View source for Dwarves in Middle-earth

{{short description|Humanoid race in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium}}
{{Redirect |Khazad |the block cipher |KHAZAD}}
{{good article}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox fictional race
| name                = Dwarves
| series              = [[Middle-earth]]
| image               = J.R.R. Tolkien - Sketch of Dwarves.jpeg
| alt                 = 
| caption             = Detail of Dwarves marching from a 1936<ref>{{cite web|title=Tolkien: Voyage en Terre du Milieu Exhibition Map and Guide |publisher=TolkienGuide |date= |url=https://www.tolkienguide.com/modules/wiwimod/index.php?page=BnF+Exhibition+Map |archive-url= |archive-date= |url-status= }}</ref> pencil and black ink{{sfn|Hammond|Scull|1995|pages=112 (plate 103)}} drawing by [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]
| first_major         = [[The Hobbit]]
| creator             = [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]
| other_names         = Khazad, Naugrim
| iu_creator          = [[Valar#Lords|Aulë]]
| iu_created_date     = 
| quadrant            = 
| home_world          = [[Middle-earth]]
| capital             = 
| base_of_operations  = 
| type                = 
| sub_races           = 
| distinctions        = 
| language            = [[Khuzdul]], [[Westron]]
| currency            = 
| religion            = 
| affiliation         = 
| leader              = 
| members             = {{ubl|[[Thorin Oakenshield|Thorin II Oakenshield]]|[[Balin (Middle-earth)|Balin]]|[[Gimli (Middle-earth)|Gimli]]}}
}}
In the [[Tolkien's legendarium|fantasy]] of [[J. R. R. Tolkien]], the '''Dwarves''' are a race inhabiting [[Middle-earth]], the central continent of [[Arda (Middle-earth)|Arda]] in an imagined mythological past. They are based on the [[Dwarf (mythology)|dwarfs of Germanic myths]] who were small humanoids that lived in mountains, practising [[mining]], [[metallurgy]], [[blacksmithing]] and [[jewellery]]. Tolkien described them as tough, warlike, and lovers of stone and craftsmanship.

The origins of Tolkien's Dwarves can be traced to Norse mythology; Tolkien also mentioned a connection with Jewish history and language.
Dwarves appear in his books ''[[The Hobbit]]'' (1937), ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' (1954–55), and the posthumously published ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' (1977), ''[[Unfinished Tales]]'' (1980), and ''[[The History of Middle-earth]]'' series (1983–96), the last three edited by his son [[Christopher Tolkien]].

== Characteristics ==

[[File:All-wise answers Thor.jpg|thumb|Tolkien found dwarves in [[Norse mythology]].<ref name="Evans 2013 (Drout)"/> Here the god [[Thor]] talks to the [[Dwarf (mythology)|dwarf]] [[Alviss]] to prevent him from marrying his daughter [[Þrúðr]]; at dawn Alviss turns to stone. Drawing by [[W. G. Collingwood]], 1908]]

The [[medievalist]] [[Charles Moseley (writer)|Charles Moseley]] described the dwarves of Tolkien's legendarium as "[[Old Norse]]" in their names, their feuds, and their revenges.<ref name="Moseley 1997"/> In the appendix on "Durin's Folk" in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', Tolkien describes dwarves as:

{{blockquote|a tough, thrawn race for the most part, secretive, laborious, retentive of the memory of injuries (and of benefits), lovers of stone, of gems, of things that take shape under the hands of the craftsmen rather than things that live by their own life. But they are not evil by nature, and few ever served [[Sauron|the Enemy]] of free will, whatever the tales of [[Men (Middle-earth)|Men]] alleged. For Men of old lusted after their wealth and the work of their hands, and there has been enmity between the races.<ref name="Durin's Folk" group=T/>}}

