Is it possible to have non-cliché dwarfs?

[Peregrine]

NOTE: I don't have elves, orcs and other Tolkienesque races because I never liked them and I don't need them.

On TV Tropes there is a article titled OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame, but I don't agree that they are all identical.

What I subverted about dwarfs, this is just brainstorming, haven't included them in my settting.

- They are spelled dwarfs because I like this spelling more and its more grammatically correct
- Not all dwarfs have facial hair, its a matter of personal preference
- They don't trade with other races to get food and they are not a race of miners and blacksmiths, there are dwarfs that are shepherds and dwarfs that are farmers, merchants, woodworkers, carpenters, leatherworkers and so on.
- Mining ot blacksmithing is not the most common profession, the most common profession is being a shepherd or a goatherd.
- Some dwarfs are employed by human kings to work as professional artisanal miners.
- They don't have Scottish accents and aren't drinking beer more than other races.
- They are supposed to represent a race of little people rather than the mythological dwarves.

 

[Dark Squiggle]

Read terry Pratchett's Thud, Fifth Elephant, Guards , or any other of his Discworld books that include dwarves and try to ask that question again.

 

[TheCrystallineEntity]

^Good answer.

 

[Devor]

Nowadays when I think about the "cliche" dwarf, all I can think is, other races really don't drink enough.

 

[Peregrine]

Nowadays when I think about the "cliche" dwarf, all I can think is, other races really don't drink enough.

Is your avatar a firebird?

 

[Peregrine]

Read terry Pratchett's Thud, Fifth Elephant, Guards , or any other of his Discworld books that include dwarves and try to ask that question again.

Discworld is not my type of fantasy.

 

[Russ]

Ask Heitz, who makes a very good living writing about just that.

And I never for a moment have thought they have Scottish accents.

 

[Heliotrope]

Yes,

 

[Insolent Lad]

There are so many directions one might go with the basic concept of smallish subterranean dwellers, whether one styles them 'dwarfs' or not. H.G. Wells's morlocks could be considered a rather extreme take on the whole dark elf/dwarf tradition. I've mentioned dwarfs in passing but never used them in my writing until the current novel (The Ways of Wizardry, out Jan 6). Mine are, essentially, descended from pockets of neanderthals that had hidden away. Environmental factors have diminished their size a bit (standing about chest-high on 'normal' humans).

So their character and culture derives from that origin. Very tribal and distrustful of outsiders. Secretive. Do they drink more than others? No. In fact, though I haven't worked this in (yet), I suspect they would not handle it well and might tend toward alcoholism. Can't decide on that one and don't need to at this point. But I have thrown in some of the traditional traits just so they do seem like dwarfs; otherwise, I might as well have called them something else.

 

[Annoyingkid]

The ideal scenario is to have a direction you want to take them in and write to that while having any subversions come organically. Instead of starting with the typical dwarf and setting out to systematically changing their stereotypical traits one after the other. To subvert them without it seeming reactionary to what the majority have done.

 

[K.S. Crooks]

Watch Willow.

 

[Corwynn]

I recall a webcomic called Digger by Ursula Vernon. It's very entertaining, you should give it a read. Anyway, while Dwarves are never seen, only mentioned in passing, it is clear that they have some non-stereotypically Dwarven features. For example, they patch up their non-structurally sound architecture with liberal applications of magic, and their language includes click sounds like certain African languages. Ironically, the Wombats, one of whom is the main character, are culturally more Dwarven than the actual Dwarves in the setting.

 

[Bruce McKnight]

With most stereotypical races (dwarfs, elfs, orcs, or anything else), I think the cliche serves as a quick and easy way to help people know what you're talking about. When you say dwarf, I think mountain and mining, when you say elf, I think woods. There's room for tweaking, to be sure, but if you change everything that makes it what it stereotypically is, then why not call it something else?

If you saw dwarf and it's not subterranean, mining, drinking, bearded, and Scottish-accented, then it might be more work for you to explain to readers that dwarfs are so different instead of just calling them something different and avoiding a lot of preconceived notions that you have to change.

 

[Russ]

Okay, somebody has to help me. Where does the Scottish accent come from?

 

[Svrtnsse]

Okay, somebody has to help me. Where does the Scottish accent come from?

I blame Brann Bronzebeard.

I'm sure that's wildly inaccurate, but that's beside the point.

 

[TheCrystallineEntity]

From Gimli, maybe? Is his accent Scottish? I can't really tell.

 

[Devor]

A quick google search suggests it started with a popular book in the 50s and has been a D&D trope ever since - and it may also have something to do with Scotland being known in Britain for its mines and multiple similarities to the Noremen where the dwarves came from.

 

[D. Gray Warrior]

I have a couple of ideas for dwarves. One is a minor aesthetic/visual detail where dwarfs based their leadership on beard length, so the ruling dwarf and usually the oldest dwarf, has the longest beard that can drag behind them like a tail or a cape. Everyone else has to stay several feet back to avoid stepping on his beard out of respect for the leader.

The main idea I have been toying with are dwarf nomads, where they are similar to real world nomads and practice herding animals, but also happen to be good blacksmiths and often hire themselves out as mercenaries to defend whatever town they happen to stop in.

 

[skip.knox]

In reply to the OP, in a word: yes.
What is the follow-up question? That's where the interest lies.

 

[shangrila]

It depends on how much of a deviation you want to have.

The ideas you gave above are fine, but if you stray too far with any of the commonly used races people will just wonder why you didn't create a new race yourself.