Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Difference between revisions
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=== Literature ===
* [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Hobbit]]'' and ''[[The 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.]]
* ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]'' features dwarfs, but depicts them as a race that is almost [[Exclusively Evil]]. While there are good dwarves (the [[Color Coded for Your Convenience|"red dwarfs"]]), who are grumpy but good-natured, the majority of them (the [[Color-Coded for Your Convenience|"black" ones]]) are ruthless, greedy, traitorous bastards. The black dwarfs eventually [[Flat Earth Atheist|renounce Aslan's existence]], and are duly punished with being blind/insane and abandoned to grovel away at each other (they are, of course, Lewis's allegory for atheists).
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* Dwarves in ''[[GURPS]]: Banestorm'' are a race of natural artificers and merchants. All adults have at least one point worth of [[Iconic Item|signature gear]].
** In the ''[[GURPS]]'' predecessor ''[[The Fantasy Trip]]'', dwarves are straight out of the Tolkienian mold. However, some details (mostly concerning dwarf women) are left unspecified, meaning that players will form [[House Rules|their own conclusions]].
* ''[[Burning Wheel]]'' not only plays straight dwarf stereotypes but even builds upon the tale of Moria from [[The Lord of the Rings]] by working an attribute called "Greed" into the rule system: all dwarves are covetous. The higher a dwarf's Greed, the more likely they are to betray others, or even go [[Ax Crazy]], in the pursuit of possessing objects of high value and/or craftsmanship. They get bonuses to rolls done in the pursuit of wealth. However, if the Greed attribute reaches its maximum through indulgence of the vice the dwarf hides himself away with his hoard of goods in paranoid seclusion never to be seen again.
* The Jotun of ''[[New Horizon]]'' were once compared to dwarves, except being huge [[Insistent Terminology|wafans]] instead of short humans. [[Refuge in Audacity|Subsequently a group of dwarves raided the forum, decapitated the person who made the claim, and told everybody never to compare them to war machines again]].
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