''[[The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]]'' considers Tolkien's use of the adjective "[[wikt:thrawn|thrawn]]", noting its similarity with ''Þráinn'', a noun meaning "obstinate person", and a name found in the [[Norse mythology|Norse]] list of Dwarf-names, the [[Dvergatal|''Dvergatal'' in the ''Völuspá'']]. Tolkien took it for the name, Thráin, of two of [[Thorin Oakenshield]]'s ancestors. It suggests this may have been a [[Philology|philological]] joke on Tolkien's part.<ref name="Evans 2013 (Drout)"/>

{{anchor|Dwarf-women}}
Dwarves were long-lived, with a lifespan of some 250 years.<ref name="Durin's Folk" group=T/> They breed slowly, for no more than a third of them are female, not all marry, and they have children only late in life. Tolkien names only one female, Dís, Thorin's sister.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1996|loc="The Making of Appendix A": (iv) "Durin's Folk"}}</ref> They are still considered children in their 20s, as Thorin was at age 24;<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1937|loc=ch. 1 "An Unexpected Party"}}</ref> and as "striplings" in their 30s. Despite his young age, [[Dáin Ironfoot]] was 32 when he killed [[Azog]], the [[Orc (Middle-earth)|orc]] chieftain of [[Moria (Middle-earth)|Moria]].<ref name="Durin's Folk" group=T/> They had children starting in their 90s.<ref name="Durin's Folk" group=T/>

{{Durin's Folk}}

The Dwarves are described as "the most redoubtable warriors of all the Speaking Peoples"<ref name="Of Dwarves and Men" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1996|loc=part 2, ch. 10 "Of Dwarves and Men"}}</ref> – a warlike race who fought fiercely against their enemies, including other Dwarves.<ref name="Of the Sindar" group=T/> Highly skilled in the making of [[Middle-earth weapons and armour|weapons and armour]], their main weapon was the [[battle axe]], but they also used [[bow and arrow|bows]], [[sword]]s, [[shield]]s and [[mattock]]s, and wore armour.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1937|loc=ch. 15 "The Gathering of the Clouds"}}</ref>

[[Sauron]] gave [[Rings of Power#The Seven|seven Rings of Power]] to Dwarf lords. The Rings caused them to be wrathful and greedy for gold, but they were not brought under Sauron's domination,<ref name="Rings of Power"group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|loc=Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age}}</ref> nor did they gain longer life.<ref name="Durin's Folk" group=T /> Eventually all seven Rings were destroyed or reclaimed by Sauron.<ref name="Rings of Power"group=T /> One of the rings was given to Durin III, and passed down to [[Thorin Oakenshield#Family tree|Thrór]], who gave it to his son Thráin II, father of [[Thorin Oakenshield]]. Sauron captured Thráin and took the ring from him in the dungeons of [[Dol Guldur]].<ref name="Durin's Folk" group=T />

== In-fiction origins ==

{{further|The Silmarillion}}
{{anchor|Mount Gundabad}}

The Dwarves are portrayed in ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' as an ancient people who awake during the [[Years of the Trees]], after the [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elves]] at the start of the [[First Age]], but before [[Men (Middle-earth)|Men]] when the Sun and Moon are created. The [[Vala (Middle-earth)|Vala]] [[Aulë]], impatient for the arising of the [[Children of Ilúvatar]], creates the seven {{Visible anchor|Fathers of the Dwarves}} in secret, intending them to be his children to whom he could teach his crafts. He teaches them [[Khuzdul]], a language he had devised for them. [[Ilúvatar]], creator of [[Arda (Middle-earth)|Arda]], is aware of the Dwarves' creation and sanctifies them. Because they had been made by a Vala, Dwarves lacked souls until granted them by Ilúvatar.<ref name=":Reinders">{{Cite book |last=Reinders |first=Eric |title=Reading Tolkien in Chinese: Religion, Fantasy, and Translation |date=2024 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]] Academic |isbn=9781350374645 |series=Perspectives on Fantasy series |location=London, UK |pages=98}}</ref> Aulë sealed the seven Fathers of the Dwarves in stone chambers in far-flung regions of Middle-earth to await their awakening.<ref name="Evans 2013 (Drout)"/><ref name="Silmarillion Creation Myth" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|loc=ch. 2 "Of Aulë and Yavanna"}}</ref>

