DWARVISH CROSSCULTURAL RELATIONS

BY ASKMIDDLEARTH.TUMBLR.COM

THE SEVEN CLANS OF THE DWARVES

Before discussing cross-cultural relations among the dwarves, its
first important to understand what these cultures are. So, heres a
brief summary of the origin of the dwarves:
Aul, one of the Valar, created the first dwarves essentially because
he got impatient waiting for the elves to awake. He originally made
seven dwarves, and they became the Seven Fathers of the
Dwarves.
Aul later took these seven dwarves, and laid them to sleep in the
earth until it was time for them to awake. Two were placed in the
Blue Mountains (also known as the Ered Luin) in the west of Middle
earth, one was placed in the Misty Mountains, and four were placed
far to the east (their exact location is unknown, but its generally assumed that they were spread throughout the Orocarni/Red Mountains in the eastern part of Middle Earth.) Except for the one clan in
the Misty Mountains, its suggested that the clans were placed
closer together in pairs, so Id assume that these pairs had a closer
relationship with each other than they did with their more distant kin.

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)
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HISTORY ACCORDING TO DURIN

Information on the dwarves is pretty scarce in Tolkiens writing. With
so few sources to corroborate accounts, narrative bias becomes extremely important in studying the dwarves. For example, the majority
of the historical accounts we have access to were taken from the
Red Book, which was written by Bilbo, Frodo, and Sam. The main
dwarvish sources, therefore, would have been Gimli, and perhaps a
few other dwarves from Erebor. Which means that the majority of our
dwarvish research comes with a substantial Longbeard bias. In the
same way that we need to be aware of the Noldorin bias in most
works pertaining to the elves, we need to be aware of this Longbeard bias in the dwarvish works.

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.
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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.
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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

sive feat of communication for a people so widely distributed.

All this talk of regular communication paints a picture of friendly, cooperative clans. However, theres evidence to suggest that this wasnt actually so. In a general description of dwarves found in The Silmarillion,
Tolkien says:
They would fight fiercely against whomsoever aggrieved them: servants of
Melkor, or Eldar, or Avari, or wild beasts, or not seldom their own kin,
Dwarves of other mansions and lordships.

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 WAR OF THE DWARVES AND ORCS

One of the strongest examples we have of dwarvish cross-cultural relations is the story of the War of the Dwarves and Orcs. For those who
dont know, the basic idea is that Thrr, king of the Longbeards, was
killed by an orc in a rather disrespectful manner. Furious, Thrrs son
Thrain declared war, and called on the other dwarvish clans to support
him. Tolkien describes the reaction thus:
It was three years before the Dwarves had mustered their strength. Durins
Folk gathered all their host, and they were joined by great forces sent from
the Houses of other Fathers; for this dishonor to the heir of the Eldest of their
race filled them with wrath.

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

injuries to them even more than to themselves. The same is true of

the attitude of children to parents. For an injury to a father a Dwarf
may spend a life-time achieving revenge. Since the 'kings' or heads
of lines are regarded as 'parents' of the whole group, it will be understood how it was that the whole of Durin's Race gathered and marshaled itself to avenge Thrr.
However, honor may not have been the only factor in the other clans
decision to aid the Longbeards. When the war was finally won (at
great cost to the dwarves), Thrain encouraged the dwarves to continue the fight by reclaiming Moria, the ancestral home of the Longbeards. The dwarves all refuse (even the other Longbeards), but the
dwarves of the other clans said specifically:
'Khazad-dm was not our Fathers' house. What is it to us, unless a hope
of treasure? But now, if we must go without the rewards and the weregilds
that are owed to us, the sooner we return to our own lands the better
pleased we shall be.'

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.

The mention of weregilds is very interesting, since it isnt something

mentioned anywhere else in relation to the dwarves. A weregild was
an ancient Germanic practice, in which a murder victims family was
essentially compensated for their relatives death with some sort of
price, generally determined based on rank. So, for an absurd example, if I killed my neighbor, I might compensate the neighbors family
by giving them a few goats (like a sort of macabre bride price, if you
will.)
In this context, though, the weregild had to have worked differently.
It sounds almost as if the dwarves had hoped to take some of Morias treasure as recompense for the dwarves that died in battle.
And, even though theyve refused to continue the fight on to Moria,
they still make it clear that they expect some sort of compensation,
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FIREBEARDS AND BROADBEAMS:

