Dwarves (Middle-earth)

According to Tolkien's internal mythology summarized in the sources, the Dwarves were crafted by the Vala Aulë in secret during the Years of the Trees because Aulë was impatient for the coming of the Children of Ilúvatar. Aulë made the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves and hid them in stone; Ilúvatar was aware and sanctified them and granted them being. They awoke after the Elves and before Men and were given their own tongue, Khuzdul, by Aulë. Each of the Seven Fathers founded one of the principal Dwarf-clans; Durin I is the eldest and progenitor of the Longbeards (Durin's line).

Canonical descriptions in the supplied sources are limited but consistent in portraying Dwarves as a people derived from Germanic/Norse dwarf traditions: generally shorter and stouter than Elves and Men (reflected in Sindarin exonyms such as Naugrim, 'Stunted People'), often long-bearded (males especially), and bearing the signs of labor and craft in their person — sturdy, stocky physiques suited to mining, smithing, and masonry. Textual summaries emphasize their association with stone and mountain-dwelling rather than providing precise measurements.

Dwarves are unrivalled in mining, smithing, metalworking, masonry, and the crafting of jewels and artefacts; they build vast underground halls and produce famous works (for example the great halls of Khazad-dûm and the mithril-coat). They are long-lived (living to ages on the order of centuries), slow to breed, and socially characterized by strong memory — retaining injuries and benefits across generations — and fierce martial prowess: described as among the most redoubtable warriors of the Speaking Peoples. In the wake of Sauron's artifice, seven Rings were given to Dwarf-lords, which increased greed and wrath but did not bend them to Sauron's dominion; many of these Rings were later reclaimed by Sauron or otherwise removed.