[[File:Arthur Rackham Siegfried and Mime (detail).jpg|thumb|upright|The petty-dwarf Mîm may derive from the shrunken figure of [[Regin|Mime]],<ref name="Moseley 1997"/> here shown cowering behind the celebrating [[Sigurd|Siegfried]] in [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]]'s opera {{Lang|de|[[Der Ring des Nibelungen]]}}. Illustration by [[Arthur Rackham]], 1911]]

{{anchor|Durin}}
Each of the Seven Fathers founds one of the seven Dwarf clans. Durin I is the eldest, and the first of his kind to awake in Middle-earth. He awakens in [[Mount Gundabad]], in the northern [[Misty Mountains]], and founds the clan of Longbeards (Durin's Folk); they found the city of [[Khazad-dûm]] below the Misty Mountains, and later realms in the [[Ered Mithrin|Grey Mountains]] and [[Erebor]] (the Lonely Mountain). Two others lie in sleep in the north of the ''[[Ered Luin]]'' (Blue Mountains), and they found the lines of the Broadbeams and the Firebeards. The remaining four clans, the Ironfists, Stiffbeards, Blacklocks, and Stonefoots come from the East.<ref name="Of Dwarves and Men" group=T/> After the end of the First Age, the Dwarves spoken of are almost exclusively of Durin's line.<ref name="R. Tolkien 1954 pp. 52/53" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a|loc=book 1, ch. 2 "[[The Shadow of the Past]]"}}</ref>

A further division, the even shorter {{visible anchor|Petty-dwarves}}, appears in ''The Silmarillion''<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|loc=ch. 21 "Of Túrin Turambar"}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Rateliff|2007|loc=Volume One ''Mr. Baggins'', p. 78}}</ref> and ''[[The Children of Húrin]]''.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|2007|loc=ch. 8 "The Land of Bow and helm"}}</ref> Moseley likens {{Visible anchor|Mîm}}, the last known Petty-dwarf, to the similarly named [[Alberich|Mime]] from the ''[[Nibelungenlied]]''.<ref name="Moseley 1997">{{cite book |last=Moseley |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Moseley (writer) |title=J. R. R. Tolkien |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford, England |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-746-30763-2 |page=32}}</ref>

== Arte<!--British English-->facts ==
{{anchor|Telchar}}

=== Mining, masonry, and metalwork ===

{{further|Named weapons in Middle-earth}}

As creations of Aulë, they are attracted to the substances of Arda. They mine and work precious metals throughout the mountains of Middle-earth. They are unrivalled in smithing, crafting, metalworking, and masonry, even among the [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elves]]. The Dwarf-smith Telchar is the greatest in renown.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|loc=ch. 2 "Of Aulë and Yavanna"}}</ref> They build immense halls under mountains for their cities. They build many famed halls including the [[Menegroth]], [[Khazad-dûm]], and [[Erebor]].<ref name="Of the Sindar" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|loc=ch. 10 "Of the Sindar"}}</ref> Among the many treasures they forge are the [[Named weapons in Middle-earth|named weapons]] [[Narsil]], the sword of [[Elendil]], the [[Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin]] and the necklace Nauglamír, the most prized treasure in [[Nargothrond]] and the most famed Dwarven work of the Elder Days.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|loc=ch. 22 "Of the Ruin of Doriath"}}</ref> In ''The Hobbit'', Thorin gives Bilbo a [[Mithril]] coat of linked rings of [[Mail armour|mail]].<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1937|loc=ch. 13, "Not at Home"}}</ref>

=== Language and names ===

{{Main|Khuzdul|Cirth}}

[[File:Linguistic Map of Middle-Earth.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|Tolkien invented parts of [[Middle-earth]] to resolve the linguistic puzzle he had accidentally created by using different European languages for those of peoples in his legendarium.<ref name="Shippey">{{cite book |last=Shippey |first=Thomas |author-link=Thomas Shippey |title=[[The Road to Middle-Earth]] |date=1982 |publisher=[[Grafton (publisher)|Grafton]] (HarperCollins) |location=New York City |isbn=0261102753 |pages=131–133}}</ref><ref name="Letters Languages" group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#144, to [[Naomi Mitchison]], 25 April 1954 }}</ref>]]

