Dwarves

The Dwarves (called Khazâd in their own tongue, and Naugrim, "the Stunted People", by the Elves) were a short, stout, and enduring race of Middle-earth, renowned as miners, smiths, and stoneworkers. They dwelt in great halls delved beneath the mountains and were famed for their craft, their stubbornness, and their long memories.

Origins

The Dwarves were made not by Eru Ilúvatar but by the Vala Aulë the Smith, who in his impatience to have pupils fashioned the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves in secret. Eru rebuked him but took pity, granting the Dwarves true life, though he decreed they should sleep until after the awakening of the Elves, the Firstborn. From the Seven Fathers came the seven kindreds of the Dwarves.

Character

Dwarves were tough, secretive, and slow to anger but slow also to forget a wrong or a debt. They lived far longer than Men, often near 250 years. They guarded their language, Khuzdul, jealously, revealing it to no outsiders, and used Mannish names in dealings with other peoples. Their love of gold and fine craft was both their glory and, at times, their bane.

Durin's Folk

The most renowned kindred were Durin's Folk, the Longbeards, who founded the great kingdom of Khazad-dûm (Moria) beneath the Misty Mountains. Their later history included the kingdom under the Lonely Mountain, Erebor, and the wars with the Orcs. Notable Dwarves of the Third Age included Thorin Oakenshield, Balin, and Glóin and his son Gimli, who became one of the Fellowship of the Ring.

Relations

Dwarves and Elves were often at enmity, a feud rooted in old griefs reaching back to the ruin of Doriath in the First Age. Yet the friendship between Gimli and the Elf Legolas in the War of the Ring became famous as a healing of that ancient breach.