DWARVES OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS
Since the Longbeards (aka Durins Folk)
are basically the default dwarvish culture
in Tolkiens writings, the challenge then becomes finding information about one of
the other clans. And within that category,
the next most well-known cultures would
be those of the western-most clans, the
Firebeards and Broadbeams of Nogrod
and Belegost (we dont actually know for
sure which clan lived in which city.)
During the First Age it was the dwarves of
the Blue Mountains that were important to
the story, while the Longbeards were just
a distant rumor. The dwarves of Nogrod
and Belegost were the first to meet the Sindarin and Noldorin elves. They were influential in the building of the great elvish
kingdoms of Doriath and Nargothrond,
and played roles in some of the most important battles. And this early contact with
the elves actually added to the prestige of
the Firebeards and the Broadbeams,
since they learned a great deal of craftsmanship from the Noldorin elves, so that
the smiths and masons of Nogrod and
Belegost became renowned among their
kin.
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This reputation may have come in handy

later on. At the end of the First Age, the
western region of Beleriand went through
great geographic upheaval, which resulted in the destruction of Nogrod and
Belegost. The Firebeards and the Broadbeams migrated east and joined the Longbeards in Moria. Tolkien says that it was
during this period that the great power
and wealth of Moria began, for it was enriched by many folk and much lore and
craft. Knowing that the skill and knowledge of these refugees would strengthen
Moria probably made the Longbeards
more welcoming than they might otherwise have been.
While Tolkien brags about the craftsmanship of the western clans quite a bit, he
says very little about their relationship with
each other. The only clue we have is this
comment, mentioned after a few dwarves
from Nogrod killed the elvenking Thingol,
and then spurred their people to attack
the dwarves of Doriath openly:
It is told that they asked aid from Belegost,
but it was denied them, and the Dwarves of
Belegost sought to dissuade them from their

purpose; but their counsel was unavailing,

and ere long a great host came forth from Nogrod, and crossing over Gelion marched
westward through Beleriand.

Not only does this tell us that clans didnt

always come to each others aid, but it
also suggests that Nogrod and Belegost
were friendly with each other, but not especially close (otherwise Belegost might
have been willing to join Nogrod in their
quest for misguided vengeance.)

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 most detailed discussion of evil dwarves that we get is a note in

the essay Of Dwarves and Men. When discussing the first meetings between men and the dwarves of the Misty Mountains, Tolkien
says that the men (having recently arrived from the east) were a little
wary of the dwarves, fearing that they were under the Shadow. Tolkien then expanded on this in a note, saying:
For they had met some far to the East who were of evil mind Alas,
it seems probable that (as Men did later) the Dwarves of the far eastern mansions (and some of the nearer ones?) came under the
Shadow of Morgoth and turned to evil.
So it seems that at least some of the eastern dwarvish clans fell under Saurons control (much like most of the men of the east.) I think
this note is especially interesting when compared to the note from
the appendices that suggests this story wasnt universally believed.
Did perhaps the western dwarves deny that any of their kin served
Sauron? Its possible that whatever hold Sauron had over the
dwarves in the First and Second ages wasnt revived in the Third
Age. If thats the case, then by the War of the Ring itd been thousands of years since a dwarf served Sauron. I wouldnt be surprised
if the dwarves had erased that part of their cultural history by then.

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,

so if there were any petty-dwarves that

came from these clans, it happened when
they were living somewhere else (this entire topic is very murky, though, as I have
no idea where the dwarves of Nogrod and
Belegost lived before their cities were
built, other than just generally in the Blue
Mountains.)
Anyway, the petty-dwarves were, for some
reason, banished from their communities.
So they moved west and entered Beleriand - before even the Sindar arrived
there. Several locations in Beleriand were
settled by petty-dwarves before they were
ever settled by elves (the most famous example being Finrods cavernous kingdom
of Nargothrond.) And when the Sindar did
arrive in the region, the petty-dwarves
were the first non-elves that they encountered. Thinking the petty-dwarves were
animals, the Sindar took to hunting them
down for sport. Fortunately, they eventually came into contact with standard
dwarves, who explained that pettydwarves were not animals, and the hunting stopped.

The petty-dwarves were different from

standard dwarves in several ways. They
werephysicallysmaller (perhaps as a result of poorer diets, since they presumably lived in smaller, lesser-equipped communities than their mountainous cousins.)
They were also said to be more unsociable than standard dwarves, but I suspect
this had more to do with the whole being
hunted down like animals thing than any
sort of cultural tendency. They also (due
probably to their long separation from
other dwarves) spoke a slightly different
dialect of Khuzdul. And finally, pettydwarves were known to give their Khuzdul
names to outsiders (whereas other
dwarves use a mannish name when dealing with outsiders - see more information
here.) In fact, some readers believe that
this might be why they were exiled in the
first place.
Due to a combination of the early Sindarin
hunting, growing danger in Beleriand
(thanks, Morgoth), and probably the same
reproduction issues that standard
dwarves faced (only 1/3 of the population
being female), the petty-dwarves died out
before the First Age ended.