In [[Sindarin]] (Grey-elvish) the Dwarves are called ''Naugrim'' ("Stunted People"), ''Gonnhirrim'' ("Stone-lords"), and ''Dornhoth'' ("Thrawn Folk"), and ''Hadhodrim''. In [[Quenya]] they are the ''Casári''. The Dwarves call themselves ''Khazâd'' in their own language, [[Khuzdul]].<ref name="On Translation" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc=''Appendix F'', "On Translation"}}</ref> [[Khuzdul]] is created for them by Aulë, rather than being descended from an Elvish language, as most of the languages of [[Man (Middle-earth)|Men]] are. They write it using [[Cirth]] [[rune]]s, a writing system originally created by Elves in Beleriand to write Sindarin, and later more fully developed by Daeron, an Elf of Doriath. The Cirth runes are adapted by Dwarves for writing Khuzdul.<ref>{{cite book |last=Noel |first=Ruth S. |title=The Languages of Tolkien's Middle-earth |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|Houghton Mifflin]] |location=Boston, Massachusetts |year=1980 |isbn=978-0395291306 |at=Part 1, ch. 5, "The Languages of Rhovanion", pp. 30–34}}</ref> The Dwarves keep their language secret and do not normally teach it to others, so they learn both [[Quenya]] and [[Sindarin]] to communicate with the Elves, especially the [[Noldor]] and [[Sindar]]. By the [[Third Age]] the Dwarves are estranged from the Elves and no longer routinely learn their language. Instead, they mostly use [[Westron]] (Common Speech), a Mannish tongue, in communicating with other races.<ref name="Of the Sindar" group=T/><ref name="Of Other Races" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc=''Appendix F'', "Of Other Races"}}</ref>

Each Dwarf has two personal names, a secret, "inner" name in Khuzdul, which is used only among other Dwarves and is never revealed to outsiders, and a public, "outer" name for use with other races, taken from the language of the people amongst whom the Dwarf lives. For example, the Dwarves of Moria and the Lonely Mountain use outer names taken from the language of the Men of the north where they lived.<ref name="On Translation" group=T/>

In reality, Tolkien took the names of 12 of the 13 dwarves – excluding [[Balin (Middle-earth)|Balin]] – that he used in ''The Hobbit'' from the Old Norse ''Völuspá'', long before the idea of Khuzdul arose.<ref name="Evans 2013 (Drout)"/><ref>{{harvnb|Rateliff|2007|loc=Volume 2 ''Return to Bag-End'', Appendix 3}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1996|loc=p.71}}</ref>

=== Calendar ===

Tolkien's only mention of the Dwarves' calendar is in ''[[The Hobbit]]'', regarding the "dwarves' New Year" (''[[Durin]]'s Day''), which occurs on the day of the last new moon of autumn.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1937|loc=ch. 3 "A Short Rest"}}</ref> However, in his first drafts of the book, Durin's Day was the ''first'' new moon of autumn. After he had finished writing the book, Tolkien went back and changed all occurrences of the date to the last new moon, more in keeping with the real-world [[Celtic calendar]], but overlooked one mention in Chapter IV, which still named the date as the first new moon.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1937|loc=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."</ref> Tolkien never noticed this inconsistency, and it was not corrected until the 1995 edition of the book.<ref>{{harvnb|Rateliff|2007|loc=Volume 1 ''Mr. Baggins'', p.124}}</ref> The astronomer [[Bradley E. Schaefer]] has analysed the astronomical determinants of Durin's Day. He concluded that – as with many real-world [[lunar calendar]]s – the date of Durin's Day is observational, dependent on the first visible crescent moon.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Schaefer |first=Bradley E. |author-link=Bradley E. Schaefer |title=The Hobbit and Durin's Day |journal=The Griffith Observer |volume=58 |issue=11 |year=1994 |publisher=[[Griffith Observatory]] |location=Los Angeles, California |pages=12–17}}</ref>

