• Welcome to the Fantasy Writing Forums. Register Now to join us!

Some thoughts on Dwarves

jedellion

Dreamer
Note: Grammatically, the correct plural has always been Dwarfs however, in the twentieth century, Tolkien deliberately changed it to Dwarves, preferring the softer ‘v’ sound.

Dwarfs evolved from the mythos of northern Europe. Some scholars think the word Dwarf derives from terms for delving, darkness. With links to mountain spirits associated with stone and metalwork. Some link them to fey spirits more akin to elves, playing tricks, deceiving and plaguing humans with dark dreams.

In the Scandinavian folklore Dwarves are associated with the Svartalfar (Black Elves) and are, ironically the basis for the concept of ‘dark elves’ which in modern fantasy are seen more as a subset of the Elven races, and nothing to do with Dwarves. Scandinavian dwarfs are short and stocky mountain folk who craft magical weapons and armour and help or hinder heroes on quests. Females are rarely mentioned, but when they are mentioned they are considered beautiful enough to seduce warriors. It was Tolkien that first stated that Dwarven females have beards and look much the same as males.

Tolkein constructed a race of mountain dwelling folk, cunning in stone craft, metalwork and crafting. They are long lived, lives spanning hundreds of years. Crafty and clever, slow to trust but fierce in friendship. Fantasy games such as DnD adopted the race and, over time, the nature of Dwarfs has distilled into certain stereotypical behaviours. This makes dwarves very easy to role play as we can fall back on solid, easy to understand patterns of behaviour. The problem with such simple attributes is that it makes it challenging to differentiate between dwarven characters.

Dwarves are long lived. In DnD they live for 400 years or so, Tolkien merely says they don't live forever, but 'far longer than any man'. Thus to paint dwarves as impatient and hasty folk is odd. When live so long, you would develop patience. Mining is not a hasty business. Care must be taken to make sure mineshafts are safe, not to mention the perils of exploring deep caverns which may harbour ancient evils or monsters.

This implies that dwarves might be careful thinkers, who look at problems in the long term. Crafting weapons is not a quick business. The great Japanese smiths took a year or more to craft a Katana.

Another stereotypical aspect is that they are hearty folk, quick to hoy and anger. But how does this tally with patient craft and hard work. One might suppose that in close confines and challenging environments arguments would break out. How would such conflicts be resolved? It may be quite normal for dwarves to express their feelings to each other to avoid conflict building up. Perhaps conflicts are fought physically to let off steam and develop martial prowess. It could explain why Dwarves see combat as a natural and right thing to do to let loose all those negativity.

In such dangerous conditions trust would be essential. To break a promise, to let attention wander, to slack off would endanger others. Oathbreakers would be a danger to all around them. Plain speaking and honesty would be the cornerstone of hard labour. No wonder they would distrust those with slippery tongues.

Most dwarves are portrayed as greedy, but why? On what would such wealth be spent? Indeed why would dwarves need of currency apart from being able to shop between themselves or to trade with others. Perhaps we could take the love of gold, mithril, precious stones etc. as being linked to that careful craft and aspirations to perfection. Mithril is intrinsically superior to other metals for manufacturing weapons and armour, naturally dwarves would seek out this metal as being very useful. Gold is useless for most things, but it is pretty, regardless of its value. So it’s not at all impossible that gold is seen by dwarves as something beautiful to create with.

There is very little practical use for a gemstone. Their value is in their rarity and their beauty. But in many mythologies gemstones hold magical powers and benefits. Perhaps you as a storyweaver, could weave that into your dwarven lore, perhaps gemstones become intrinsic in how dwarves make magical items while seemingly having few mages. Imagine a culture where the finding of a rare sapphire is a cause for joy as now this can be used to make a circlet that, when worn, would cure diseases, or relieve the suffering of a dying soul allowing them to transition to the next life in painless peace. Imagine the anticipation of crafting a weapon imbued with the ability to deliver fire damage thanks to the fire opal embedded within.

Now we see that covetousness in a new light. Not the acquisition of wealth, but the ability to create something beautiful, or useful. The fact humans and others will accept gold in return for other things is a useful side effect.

Which brings us to something important. Where do Dwarves get all their food and ale from?

