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Dwarvish Cross Cultural Relations
Dwarvish Cross Cultural Relations
BY ASKMIDDLEARTH.TUMBLR.COM
The details change a bit with each re-telling, but the basic idea
seems to be that each dwarf father was situated with a wife and a
bit of a following (basically, the original members of each clan.) The
exception to this was the dwarf placed in the Misty Mountains. This
was Durin, the first dwarf that Aul made. For whatever reason, he
was given neither a wife nor a following. So its said that Durin travelled in his earliest days, and gathered his clan from dwarves that
had originally belonged to other clans. Whether this was done
peacefully or now is completely unknown, but theres no grudge or
anything mentioned afterwards.
The Seven Clans, then, were:
The Longbeards (also known as Durins Folk) in the Misty Mountains
The Firebeards and Broadbeams in the Blue Mountains
The Ironfists and Stiffbeards to the East (probably in the Orocarni Mountains)
The Blacklocks and Stonefoots to the East (probably in the Orocarni Mountains)
1
Once you know to look for it, it can exhibit itself in some pretty interesting ways. For example, in Of Dwarves and Men, an essay
based on late-Third Age information, says:
For the Longbeards, though the proudest of the seven kindreds, were
also the wisest and the most farseeing. Men held them in awe and were
eager to learn from them; and the Longbeards were very willing to use
Men for their own purposes.
Its also emphasized in The Silmarillion that, while there were some
dwarves that fought on both sides during the War of the Last Alliance, the Longbeards fought only on the side of good. Likewise, its
also said that Durins Folk (the Longbeards) claim that the ring of
power worn by their kings was given to them directly by Celebrimbor, and not by Sauron like the other dwarvish rings of power. The
elves arent too sure on this one, implying that it might be a cultural
belief held to relieve the Longbeards of any Sauron-related guilt.
2
In fact, the Longbeard bias is so strong and prevalent that you might
be tempted to believe that the Longbeards simply were better than the
other dwarf clans. However, there is one source that is free of the Longbeard bias, and we see some interesting contradictions there.
In Of the Naugrim and the Edain, there is a short essay thats said to
have been written by the elf Pengolod. This is very important for us, because Pengolod was an elf who conducted most of his research during
the late First Age, while he was living in the Havens of Sirion. This
means that the elves and men he spoke with would have been almost
completely unfamiliar with the Longbeard dwarves, but rather would
have had more experience with the Firebeards and the Broadbeams of
the Blue Mountains.
The most interesting part of this essay, with regards to dwarvish cultural
relations, is this quote:
Now these Fathers, they say, were seven in number, and they alone return
(in the manner of the Quendi) to live again in their own kin and to bear once
more their ancient names.
This quote, which is talking about the legend that the original dwarf fathers are reincarnated occasionally among their descendants, is fascinating because in every other source that mentions this phenomenon
its only Durin thats named. So, basically, you get the impression that
the Longbeards considered themselves unique in this, while Pengolods research shows that the same phenomenon was found among
the other clans as well.
The point of all this is, when considering the dwarves and the relationships between the clans, its important to keep in mind that the information we have is undoubtedly biased in favor of the Longbeards, who
might very well not have been as superior as they claimed.
3
CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
(PEACEFUL AND OTHERWISE)
In almost every discussion of dwarvish history, Tolkien makes a point
to state that the different dwarvish clans were in communication with
each other. Its understandable that hed emphasize this fact, since
the different clans lived so far apart, but just know that his emphasis
there spurs my emphasis here. But what I really want to talk about is
the type of communication we might see:
When discussing the dwarvish language, Khuzdul, Tolkien says a
few times that the dwarves highly valued their language, and so took
special care to preserve it. Which meant that the language changed
very very little throughout the years. Tolkien goes on to say, then, that
this preserved language meant that dwarves from different clans
could easily understand each other, even realms and houses that
have been long and far sundered. We already knew about the distance, but the implication that there were instances when clans went
long periods of time without communicating is interesting. Its likely
that clans lost contact with each other during particularly tumultuous
periods (such as the Dark Days, the second half of the Second Age,
when Sauron controlled much of Middle Earth.)
Aside from the significance of a lingua franca (which Tolkien actually does use to describe Khuzdul, by the way), we get another interesting fact about early dwarvish communication. We know that the
dwarves in the early ages often held assemblies of delegates at
Mount Gundabad. (Gundabad was said to be where Durin I awoke,
and so held special significance for the dwarves.) How regular or often these assemblies were is unknown (allowing for travel time, it
could at most only have been every few years), but its still an impres4
This may seem like a contradiction - the dwarves that hold regular assemblies and the dwarves that often fight amongst themselves, but its
not really so different from real world global politics - countries communicate regularly through organizations like the UN, and yet are still
almost constantly in conflict with each other. The important take-away
is that, at least during the earlier ages, the dwarvish clans were not as
culturally isolated as their geographic locations might suggest.
The idea is that the other clans agreed to help because of the dishonor
done to their people by Thrrs murder. Tolkien talks a little bit more
about this in a discussion of dwarvish parenting, actually, saying that
dwarvish parents defend their children with all their power, and resent
or reward, for their efforts. Its entirely possible that this expectation
was a factor in their decision to help the Longbeards in the first
place. It might not even have been a physical reward. When trying
to convince Thorin to take Bilbo along on his quest, Gandalf said to
him I am fond of this Hobbit, and wish him well. Treat him well, and
you shall have my friendship to the end of your days. It was after
this that Thorin finally agreed. Reflecting on this, Gandalf said later:
I said that without hope of persuading him; but I could have said nothing
better. Dwarves understand devotion to friends and gratitude to those
who help them.
It could have been that, while the dwarves were known to come to
each others aid in times of need, this practice was based on the cultural understanding that such actions would be rewarded later on,
whether with treasure, or with favors owed.
EVIL DWARVES
(This section was originally posted on April 5, 2014, in response to a
question about dwarves serving Sauron. Ive included it here, since
its relevant to the broader topic of dwarvish cross-cultural relations.)
Ah, heres a fascinating topic. The dwarves that served Sauron. Tolkien makes it clear (especially in The Silmarillion) that dwarves were
especially resistant to evil - explaining why possession of the dwarvish rings of power didnt turn the dwarvish kings into wraiths or servants of Sauron like hed hoped (for more details, see this post.)
And, in further defense of the dwarvish character, Tolkien says in the
Appendices that They are not evil by nature, and few ever served
the Enemy of free will, whatever the tales of Men may have alleged.
Even though this quote was meant to speak in support of the
dwarves, it raises a few pointed questions. First of all, few ever
served" definitely suggests that some did. And what, exactly are
these tales that men have alleged?
A little light is shed on the situation in The Silmarillion, where part of
the description of the War of the Last Alliance mentions that Of the
Dwarves few fought upon either side; but the kindred of Durin of Moria fought against Sauron." And while the Longbeards, Durings Folk,
remain untarnished, its basically stated that some of the other clans
supported Sauron. But, again, pretty vague.
THE PETTY-DWARVES
(This section was originally posted on
January 14, 2014. Ive included it here,
since its relevant to the broader topic of
dwarvish cross-cultural relations.)
The petty-dwarves were a group of
dwarves that existed in the First Age. In
The Silmarillion Tolkien tells us that they
came ofDwarvesthat were banished in
ancient days from the greatDwarf-cities of
the east. Which cities isnt clear. The
petty-dwarves arrived in Beleriand before
Nogrod and Belegost were built, though,