Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''A short, sturdy creature fond of drink and industry.''|''[[Dwarf Fortress (Video Game)|Dwarf Fortress]]''}}

 

 

Ever since Tolkien did his thing with some modified [[Norse Mythology|Norse myths]], the Dwarves have been rolling off the assembly line as the same basic model. (Although many "Tolkienesque" Dwarves are more like the [[Theme Park Version]].) Since [[The Film of the Book]](s), they now even all talk the same. A lot of dwarves are Scottish, Irish, or Russian. An [[Planet of Hats|entire race]] of miners and blacksmiths, with names like [[Luke Nounverber|Dwarfaxe Dwarfbeard and Grimli Stonesack]], who are overly sensitive about any perceived slight, always [[Violent Glaswegian|spoiling for a fight]], unable to speak two sentences in a row without calling someone "lad" or "lass," and possessed of a love of gold and jewels that drives them to dig deep and greedily ([[Dug Too Deep|often with catastrophic results]]). Expect dwarf-tossing jokes.

In the last couple of decades, they will often be depicted as more technologically minded than other fantasy races, verging on (and sometimes overtaking) [[Steampunk]], but this is in keeping with their engineering and crafting skills both from the classic Fantasy depictions and from actual mythology. Very often they will simultaneously be depicted as one of the most conservative races socially, although their overall similarity with humans compared to more outlandish races means the two are usually familiar with each other if not outright bros.

 

 

 

See also [[Five Races]], [[Elves vs. Dwarves]]

* [[JRR Tolkien (Creator)|JRR 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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."

** Dwarf folklore is an interesting deviation; it holds that dwarfs and trolls are diametric opposites and will forever hate each other. ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Thud|Thud]]'' takes it a step further by introducing what may be the oldest of dwarf folklore, the story of the creation of dwarf, man, and troll. The story goes that Tak, a very laid-back not-quite-deity ("Tak doesn't require that we think of Him, only that we think") created a stone egg in a cave, which hatched and released two brothers; one left the cave and found the things that made him man, while the other ventured deeper within and found the things that made him dwarf. Then, unbeknownst to Tak, the stone egg came to life and became a troll, but without Tak's blessing, it was an agonized half-life, without thought, creation, or virtue, such that killing it is not murder, but mercy (the citation when this story is first told mentions that in the original document, the passage about trolls appears to have been added later by a second author). {{spoiler|Later, we're given a new version of the troll passage; Tak ''did'' notice the egg trying to come to life, and he was overjoyed by it, giving it the last little push it needed to become a troll (this one was recited by a pair of diplomats trying to establish peace between trolls and dwarfs, and insofar as either version belongs with the rest of the story, this is probably the one, considering the book's message)}}.

* Dwarves of ''[[The Inheritance Cycle]]'' are polytheistic and devotely religious people who pretty much play the trope straight in all other respects. [[Christopher Paolini (Creator)|Paolini]] makes a point of mentioning dwarf women, but doesn't detail much about how they differ from dwarf men. They have some cities underground, but also some aboveground, even with a [[Lampshade Hanging]] when Eragon is surprised to find that Dwarves have open surface cities just like everyone else, and a dwarf tells him that they like the open air as much as anyone else. They also have seven toes, and two dwarves hold a bet on whether or not humans actually have only five toes. According to history, they are the oldest of sentient races, and lived in Alagaesia before the elves or humans arrived.

* Kage Baker may have slightly different dwarves in the "[[The Company Novels|Company]]" series, although they are more a subspecies (or rare parent species??) of humans. They are partway between Tolkien-standard elves and Tolkien-standard dwarves: small, cranky, subterranean, and complete geniuses of invention; but pale, shy, and weak.

* In ''[[The Death Gate Cycle]]'', on the world of Pryan, Dwarves are played straight. On Chelestra, they're less xenophobic and more friendly, especially in regards to other races. And on Arianus, they live in devotion to something called the Kicksey-Winsey Machine, which their entire lives revolve around. They're dead on Abarrach.

** However, the Gorons of later games have pretty much all of the traits of dwarves, except instead of having full beards, they have goatees.

* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in ''[[Lusternia]]''. The dwarven race were originally called the Clangoru (having descended from the Elder God Clangorum); when the humans arrived in Lusternia from a different dimension, they puzzled everyone by [[Insistent Terminology|calling the Clangoru dwarves]]. They did this because the Clangoru - alone of every other mortal race - were recognisable to the humans, being ''indistinguishable'' from the dwarves of their native dimension.

** It's because Luke from Shining Force is a hobbit, Gort is a Dwarven Warrior, but Luke is a hobbit. Jaha in Shinning Force II is also a Hobbit, but Gyan and Randolph are Dwarves, funny because Randolph is beardless.

* In both ''[[Neverwinter Nights]]'' games, this is both played straight and averted. When it's played straight, it's hilarious. When it's averted, it's averted '''hard'''.

* Even ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]'' doesn't stray from the path too far. Yes, their dwarves are [[http://kol.coldfront.net/thekolwiki/index.php/7-Foot_Dwarf_<!-- 28Royale29 7-Feet Tall]], but other than that they act exactly the same as here. -->

* A few deviations by the dwarves in ''[[Dragon Age]]: Origins''. Dwarves speak with American (and Cockney in Bodahn's case) instead of Scottish accents, and are often mustachioed or even clean-shaven instead of bearded. In addition, dwarven alcohol is brewed from dirt and lichen and apparently tastes awful, to the extent that the one dwarven party member, Oghren, much prefers surfacer booze. Finally, dwarven women are readily distinguishable from the men and often quite attractive. They're also not especially honorable, or even fair, given one of the two remaining examples of their native society has many of them incredibly obsessed with status and rank. They still seem to take honor seriously, but if you can get away with poisoning or undermining rivals cleanly then they pretty much encourage it, similar to MANY cultures with strict honor codes and insular tendencies). In other regards, they play the trope dead straight, with a closed, insular, hidebound society (they have a rigid caste system); elaborately braided beards among the upper class; great underground halls; skill at mining and smithcraft; axes, hammers, and crossbows as their preferred (though not only) weapons, and heavy plate as their favored armor; squarish, angular motifs in their equipment and architecture; a fondness for ale; and so on and so forth.

*** In general, surface dwarves (like Varric) are usually the opposite of underground dwarves, meaning for example that they do not follow a caste system or value "dwarven tradition" as much as underground dwarves.

* ''[[Delve Deeper]]''. It's played mostly for laughs, but they're about as generic as it gets.

== Web Original ==

 

* [[Limyaaels Fantasy Rants|Limyaael]] suggests that customizing the model is a [http://limyaael.livejournal.com/137511.html really good idea].

* The dwarves in ''[[Arcana Magi]]'' are techno savvy. One dwarf is on the Board of Directors for Avalon Tech Enterprises as head of the metal works division. One dwarf works there in the technology department.

[[Category:Index of Fictional Creatures]]

[[Category:Our Dwarves Are All The Same]]