Dwarves eat well and drink a lot. But that requires substantial investment in land and personnel. Ale is made with grain, water and yeast. For beer you also need hops, All those big feasts need animals. All of that requires lots of land for cattle and farming as well as hunting grounds.So who is doing all this farming if all the dwarves are underground? In fact how did they even survive as a race underground at all?

Option 1 - It makes more sense that Dwarves must have a wider culture. They can’t have relied on external sources for food and drink when they were a young race, so they must have had the ability to do all these things themselves. This denies the concept of a ‘city entirely underground’. Unless there are vast acres of underground tilled fields and cattle pastures. So some dwarves live above ground, and always have as farmers, herdsmen and hunters. It might be they only come out to do these things, and go back underground a lot. Or it could be that there are different classes of dwarves, and and only some are the underground dwellers.

This gives many more options for character development. We can legitimately and logically have dwarven rangers, scouts etc. This could also form class divides and grudges between those below and those above. And remember, the larger the underground realm, the more land is needed above to supply food.

This option would also mean more regular interaction with other races, and potential clashes over land and borders.

Option 2 – Or it could be something entirely different. It could be that Dwarves subsist on a very different diet. Lace your caverns with creatures, deep lakes with eyeless fish. Vast caverns of fungi and strange creatures that have adapted to the dark. You would need complex ecosystems to have an entirely subterranean habitat. Perhaps dwarven ale is not ale at all, it’s more like fermented mushroom juice! Or perhaps there is some limited hunting above, with foraging for food as well. That plus trade would open up their diet.

This would mean Dwarves could be more reclusive, relying on themselves alone. But it could also mean that any disruption to the balance of the ecosystem would be disastrous. Growth in population would be very challenging without new chambers to explore and exploit. In times like that, they would have to be more tolerant of trade and relationships with others to get what they needed.

So we now need to consider perspective. How do dwarves see the wider world? And their place in it? It would seem that dwarves would have a very unique perspective. On the one hand they take their time with craft and labour, doing a job right, doing it safely and with all angles considered. But once they choose to act, they work hard, diligently and with determination. Once they say they will do a thing it will be done. They will be quick to vent negative emotions to prevent a further conflict further down the line, better to be angry now and be honest then spare feelings and risk a worse situation. They will prize fine craftsmanship and fine materials. Not for the money they can make, but for the beauty of a thing, or the potential in making things of beauty. For the joy of craft and well made things.

They will have culture, society, class and echelons of status. Some will be simple folk, farmers, hunters, crafters and crofters. But the high status folk are the ones who dwell below, who hew at stone, who refine the metals, cut and polish the jewels, harness the precious materials into things of beauty and power. They revere hard work and dedication to skill and craft.

Why scottish?

The source material for Dwarves draws heavily on Norse mythology, naming structures, physical attributes, architecture and speech patterns would all indicate a more Viking theme than Scottish highlands. That said, having your mighty dwarven fighter running around sounding like the Swedish chef might be challenging and a good Scandinavian accent isn’t easy to pull off for many people. But at the end of the day, Scottish accents can be easier to copy and can be a lot of fun to play with. But if so why not dive full into it, embrace it, and change your naming conventions to fit. Instead of Khazran and Edda, why not Hamish and Baltair, Connor and Domhnall? Bring plaid and clan colours into the mix.

Or if you want to really shake things up, take that patience and dedication to craft and think of similar cultures. Imagine a race of introspective dwarves modelled on Japanese culture, where dwarven leaders are like the Samurai, where crafters seek perfection on all things as they spend years working on a single might war axe.

As the great mystical and sage Bob Ross once said, “This is your world You’re the creator.”
 

Saigonnus

Auror
Option 3: Dwarfish communities are an amalgam of the two ideas. As accomplish stoneworkers/crafters, they could carve their homes directly from the rock face of their mountain homes, meaning they can expand inward as the fortunes and size of the families ebb and expand. They are also near enough to lakes and arable land to have agriculture and sturdy livestock. Perhaps they also have access to the large underground caverns that supplement their diet during the winter months, when there is a layer of snow covering everything above ground. The same tunnels can also grant access to hot springs, aquifers, and tunnels for miners, to mine for raw ores and gemstones, the latter only valued only as trade goods with outsiders.

