Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Difference between revisions

* [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Hobbit]]'' and ''[[Lord of the Rings]]'' is the origin of the trope. Interestingly, in an attempt to make them sound fundamentally different from other races, Tolkien's Dwarvish language is constructed along the lines of the [[wikipedia:Semitic languages|Semitic languages]]; none of them ever speak with a Scottish or Welsh accent at all. When you combine the quasi-Semitic language with their lost homeland and usual status as a minority in lands ruled by other races, many writers have compared them to [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture|analogues to the Jews]] (an allusion that also comes up in the [[Discworld]] series). Tolkien himself alluded to the idea in response to allegations that it was a negative depiction; he was particularly sympathetic [[World War Two|given the time he was alive]]. His dwarves are different from dwarfs of folklore and fairy tales primarily in that [[Proud Warrior Race|a lot of them are warriors]] in addition to being miners and craftsmen. They of course, pay tribute to their roots, being quite Nordic in culture (Rohirrim are primarily Saxon-land-Vikings, an Gondor has a Nordic vibe too), and having names stolen from the Poetic Edda. A thing that Tolkien long regretted as it forced him to come up with an explanation why a Real-world language such as Old Norse would exist in a Fantasy world.

** [[The Silmarillion|Tolkein's background notes]] reveal the reason Dwarves are so different from the other races: that they were made by Aule, one of the [[Powers That Be|Valar]] - not [[The Omnipotent|Eru Illuvatar]] himself, although after the fact Eru gave them the spark of free will that Aule couldn't provide. Since he knew that [[The Devil|Morgoth]] was loose in the world, Aule designed the Dwarves to be able to resist suffering and evil - a fact that came in handy millenia later, when Sauron offered them [[Don't Touch It, You Idiot!|seven golden Rings of Power.]]

** Interestingly, many black dwarves resemble mongol raiders in the movie adaptation.

* A brief mention in ''Gnomes'' by Wil Huygen and Rein Poortvliet. Quote: "An almost extinct species of the male sex." (Could there be a connection there?) "Height 1 metre 20 cm, often smaller. Can still be found in the middle of inhospitable forests and in the mountains. They dig for gold and silver in extensive mines; they are masters of metalwork. They are good-natured except for a solitary few who are capable of ugly deeds. If a dwarf falls into human hands, he buys his freedom with gold. They do not have beards."

* Meredith Ann Pierce had no problem with "dwarrow" in ''[[The Darkangel Trilogy]]''. The [[Phantasy Spelling|duaroughs]] (yes, that's basically pronounced "dwarves") are basically Tolkienian, except [[Weaksauce Weakness|sunlight]] [[Taken for Granite|temporarily turns them to stone]], forcing them to wear heavy, enveloping garments if they go aboveground during the daytime.

* [[David Weber|David Weber's]] [[The War Gods|Bahzell]] trilogy has dwarves. Heavy emphasis on mining and living underground, technology better than anyone else's, and an absurd emphasis on family and clan that no other race can even follow.

 

=== Tabletop Games ===

** One widely used D&D addition is the idea that Dwarves are inherently more resistant to [[Functional Magic|magic]], being that they're all stolid and stony like the earth and all. Yet in the original myths, dwarves produced all manner of magical artifacts for the Aesir. Even Tolkien's dwarves managed to make mithril, the local [[Unobtainium]]. That said, they were resistant to [[The Corruption]].

*** Seemingly because they love gold and cunning more than they love power.

*** Mmmmm, [[wikipedia:Bock|beerfood]].

** Interestingly, while the individual Dwarf in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]] is fairly slow (it's the little legs), Dwarf infantry is effectively among the fastest in the game. This is because the game mechanics say that you can't march (read: move at double your normal speed) when there are enemies within 8". Dwarfs, by virtue of being [[Determinator]]s, can ignore that rule, and effectively always march. Apart from when they charge. The result is that army of short bearded guys is going to tactically outmanoeuvre you by landing their gyrocopters 7" behind your lines and so suddenly everyone but your cavalry is being ourpaced.

** The Tau themselves seem to fulfill some of the functions of dwarves in the 40,000 Verse. They are shorter and stouter than humans, they have a weak presence in the Warp (meaning they're not very magical), they have a highly ordered and stratified society, and a strong warrior culture.

*** ''A strong warrior culture''? Really? They're perhaps the least war-like race in Warhammer. And it shows, heavily. Even by other standards, they'd be rather peace loving.

* ''[[Master of Magic]]'' has a fairly stereotypical dwarves: tough, hard-working, good at mining and climbing mountains, but not fond of ships. They also make golems and steam cannons.

* The Mountain Dwarves in ''[[Dungeon Crawl]]'' are standard issue. Deep Dwarves are different, though: see below.

* Subverted by the ''[[Rune Factory]]'' games. The first has a human blacksmith who was trained by a dwarf, and matches all the standard dwarf traits so well that you can't help but imagine his mentor looked that way too. However, when dwarves actually make their debut in the forth game the ''only'' dwarf trait they have is that they mine and forge (with one character claiming he wouldn't be much of a dwarf is he hadn't made is own weapon). Only one of them is even a fan of forging, and if you mention the common dwarf idea to the other, he'll get offended and call it a ridiculous sterotype.

* While no actual dwarves, or any other conventional race, appear in the series, the Godom of [[Paladin's Quest]] certainly invoke this archetype. They're a subterrainian race who excell in weapon smithing and explosives, but are generaly bad at magic. Their appearance, on the otherhand, is anything but. They actually resemble large bipedal dinosaur, insect, ram... things.

*** Subverted by 'Chucky', a Dwarf with dwarfism who wore hooks on his ears to make his beard ''look'' fake, and pretended to be a Human child in order to be ignored by everyone, PC and NPC alike.

* In ''[[Talislanta]]'', the Yassan and Vajra races are both short, stocky artificer/miner types—in other words, indubitably [[Five Races|stouts]]. However, this being ''Talislanta'', the Vajra are scaly, ovoviviparous, and have a [[Unstoppable Rage|berserker rage]] ability (which can usually be used [[Heroic RROD|exactly once]]), and the [[Gadgeteer Genius|Yassan]] are silver-gray, six-fingered, and flat-faced. Additionally, both races are hairless and closer to the short end of average human height.

** The wild dwarves from ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'' are barbarians who live above ground in jungles and hunt with poisoned blades. Still very gruff and loyal, though.

** The derro are a race of insane sorcerers with traces of human ancestry. They have bluish skin, blond hair, and huge pupilless eyes, and many go beardless. (In ''[[Pathfinder]]'', though, they are actually [[The Fair Folk|evil fey]] with no connection to dwarves.)

[[Category:Fairy Tale Tropes]]

[[Category:Index of Fictional Creatures]]