Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

Traditionally, the plural of dwarf was "dwarfs", especially when referring to actual humans with dwarfism, but ever since J. R. R. Tolkien used Dwarves in his fantasy novel The Hobbit, the subsequent The Lord of the Rings (often published in three volumes), and the posthumously published The Silmarillion, the plural forms "dwarfs" has been replaced by "Dwarves". Tolkien, who was fond of low philological jests, also suggested two other plural forms, Dwarrows and Dwerrows; but he never used them in his writings, apart from the name 'Dwarrowdelf', the Western name for Khazad-dûm or Moria, which was, inside his fiction, a calque of the Westron name Phurunargian. His Dwarves' name for themselves was Khazâd, singular probably Khuzd. 'Dwarrows' is the Middle English plural of 'Dwerg' or 'Dwerf' ('dwarf'), and derives from the Old English 'Dweorgas', plural of 'Dweorh' or 'Dweorg'.

Dwarves in Tolkien are long-lived, living nearly four times the age of man (about 250 years), but are not prolific breeders, having children rarely and spaced far apart, and having few women among them. Dwarvish children are cherished by their parents, and are defended at all costs from their traditional enemies, such as Orcs. A longstanding enmity between normal Dwarves and Elves is also a staple of the racial conception.

A long standing source of interest (and humour) comes from the allusion of Tolkien to female Dwarves having beards, which was borrowed by other writers. Essentially, Tolkien developed a rational explanation for why female Dwarves are never encountered in the story, by elaborating that female Dwarves never travel abroad, and look so much like Dwarf men that visitors to Dwarf cities cannot immediately spot them. In addition to being rare creatures they are perhaps not often featured in many fantasy milieu for this reason. Tolkien writes his Dwarf-women are "in voice and appearance, and in garb if they must go on a journey, so like to Dwarf-men that the eyes and ears of the other peoples cannot tell them apart." This, he writes, leads to the belief that Dwarves grow out of stone[15]. In The Chronicles of Narnia, in fact, C. S. Lewis, who was a friend of Tolkien, describes his Dwarfs as doing just this, and it is possible that Tolkien was ribbing Lewis in making this point. Interestingly, though, Lewis' all-male Dwarfs are capable of mixing with humans to make half-Dwarfs, such as Doctor Cornelius, the tutor of Prince Caspian (In the 2008 adaption of Prince Caspian, female Dwarfs are shown as archers along with the males, though these female Dwarfs are shown to be beardless). In later writings, Tolkien directly states that his female Dwarves have beards "from the beginning of their lives", as do the males[16].

Tolkien's dwarves

J. R. R. Tolkien used Dwarves in his fantasy novel The Hobbit, the subsequent The Lord of the Rings

"dwarfs" has been replaced by "Dwarves"

Dwarves in Tolkien are long-lived, living nearly four times the age of man (about 250 years), but are not prolific breeders, having children rarely and spaced far apart, and having few women among them. Dwarvish children are cherished by their parents, and are defended at all costs from their traditional enemies, such as Orcs. A longstanding enmity between normal Dwarves and Elves is also a staple of the racial conception.

A long standing source of interest (and humour) comes from the allusion of Tolkien to female Dwarves having beards, which was borrowed by other writers

The typical fantasy Dwarf is, like the original Dwarves, short in stature, long-bearded and skilled at mining and metallurgy. They are often depicted as having a low affinity for most magical abilities and/or a resistance to magic.

Tolkien's dwarves

Longest Gestation Asian elephants are born after a gestation period of 19 to 22 months. Largest Mammal Blue whales are the largest mammals of all time and the largest living animal. Females grow to a length of about 27 m. They may weigh well over 100 metric tons. The heaviest blue whale weighed more than 190 metric tons. The longest ever measured was more than 33 m. African elephant bulls are the heaviest land animal. Large males may weigh as much as 5,895kg. Despite their power and size, elephants are vegetarians, or herbivores. ©G.Ellis/GLOBIO.org Largest Living Animal on Land African elephants are the heaviest land animal. They are also the second tallest land animal. Large bulls (males) weigh more than 5,895 kg and are 3.5 m tall at the shoulder. Giraffes, which can grow to a height of 5 m, are the tallest land animals. Large males weigh more than 1,800 kg. Smallest Vertebrate Australia's stout infantfish, slightly smaller than the better-known dwarf goby, is less than 1 cm long. Smallest Bird Adult bee hummingbirds, found in Cuba, weigh about 2 g. Smallest Mammal Adult bumblebee bats, which live in Thailand, weigh about 2 g. Longest Lifespan In the 1770s, British explorer Captain James Cook presented a Madagascar radiated tortoise to the royal family of Tonga. The tortoise lived until 1965. It was at least 188 years old when it died! Several Galápagos tortoises h

ave lived past age 150.