The weather in the mountains would be such that could require greenhouses for the winter months, and keeping the livestock inside them (or in their homes, or some special "barn" built into their mountain homes.) The only issue for this would be fodder for the animals; unless they also have grain silos and infrastructure.

An idea that I thought about was taking underground caverns and building a "skylight" so regular crops can grow below ground and not suffer the ill-effects of the weather outside.
 
Last edited:
My world of Eld, being what it is, has dwarves of all sorts. Though with there own quirks. From the delver to the swamp dwelling and ocean going.

The Delvers are the classic sorts, but with entire mountains terraced for food being farmed by human vassals and occasional Orchard clans and being great fortresses and doing heavy trade in metal and warring with orcs and trolls over the mountains. They are also in decline, but that's kind of their own fault, as they've gotten more and more xenophobic as the centuries roll on.

The Herders are, well, a sort of bad combination of the Chaos dwarves from the original Warhammer Fantasy and the shallowest form of the eastern horse clans like the Mongols and Huns. Mostly cause I haven't delved entirely into their society. They run a lot of the trade, hire themselves out as mercenaries and have all the goat herds and have even bred goats near the size of an elephant to use to take out walls and heavy barred gate.

The Orchard dwarves are the slow nomads, who go around growing up orchards for decades at a time before letting them go wild before eventually coming back to them several decades later. They wander the circuit and are quite apt in the forests and cities. They also help supply food to the Delvers, balancing out the Herders who mostly give meat, leathers and furs. Both in exchange for standard equipment, arms and armor and other trade goods.

Then there's the Coastal's, basically dwarves done up cajun style. Gator, crocodile and dragon hunters, catfish noodlers and beach walkers and surfers. They are mostly ignored by their inland cousins, with some contact mostly with the orchard communities. They tend to live in boat houses and even good size floating villages. Tend to get along quite well with the ogres that live in the lands above them and do good trade with sea elves. And they love their spicy foods, something their delver cousins find abhorrent.

Rarer then even them are island dwarves, who are more the sorts who are running ships or have turned islands into their ships. Some are great reaver, raider and pirate clans. Others are mercenary navies and still others deal in the trades from the delvers coastal mountain cities.

And yet to come are the delver reborn, beside the giants. The dwarves of fire and flame, born within a great volcano. They have yet to show, but they're on the way. Eventually. They already missed the apocalypse, so it's a waiting game.

So with that long bit of writing, perhaps along the lines you be thinking of?
 

jedellion

Dreamer
Well at the end of the day your world's are you own, and I'd never be so arrogant as to suggest that my thoughtsa re rules to be followed. I'm just hoping to provoke some thought and perhaps, some conversation around topics, looking at some of the stereotypes, rationlising things a little and just exploring ideas.
 

Saigonnus

Auror
Well at the end of the day your world's are you own, and I'd never be so arrogant as to suggest that my thoughtsa re rules to be followed. I'm just hoping to provoke some thought and perhaps, some conversation around topics, looking at some of the stereotypes, rationlising things a little and just exploring ideas.

That's exactly what I was doing... offering another option for dwarfs along the same logical lines you have offered up. I love world-building and I actually use something similar to what I suggested for a culture of humans (I don't generally use other races beyond Humans since; in my estimation, there is more than enough diversity among Humans to forego the need of other fantasy races.) They live in canyons, carving their homes directly from the rockfaces, with stairs to each level; which include wide walkways and balconies. The floor of the canyon and the buttes above serve to grow crops and raise livestock, and obviously provide natural defenses with only two ways in and out. There is a third way, unknown to most. A secret tunnel is carved through the rock and comes out in a sheltered dell. They also employ a small fleet of airships for trade and whatnot with their neighbors, so they aren't completely out of touch with the greater realms.

It stands to reason that any culture that are builders can transfer some of that expertise into other areas.
 
A thought on dwarven ale: beer hasn't always been made with hops. Hops are just one of many herbs used for that historically. In more distant times, the norm might have been flavoring it with mugwort (that's where the name comes from, in fact) or Scotch broom, or any of a number of other things.

Come to find out, there is such a thing as fern ale. Ferns can grow in caves, near the entrance where there's some light. And mosses and lichens and liverworts, all of which may be edible.
 