== Analysis ==

=== Norse myth ===

{{further|Tolkien and the Norse}}

In Tolkien's ''[[The Book of Lost Tales]]'', the very few Dwarves who appear are portrayed as evil beings, employers of [[Orc (Middle-earth)|Orc]] mercenaries and in conflict with the [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elves]]—who are the imagined "authors" of the myths, and are therefore biased against Dwarves.<ref name="Evans 2013 (Drout)">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Evans |first=Jonathan  |author-link=Jonathan Evans (scholar) |title=Dwarves |editor-last=Drout |editor-first=Michael D. C. |editor-link=Michael D. C. Drout |encyclopedia=[[The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]] |year=2013 |orig-year=2007 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=Abingdon, England |isbn=978-0-415-86511-1 |pages=134–135}}</ref><ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1984|loc="Gilfanon's Tale"}}</ref><ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1984|loc="The Nauglafring"}}</ref> Tolkien was inspired by the [[Norse dwarves|dwarves of Norse myths]]<ref>{{cite book |first=Thomas |last=Shippey |author-link=Thomas Shippey |title=[[J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century]] |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |location=London, England |isbn=978-0-262-10401-2 |orig-year=2000 |year=2001 |pages=14–17}}</ref><ref name="chance">{{cite book |last=Burns |first=Marjorie J. |author-link=Marjorie Burns |chapter=Norse and Christian Gods: The Integrative Theology of J.R.R. Tolkien |editor-first=Jane |editor-last=Chance |editor-link=Jane Chance |title=Tolkien and the Invention of Myth: A Reader |year=2004 |publisher=[[University Press of Kentucky]] |location=Lexington, Kentucky |isbn=0-8131-2301-1 |pages=163–178}}</ref> and of later Germanic folklore<!--same article as prev. link, Norse dwarves--> (such as that of the [[Brothers Grimm]]), from whom his Dwarves take their characteristic affinity with mining, metalworking, and crafting.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm.html |title=Grimm Brothers' Home Page |last=Ashliman |first=D. L. |website=www.pitt.edu |publisher=[[University of Pittsburgh]] |location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://norse-mythology.org/gods-and-creatures/dwarves/ |title=Dwarves |last=McCoy |first=Daniel |website=Norse Mythology}}</ref>

=== 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]] people and their history.<ref name="HotH">{{harvnb|Rateliff|2007|loc=Part One ''Mr. Baggins'', pp. 79–80}}</ref> The dwarves' characteristics of being dispossessed of their homeland in<!--this is not the place for a summary of The Hobbit--> [[Erebor]], and living among other groups but retaining their own culture, are derived from the medieval image of Jews,<ref name="HotH"/> while, according to the Tolkien scholar [[John D. Rateliff]], their warlike nature stems from accounts in the [[Hebrew Bible]].<!--Please do not add anything here without citing a suitable source--><ref name="HotH"/><ref name="The Secret Jews of The Hobbit">{{Cite web |date=2016-08-11 |title=The Secret Jews of The Hobbit |url=https://www.commentary.org/articles/meir-soloveichik/the-secret-jews-of-the-hobbit/ |access-date=2025-01-26 |website=Commentary Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> Medieval views of Jews also saw them as having a propensity for making well-crafted and beautiful things,<ref name="HotH"/> a trait shared with Norse dwarves.<ref name="chance"/><ref name="names">''[[Poetic Edda]]'', translated by [[Henry Adams Bellows (businessman)|Henry Adams Bellows]].</ref> The Dwarf calendar invented for ''The Hobbit'' reflects the [[Jewish calendar]]'s [[Rosh Hashanah]] in beginning in late autumn.<ref name="HotH"/><ref name="Eden2014">{{cite book |last=Eden |first=Bradford Lee |author-link=Bradford Lee Eden |title=The Hobbit and Tolkien's Mythology: Essays on Revisions and Influences |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ariQBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA40 |year=2014 |publisher=[[McFarland (publisher)|McFarland]] |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |isbn=978-0-7864-7960-3 |page=40}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto;"
|+ Tolkien's use of Jewish history for his Dwarves<ref name="HotH"/>
! Aspect !! Historical element !! Application to Dwarves
|-
| Dispossession of homeland || [[Jewish diaspora]] || Living in exile from [[Moria (Middle-earth)|Moria]] and [[Erebor]], retaining own culture
|-
| Warlike nature || Medieval image of Jews || Warlike Dwarves 
|-
| Skill || Medieval image of Jews || Propensity for making well-crafted, beautiful things<br/>(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 [[Yiddish|Hebrew-derived language]] alongside local languages || Dwarves spoke "Semitic"<ref name="Lebovic 2013"/> [[Khuzdul]] amongst themselves, shared language ([[Westron]]) to others<ref name="Letter 176" group=T/>
|}

