Them Dwarves, Them Dwarves! - Page 8
© Michael Martinez
Durin's presence among the early Dwarves begs the question of when they actually began founding cities. He is credited with founding Khazad-dum, which bears the distinction (among Dwarf cities) of being the only location named for the entire Dwarven race ("Khazad-dum" = "Dwarf-mansion"). It may be incorrect to suppose that Gundabad served as a home for the Dwarves for very long. Durin may have brought the Dwarven people south to Khazad-dum instead, and though he was called Deathless because he long outlived the other fathers of the Dwarves, the day did come when he died.
Suppose that critical event which led to the dispersion of the Dwarves across Middle-earth were the death of Durin? If he had been the glue holding them together in a united tradition, and if their increasing numbers had gradually strained their ability to support themselves, then Durin's successor and his fellow kings may have decided that the time was ripe for a change in Dwarven society. Instead of all Dwarves living together the six other houses departed from Khazad-dum and returned to the lands where their forefathers awoke.
Hence, the Broadbeams and Firebeards journeyed westward in the footsteps of the Eldar and they settled in Ered Luin. They built the cities of Belegost and Nogrod and, looking west, wandered down into Beleriand to see what the new neighborhood was like.
For the equivalent of the next 3,000 years (of the Sun) the western Dwarves participated in the history of the Eldar, until the ending of the First Age of the Sun. And then the world changed for everyone.
Next week we'll examine the history and cultures of the Dwarves after the rising of the Sun and Moon.
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