WooHooMan

Auror
The only time I did dwarves, I modeled them loosely off of the Hawaiian menehune. Clean-shaven, woodworking, seafaring, grass-skirt-wearing, fruity cocktail-drinking - they were basically a race of Jimmy Buffett fans.

I found it more interesting to be like "well, they're supposed to be extremely 'Hawaiian' so I'll roll with that" than to be like "well, they're supposed to be 'dwarves' so how will I do that?".
 
Every culture has a "little people" in their mythology. I'm not sure why you'd restrict yourself to only drawing from the Scandinavian/Germanic/Wagner/Tolkien flavor.
"Little people" aren't necessarily dwarves. That's a euphemism for fairies. Who aren't always little in size.

Every culture has its fey folk, for sure. But I think you're going in a different direction if you're creating a story about fey than if you're creating one about dwarves.

In the dwarf stories, they don't usually have significant magic powers. When magic does figure into a dwarf story, it tends to be very limited in scope, and it's usually not something a dwarf can do at the snap of his fingers, it's something like forging a magic ring that requires a lot of time and effort put in to make it magic. But fairies always have innate magical powers, and can perform instant magic.
 

WooHooMan

Auror
"Little people" aren't necessarily dwarves. That's a euphemism for fairies. Who aren't always little in size.

Every culture has its fey folk, for sure. But I think you're going in a different direction if you're creating a story about fey than if you're creating one about dwarves.

Dwarves fall under the mythological archetype of "little people" as do fairies. And gnomes and pixies and a whole host of others. As jedellion pointed-out in their first post, dwarves were original derived from a subspecies of elves. I think exploring the overlaps in the archetypes can be interesting.
Sort of like how the Elder Scrolls made their dwarves a subrace of elves even though the "common wisdom" would insist on making elves and dwarves two distinct races.

Also, I edited my post since jedellion did briefly address bringing in other cultural influence. I was suggesting that instead of simply dressing a Germanic dwarf in Japanese garb, you could also add physical or social characteristics of the korpokkur of Ainu mythology. The korpokkur were known to be excellent hunters and fishermen who were mostly nocturnal. So, that could be cool: nocturnal ranger dwarves.
 

Saigonnus

Auror
A thought on dwarven ale: beer hasn't always been made with hops. Hops are just one of many herbs used for that historically. In more distant times, the norm might have been flavoring it with mugwort (that's where the name comes from, in fact) or Scotch broom, or any of a number of other things.

Come to find out, there is such a thing as fern ale. Ferns can grow in caves, near the entrance where there's some light. And mosses and lichens and liverworts, all of which may be edible.

Here in Mexico, they have a drink called Tepache (Teh-pa-che) made from fermented pineapples or peaches. Now, for me it is kind of disgusting, because it is the realm of being only halfway fermented, which gives it a kind of vinegary taste and doesn't more closely resemble the mead that I drank (and enjoyed) a time or two at the Renn faires.
 
"Little people" aren't necessarily dwarves. That's a euphemism for fairies. Who aren't always little in size.

Every culture has its fey folk, for sure. But I think you're going in a different direction if you're creating a story about fey than if you're creating one about dwarves.

In the dwarf stories, they don't usually have significant magic powers. When magic does figure into a dwarf story, it tends to be very limited in scope, and it's usually not something a dwarf can do at the snap of his fingers, it's something like forging a magic ring that requires a lot of time and effort put in to make it magic. But fairies always have innate magical powers, and can perform instant magic.
Dwarves fit under the category of faeries.
 
Dwarves fit under the category of faeries.
Do they?

I think of them as distinct beings. And their realms as distinct. Dwarves might live in caves underground (or do they?) but they don't keep you as their "guest" for one night and then send you home 200 years after you left. Dwarves aren't particularly known for playing tricks, but faeries are. Dwarves don't create changelings. Dwarves might make magical items, but they don't instantly pop magic out of thin air. Some, like Snow White's dwarves, don't have any apparent magic at all.

But then, if you define faerie as any mythical humanoid race that inhabits a slightly different realm from the mundane, I suppose dwarves fit.
 
Do they?

