Dwarves in Middle-earth

The Dwarves are portrayed in

Each of the Seven Fathers founded one of the seven Dwarf clans. Durin I was the eldest, and the first of his kind to awake in Middle-earth. He awoke in

A further division, the even shorter Petty-dwarves, appears in The Silmarillion[T 10]^[3] and The Children of Húrin.^{[T 11]} Mîm, the last known Petty-dwarf, has been said by Moseley to resemble the similarly named character Mime from the Nibelungenlied.^[2]

Artefacts

Mining, masonry, and metalwork

As creations of Aulë, they were attracted to the substances of Arda. They mined and worked precious metals throughout the mountains of Middle-earth. They were unrivalled in smithing, crafting, metalworking, and masonry, even among the

In Grey-elvish or

Each Dwarf had two personal names, a secret or "inner" name in Khuzdul, which was used only among other Dwarves and was never revealed to outsiders, and a public "outer" name for use with other races, which was taken from the language of the people amongst whom the Dwarf lived. For example, the Dwarves of Moria and the Lonely Mountain used outer names taken from the language of the Men of the north where they lived.[T 16]

In reality, Tolkien took the names of 12 of the 13 dwarves – excluding Balin – that he used in The Hobbit from the Old Norse Völuspá, long before the idea of Khuzdul arose.^[1][6] When he came to write The Lord of the Rings, in order to explain why the Dwarves had Norse names, he created an elaborate fiction that many of the languages used in the book were "translated" into real-life languages for the benefit of the reader, roughly retaining the relationships of the languages among themselves. Thus, Westron was translated into English, the related but more archaic language of the Rohirrim was translated into Anglo-Saxon (Old English), and the even more distantly related language of Dale was translated into Norse. It is possible that the problem of explaining the Dwarves' Norse names was the origin of the entire structure of the Mannish languages in Middle-earth along with the fiction of "translation".^[7]

Calendar

Tolkien's only mention of the Dwarves' calendar is in

Concept and creation

Norse myth

Further information: Tolkien and the Norse

In Tolkien's

dwarves of Norse myths^[10][11] and of Germanic folklore (such as that of the Brothers Grimm), from whom his Dwarves take their characteristic affinity with mining, metalworking, and crafting.^[12][13]

Jewish history

In The Hobbit, Dwarves are portrayed as occasionally comedic and bumbling, but largely as honourable, serious-minded, and proud. Tolkien was influenced by his own selective reading of medieval texts regarding

Jewish calendar's Rosh Hashanah in beginning in late autumn.^[14][16]

In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien continued the themes of The Hobbit. When giving Dwarves their own language,

Moria. Tolkien elaborated on Jewish influence on his Dwarves in a letter: "I do think of the 'Dwarves' like Jews: at once native and alien in their habitations, speaking the languages of the country, but with an accent due to their own private tongue..."^{[T 22]} In the last interview before his death, Tolkien said "The dwarves of course are quite obviously, wouldn't you say, that in many ways they remind you of the Jews? Their words are Semitic, obviously, constructed to be Semitic."^[17] This raises the question, examined by Rebecca Brackmann in Mythlore, of whether there was an element of antisemitism, however deeply buried, in Tolkien's account of the Dwarves, inherited from English attitudes of his time. Brackman notes that Tolkien himself attempted to work through the issue in his Middle-earth writings.^[18]

Tolkien's use of Jewish history for his Dwarves^[14]

Aspect	Historical element	Application to Dwarves
Dispossession of homeland	Jewish diaspora	Living in exile from Erebor , retaining own culture
Warlike nature	Medieval image of Jews	Warlike Dwarves
Skill	Medieval image of Jews	Propensity for making well-crafted, beautiful things (like Norse Dwarves, too)
Jewish calendar	Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year (September/October)	Dwarves' new year is in late autumn
Private language	Medieval Jews spoke Hebrew-derived language alongside local languages	Dwarves spoke "Semitic" Westron) to others[T 22]

