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Them Dwarves, Them Dwarves! - Page 7

© Michael Martinez

Through the many generations the Dwarves of Belegost and Nogrod expanded their contacts with the Elves. They apparently traded with the Elves of Eriador, or at least had some knowledge of them, for they informed the Sindar when the eastern Elves began fleeing to the deeper woods and the hills to escape those of Melkor's creatures (primarily the Orcs, it seems) which began spreading through Middle-earth. Tolkien mentions two other facts about these early Dwarves which are seldom discussed. The first is the fact that the early Dwarves, prior to their contact with the Sindar, specialized in working with iron and copper and preferred working in stone rather than wood. But they were not artistic and were quite functional in their architectural design and the making of tools and weapons. Tolkien notes that the Dwarves were deeply influenced by their association with the Elves, acquiring artistic influences from them. The other fact is that the Dwarves fought among themselves. Although the nature of these feuds or wars is never discussed, it may be that if there was a primeval Dwarven community it dispersed not so much due to population pressure but perhaps in part due to rivalries among the various houses. As the Dwarven population grew food would be more and more difficult to acquire (except through trade with the Elves) unless the Dwarves grew their own, and the essay on "Dwarves and Men" says they preferred not to grow food if they could avoid doing so. And yet as the population increased the Dwarves would also have to develop greater sophistication in governing themselves, and thus rival factions may have developed. This is, of course, entirely speculative, but it seems evident that Tolkien envisioned some close interaction among the early Dwarves which eventually was replaced by more distant and cool relations. Durin the Deathless appears to have been generally revered by all the Dwarves as the eldest of their race and the longest lived. He would have possessed a considerable presence among their early kings after the other fathers had died off. Durin's Folk, the Longbeards, were not directly descended from him -- not in the first generations. Unlike the other fathers Durin did not have a mate made by Aule. So he had to find a wife from among the children or grand-children of the other fathers. And his people were originally recruited from the other houses as well. The Longbeards would thus have been the most cosmopolitan and mainstream group of Dwarves as variations in customs and preferences began to appear among them.

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