I think of them as distinct beings. And their realms as distinct. Dwarves might live in caves underground (or do they?) but they don't keep you as their "guest" for one night and then send you home 200 years after you left. Dwarves aren't particularly known for playing tricks, but faeries are. Dwarves don't create changelings. Dwarves might make magical items, but they don't instantly pop magic out of thin air. Some, like Snow White's dwarves, don't have any apparent magic at all.

But then, if you define faerie as any mythical humanoid race that inhabits a slightly different realm from the mundane, I suppose dwarves fit.
There's more than one kind of faery, you know.
 

WooHooMan

Auror
Do they?

I think of them as distinct beings. And their realms as distinct. Dwarves might live in caves underground (or do they?) but they don't keep you as their "guest" for one night and then send you home 200 years after you left. Dwarves aren't particularly known for playing tricks, but faeries are. Dwarves don't create changelings. Dwarves might make magical items, but they don't instantly pop magic out of thin air. Some, like Snow White's dwarves, don't have any apparent magic at all.

But then, if you define faerie as any mythical humanoid race that inhabits a slightly different realm from the mundane, I suppose dwarves fit.

I’m mostly using Wikipedia for my definitions. So dwarves and fairies are both “little people” but that doesn’t mean that they’re synonymous.
I think you could conceivably merge characteristics of different “little people” and have it work. It’s up to the individual writers if this leads to a dwarf with fairy characteristics or a fairy with dwarf characteristics.
 

ThinkerX

Myth Weaver
Ironically, the dwarves in my words are just that - little people, way shorter than human normal, maxing out at about four feet tall. They do have longer lifespans than humans (call it double) though that's not really advertised. Some dwell in settlements and enclaves, others live where ever. What they're not noted for is skill in combat, though many do have reputations as excellent artisans. A number are found either in government work or as prized servants of the aristocracy.
 

LAG

Troubadour
My experiments on dwarves have taught me much while playing Dwarf Fortress

Bay 12 Games: Dwarf Fortress
Bay 12 Games: Dwarf Fortress

*edit: this article looks interesting: Dwarf Fortress as a Writing Tool - Momo Marie

Been a while, wanna play it again. It's included in the NY Museum of Art. Most story-rich vid game out there imo, your dwarves can tunnel deep, tame elephants, smooth entire halls with their beards, battle the undead, build vast libraries, railroads and some even go so far as to build computing systems within the game that function with all manner of machines and liquids. You can have inns, temples, catapults, drawbridges, shroom farms...anything. Each world randomly genned with every single monster and person given a name and a history, with the game world being able to become thousands of years old, with this history being recorded wholly and used by the various species of your unique world in their songs, writings, murals, etc.

For those looking to send dwarves into biomes of frost, fire, terror, peace, or a mixture of many other factors like rain that raises the dead (each dwarf having about 1000+ words describing their appearance, beliefs, personality and everything else you can think of), this game is hours of !!!FUN!!!.

Also: Another dwarven game out there that I'd rec: Deep Rock Galactic. Basically, you're a space miner that gets drunk, gets shot into a planet's core, and there mine and fight alien beasties with your fellow on-duty miners and Molly.
 
I’m mostly using Wikipedia for my definitions. So dwarves and fairies are both “little people” but that doesn’t mean that they’re synonymous.
I think you could conceivably merge characteristics of different “little people” and have it work. It’s up to the individual writers if this leads to a dwarf with fairy characteristics or a fairy with dwarf characteristics.
Wikipedia is not a very reliable source...it might be better to find somewhere else to learn from.
 
Wikipedia is not a very reliable source...it might be better to find somewhere else to learn from.
Maybe not for anything involving hard facts. But the definitions of dwarf and fairy are fluid. This discussion proves the point.

In that light, Wikipedia's definitions are as good as any. But no one's definition should necessarily be taken as a hard and fast rule.
 

WooHooMan

Auror
Wikipedia is not a very reliable source...it might be better to find somewhere else to learn from.
I mean, what do you want? Do I need to start naming specific folklorist and mythologists who attest that there is a category of mythological creatures called "little people" which includes both fairies and dwarves, though those are more-or-less distinct creatures?

I think we're getting a little too bogged down in semantics here. All I've been getting at is that if both a Germanic dwarf and a Hawaiian menehune share some basic characteristics like being shorter alternatives to humans, then a writer could conceivably merge the two.
 
Top