Spelling

The original editor of The Hobbit "corrected" Tolkien's plural "dwarves" to "dwarfs", as did the editor of the Puffin paperback edition.^{[T 23]} According to Tolkien, the "real 'historical' plural" of "dwarf" is "dwarrows" or "dwerrows".^[19] He described the word "dwarves" as "a piece of private bad grammar".^{[T 24]} In Appendix F of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien explained that if people still spoke of "dwarves" regularly, English might have retained a special plural for the word "dwarf", as with the irregular plural of "goose", "geese".^{[T 16]} Despite his fondness for it,^{[T 16]} the form "dwarrow" only appears in his writing as "Dwarrowdelf" ("Dwarf-digging"), a name for Moria. He used "Dwarves", instead, corresponding to his "Elves" as a plural for "Elf". Tolkien used "dwarvish"^{[T 25]} and "dwarf(-)" (e.g. "Dwarf-lords", "Old Dwarf Road") as adjectives for the people he created.^{[T 16]}

Adaptations

Films

In

Bombur.^[20]

In Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated film The Lord of the Rings, the part of the Dwarf Gimli was voiced by David Buck.^[21]

In Peter Jackson's live action adaptation of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Gimli's character is from time to time used as comic relief, whether with jokes about his height or his rivalry with the elf Legolas.^[22][23] Gimli is played by John Rhys-Davies, who gave the character a "Welsh-derived" accent.^[24]

In Jackson's

three-film adaptation of The Hobbit, Thorin is portrayed by Richard Armitage, with Ken Stott as Balin, Graham McTavish as Dwalin, Aidan Turner as Kíli, Dean O'Gorman as Fíli, Mark Hadlow as Dori, Jed Brophy as Nori, Adam Brown as Ori, John Callen as Óin, Peter Hambleton as Glóin, William Kircher as Bifur, James Nesbitt as Bofur, and Stephen Hunter as Bombur. Jackson's films introduce a story arc not found in the original novel, in which Kili and the Elf Tauriel (a character also invented for the films) fall in love.^[25]

Role-playing games

Council of Elrond in Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring

In Iron Crown Enterprises' Middle-earth Role Playing (1986), Dwarf player-characters receive statistical bonuses to Strength and Constitution, and subtractions from Presence, Agility and Intelligence. Seven "Dwarven Kindreds", named after each of the founding fathers—Durin, Bávor, Dwálin, Thrár, Druin, Thelór and Bárin—are given in The Lords of Middle-earth—Volume III (1989).^[26]

In

Decipher Inc.'s The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game (2001), based on the Jackson films, Dwarf player-characters get bonuses to Vitality and Strength attributes and must be given craft skills.^[27]

In the real-time strategy game

"Phalanx", similar to its Greek counterpart.^[28]