=== Semitic-style language ===

{{further|Khuzdul}}

In ''The Lord of the Rings'', Tolkien continued the themes of ''The Hobbit''. When giving Dwarves their own language, [[Khuzdul]], Tolkien decided to create an analogue of a [[Semitic language]] influenced by [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] [[phonology]]. Like medieval Jewish groups, the Dwarves used their own language only among themselves, and adopted the languages of those they live amongst for the most part, for example taking public names from the cultures they lived within, whilst keeping their "true-names" and true language a secret.<ref name="HotH"/> Tolkien further underlined the [[diaspora]] of the Dwarves with the lost stronghold of the Mines of [[Moria (Middle-earth)|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..."<ref name="Letter 176" group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#176 to [[Naomi Mitchison]], 8 December 1955 }}</ref><ref name="The Secret Jews of The Hobbit"/> 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."<ref name="Lebovic 2013">{{cite news |last1=Lebovic |first1=Matt |title=Are Tolkien's dwarves an allegory for the Jews? |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/are-tolkiens-dwarves-an-allegory-for-the-jews/ |access-date=13 March 2023 |work=[[The Times of Israel]] |date=11 December 2013 |quote=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.' |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213083919/https://www.timesofisrael.com/are-tolkiens-dwarves-an-allegory-for-the-jews/ |archive-date=13 December 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> This raises the question, examined by Rebecca Brackmann in ''[[Mythlore]]'', of whether there was an [[Tolkien and race|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.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Brackmann |first=Rebecca |title="Dwarves are Not Heroes": Antisemitism and the Dwarves in J.R.R. Tolkien's Writing |journal=[[Mythlore]] |publisher=[[Mythopoeic Society]] |date=2010 |volume=28 |issue=3/4 |at=article 7 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol28/iss3/7}}</ref> It has been suggested that the formation of the deep friendship between the dwarf [[Gimli (Middle-earth)|Gimli]] and elf [[Legolas]] in the ''Lord of the Rings'', overcoming longtime mutual suspicion, can be seen as Tolkien's reply toward "Gentile anti-Semitism and Jewish exclusiveness".<ref>{{cite book |last=Edwards |first=Owen Dudley |author-link=Owen Dudley Edwards |title=British Children's Fiction in the Second World War |year=2008 |publisher=[[Edinburgh University Press]] |isbn=0-7486-1651-9 |pp=458–459}}</ref>

The philologist [[Helge Fauskanger]] analyses Khuzdul, finding in it features of [[Semitic languages]].{{sfn|Fauskanger|2018}}

