and worked metals throughout the mountains of Middle-earth. The Dwarves kept themselves apart from the other races; their language, Khuzdul, was a closely guarded secret, and they told their true names to none but themselves (all the Dwarf-names in Tolkien are in the tongues of Elves or Men, not true Dwarf names).

[edit] The History of the Dwarves Before the First Age

The Fathers of the Dwarves awoke soon after the first Elves. We must assume that he did so shortly after the Awakening of the Elves (very approximately 4,300 years before the beginning of the First Age).

It seems that not long passed after their awakening before Durin the Deathless, eldest of the Fathers, founded Khazad-dûm (later called Moria) in the Misty Mountains. Certainly it was well established as their chief citadel by the time the first Dwarves crossed the Blue Mountains into Beleriand. This event took place (approximately) between 3,000 and 6,000 years before the beginning of the First Age.

The Dwarves had no settlement in Beleriand itself, but they built two mighty citadels in the Blue Mountains. These fortress-cities are best known by the Elvish versions of their names: Belegost and Nogrod. The Dwarves also laid the long road that ran westwards out of the Blue Mountains to carry their trade with the Elves of Beleriand.

[edit] The Dwarves in Beleriand

For the Elves dwelling in Beleriand, the first appearance of the Dwarves in the Blue Mountains was a startling revelation - until that time, the Elves had thought themselves the only speaking peoples in the World.

Throughout the long ages, the Elves and Dwarves developed a mutual respect which, if not quite friendship, was far from enmity. After their return to Middle-earth at the beginning of the First Age, the Noldor became closest in friendship with the Dwarves - both peoples revered Aulë, and both had a love of craft and making that made them natural allies.

[edit] The Nature of the Dwarves

Aulë made the Dwarves at a time when the World outside Aman still lay under the dominion of the first Dark Lord, and so he made them sturdy and hard 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 enmity is long-lasting. They are said, though, to be quick to learn new skills.

Probably the best known aspect of the Dwarvish character, though, is their strong instinctive skills in the working of metal and stone, no doubt derived from Aulë their maker, the Vala whose province these things were. 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.

[edit] Dwarvish Mortality

Though they live much longer than Men (usually around 250 years), Dwarves are mortal creatures. What happens after their death, though, is a mystery. The Elves have said that the Dwarves return to the stone from which they were made, but the Dwarves have a different belief.

According to Dwarvish tradition, they are gathered by Aulë in a part of the Halls of Waiting set aside for them. After the end of the World, they say, they will aid Aulë in the rebuilding of the World.