References

Primary

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Tolkien 1955, Appendix A, "Durin's Folk"
2. ^ Tolkien 1996, "The Making of Appendix A": (iv) "Durin's Folk"
3. ^ Tolkien 1937, ch. 1 "An Unexpected Party"
4. ^ ^{a b} Tolkien 1996, part 2, ch. 10 "Of Dwarves and Men"
5. ^ ^{a b c} Tolkien 1977, ch. 10 "Of the Sindar"
6. ^ Tolkien 1937, ch. 15 "The Gathering of the Clouds"
7. ^ ^{a b} Tolkien 1977, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age
8. ^ Tolkien 1977, ch. 2 "Of Aulë and Yavanna"
9. ^ Tolkien 1954a, book 1, ch. 2 "The Shadow of the Past"
10. ^ Tolkien 1977, ch. 21 "Of Túrin Turambar"
11. ^ Tolkien 2007, ch. 8 "The Land of Bow and helm"
12. ^ Tolkien 1977, ch. 2 "Of Aulë and Yavanna"
13. ^ Tolkien 1977, ch. 22 "Of the Ruin of Doriath"
14. ^ Tolkien 1937, ch. 13, "Not at Home"
15. ^ Carpenter 2023, #144, to Naomi Mitchison, 25 April 1954
16. ^ ^{a b c d e} Tolkien 1955, Appendix F, "On Translation"
17. ^ Tolkien 1955, Appendix F, "Of Other Races"
18. ^ Tolkien 1937, ch. 3 "A Short Rest"
19. ^ Tolkien 1937, ch. 4 "Over Hill and Under Hill": "They had thought of coming to the secret door in the Lonely Mountain, perhaps that very next first moon of Autumn 'and perhaps it will be Durin's Day' they had said."
20. ^ Tolkien 1984, "Gilfanon's Tale"
21. ^ Tolkien 1984, "The Nauglafring"
22. ^ ^{a b} Carpenter 2023, #176 to Naomi Mitchison, 8 December 1955
23. ^ Carpenter 2023, #138 to Christopher Tolkien, 4 August 1953
24. ^ Carpenter 2023, #17 to Stanley Unwin, 15 October 1937
25. ^ Tolkien 1937, Preface

Secondary

1. ^
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3. ^ Rateliff 2007, Volume One Mr. Baggins, p. 78
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5. ISBN 978-0395291306
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6. ^ Rateliff 2007, Volume 2 Return to Bag-End, Appendix 3
7. ^ Tolkien 1996, p.71
8. ^ Rateliff 2007, Volume 1 Mr. Baggins, p.124
9. Schaefer, Bradley E. (1994). "The Hobbit and Durin's Day". The Griffith Observer. 58 (11). Los Angeles, California: Griffith Observatory
   : 12–17.
10. ISBN 978-0-262-10401-2
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11. ^
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12. ^ Ashliman, D. L. "Grimm Brothers' Home Page". www.pitt.edu. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: University of Pittsburgh.
13. ^ McCoy, Daniel. "Dwarves". Norse Mythology.
14. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Rateliff 2007, Part One Mr. Baggins, pp. 79–80
15. ^ Poetic Edda, translated by Henry Adams Bellows.
16. ISBN 978-0-7864-7960-3
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17. ^ ^{a b} Lebovic, Matt (11 December 2013). "Are Tolkien's dwarves an allegory for the Jews?". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 13 March 2023. Tolkien spoke about the Jewish-dwarvish connection during a BBC interview. 'I didn't intend it, but when you've got these people on your hands, you've got to make them different, haven't you?' said Tolkien during the 1971 interview. 'The dwarves of course are quite obviously, wouldn't you say that in many ways they remind you of the Jews? Their words are Semitic, obviously, constructed to be Semitic.'
18. ^ Brackmann, Rebecca (2010). ""Dwarves are Not Heroes": Antisemitism and the Dwarves in J.R.R. Tolkien's Writing". Mythlore. 28 (3/4). Mythopoeic Society. article 7.
19. ^ "Dwarf". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
20. ^ "The Hobbit (1977 Movie)". Behind the Voice Actors. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
21. ISBN 978-1-56976-222-6
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22. ISBN 978-0-7864-8473-7
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23. ^ Croft, Janet Brennan (February 2003). "The Mines of Moria: 'Anticipation' and 'Flattening' in Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring". Southwest/Texas Popular Culture Association Conference, Albuquerque. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma. Archived from the original on 31 October 2011.
24. ISBN 978-0007498079
    . John Rhys-Davies' distinctive Welsh-derived accent for Gimli was adopted by New Zealanders John Callen and Peter Hambleton in portraying characters who are Gimli's father [Gloin] and uncle [Oin].
25. ^ Sims, Andrew (5 June 2013). "'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug': First look at Evangeline Lilly as new character Tauriel". Hypable. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
26. OCLC 948478096
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27. OCLC 51570885
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28. ^ "Battle for Middle-earth II - The Dwarves". IGN. Retrieved 26 July 2020.

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