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto;"
|+ Helge Fauskanger's analysis of [[Semitic languages|Semitic features]] of the Dwarves' language, [[Khuzdul]]{{sfn|Fauskanger|2018}}
|-
! style="width: 120px;" | Element 
! style="width: 270px;" | Description
! style="width: 220px;" | Example
|-
| [[Word stem]]s || Not pronounceable words, only [[consonant]]s || R-Kh-S "Orc-"
|-
| [[Part of speech|Parts of speech]] || Nouns, verbs etc formed by inserting [[vowel]]s into word stems; sometimes with doubling of a consonant || ''Rukhs'' "Orc"; ''Rakhâs'' "Orcs" 
|-
| [[Construct state]] || Word before noun taken as [[genitival]],<br/>i.e. X Y = "The X of Y", "Y's X" || ''Baruk Khazâd!'' "Axes of the Dwarves!"
|-
| [[Nominal sentence]] || Verb "to be" can be implicit || ''Khazâd ai-mênu!'' "The Dwarves [are] upon you!"
|}

=== Spelling ===

The original editor of ''The Hobbit'' "corrected" Tolkien's plural "dwarves" to "dwarfs", as did the editor of the [[Puffin Books|Puffin]] paperback edition.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#138 to [[Christopher Tolkien]], 4 August 1953 }}</ref> According to Tolkien, the "real 'historical' plural" of "dwarf" is "dwarrows" or "dwerrows".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=dwarf |title=Dwarf |website=Online Etymology Dictionary |access-date=6 April 2018}}</ref> He described the word "dwarves" as "a piece of private bad grammar".<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#17 to [[Stanley Unwin (publisher)|Stanley Unwin]], 15 October 1937 }}</ref> 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".<ref name="On Translation" group=T/> Despite his fondness for it,<ref name="On Translation" group=T/> 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"<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1937|loc=Preface}}</ref> and "dwarf(-)" (e.g. "[[Rings of Power#Ring Verse|Dwarf-lords]]", "Old Dwarf Road") as adjectives for the people he created.<ref name="On Translation" group=T/>

== Adaptations ==

=== Films ===

[[File:Bakshi Gimli.jpg|thumb|left|[[Gimli (Middle-earth)|Gimli]] in [[Ralph Bakshi]]'s [[The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)|''The Lord of the Rings'']] (1978) voiced by [[David Buck]]]]

In [[Rankin-Bass]]' [[The Hobbit (1977 film)|1977 animated film adaptation]] of ''The Hobbit'', Thorin was voiced by [[Hans Conreid]], with [[Don Messick]] voicing [[Balin (Middle-earth)|Balin]], [[John Stephenson (actor)|John Stephenson]] voicing [[Dori (Middle-earth)|Dori]], [[Jack DeLeon]] voicing [[Dwalin]], [[Fíli]], [[Kíli]], [[Óin, son of Gróin|Óin]], [[Glóin]], [[Ori (Middle-earth)|Ori]], [[Nori (Middle-earth)|Nori]], [[Bifur]], and [[Bofur]], and [[Paul Frees]] voicing [[Bombur (Middle-earth)|Bombur]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/movies/The-Hobbit/ |title=The Hobbit (1977 Movie) |website=Behind the Voice Actors |access-date=June 17, 2022}}</ref>

In [[Ralph Bakshi]]'s 1978 animated film [[The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)|''The Lord of the Rings'']], the part of the Dwarf [[Gimli (Middle-earth)|Gimli]] was voiced by [[David Buck]].<ref name="Beck2005">{{cite book |last=Beck |first=Jerry |title=The Animated Movie Guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fTI1yeZd-tkC&pg=PA154 |year=2005 |publisher=[[Chicago Review Press]] |location=Chicago, Illinois |isbn=978-1-56976-222-6 |page=154}}</ref>

In [[Peter Jackson]]'s [[live action]] adaptation of [[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''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]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Flieger |first=Verlyn |author-link=Verlyn Flieger |chapter=Sometimes One Word Is Worth a Thousand Pictures |editor1-last=Bogstad |editor1-first=Janice M. |editor2-last=Kaveny |editor2-first=Philip E. |title=[[Picturing Tolkien]] |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jNjKrXRP0G8C&pg=PA71 |year=2011 |publisher=[[McFarland (publisher)|McFarland]] |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |isbn=978-0-7864-8473-7 |page=48}}</ref><ref name="croft">{{cite web |last=Croft |first=Janet Brennan |author-link=Janet Brennan Croft |url=http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/C/Janet.B.Croft-1/anticipationandflattening.htm |title=The Mines of Moria: 'Anticipation' and 'Flattening' in Peter Jackson's ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' |date=February 2003 |work=Southwest/Texas Popular Culture Association Conference, Albuquerque |publisher=[[University of Oklahoma]] |location=Norman, Oklahoma |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111031065417/http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/C/Janet.B.Croft-1/anticipationandflattening.htm |archive-date=October 31, 2011}}</ref> Gimli is played by [[John Rhys-Davies]], who gave the character a "Welsh-derived" accent.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sibley |first=Brian |author-link=Brian Sibley |title=The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Official Movie Guide |date=2013 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X_YUAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA27 |isbn=978-0007498079 |page=27 |quote=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].}}</ref>

In Jackson's [[The Hobbit (film trilogy)|three-film adaptation]] of ''The Hobbit'', Thorin is portrayed by [[Richard Armitage (actor)|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 (actor)|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.<ref>{{cite web |first=Andrew |last=Sims |title='The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug': First look at Evangeline Lilly as new character Tauriel  |date=5 June 2013 |website=Hypable |url=http://www.hypable.com/2013/06/05/the-hobbit-2-desolation-of-smaug-evangeline-lilly-tauriel/ |access-date=20 August 2013}}</ref>

=== Role-playing games ===

[[File:Dwarves.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Dwarves at the [[Council of Elrond]] in [[Peter Jackson]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring|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).<ref>{{cite book |title=Lords of Middle-earth |volume=III |publisher=[[Berkley Publishing]] |location=New York City |year=1989 |isbn=978-1-55806-052-4 |oclc=948478096}}</ref>

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.<ref name="Long 2002">{{cite book |last=Long |first=Steven |title=The Lord of the rings roleplaying game: core book |publisher=Decipher |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-58236-951-8 |oclc=51570885}}</ref><!--In the ''Dwarves of Middle-earth'' (2003) supplement, the seven Dwarf Lords and their houses are named as Durin, Sindri, Linnar, Var, Uri, Thulin and Vigdis.-->

In the real-time strategy game ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II]]'', and its [[The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king|expansion]], both based on the Jackson films, Dwarves are heavily influenced by classical military practice, and use throwing axes, war hammers, spears, and circular shields. One dwarf unit is the [[Phalanx formation|"Phalanx"]], similar to its [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] counterpart.<ref>{{cite web |title=Battle for Middle-earth II - The Dwarves |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2006/02/21/battle-for-middle-earth-ii-the-dwarves |publisher=[[IGN]] |access-date=26 July 2020}}</ref>

== Footnotes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==

=== Primary ===

{{reflist|group=T|28em}}

=== Secondary ===

{{reflist|28em}}

== Sources ==

* {{ME-ref|Letters}} <!--Carpenter 1981-->
* {{cite web |last=Fauskanger |first=Helge K. |author-link=Helge Fauskanger |title=Khuzdul - the secret tongue of the Dwarves |work=Ardalambion |url=https://folk.uib.no/hnohf/khuzdul.htm |publisher=[[University of Bergen]] |date=2018 |access-date=23 November 2018}}
* {{cite book |last=Hammond |first=Wayne G. |author1-link=Wayne G. Hammond |last2=Scull |first2=Christina |author2-link=Christina Scull |title=J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |publication-place=London |date=1995 |isbn=978-0-261-10322-1}}
* {{ME-ref|HotH}}    <!--Rateliff 2007-->
* {{ME-ref|TH}}
* {{ME-ref|FOTR}}
* {{ME-ref|ROTK}}
* {{ME-ref|Silm}}
* {{ME-ref|POME}}
* {{ME-ref|BOLT}}
* {{ME-ref|CH}}      <!--Tolkien 2007-->

{{Middle-earth}}
{{Hobbit}}
{{The Lord of the Rings}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dwarf (Middle-earth)}}
[[Category:Middle-earth Dwarves|*]]