The Complete History of Durin's Folk

In this video, we look at the complete history of Durin's Folk, also known as the Longbeards, from Durin's awakening beneath Mount Gundabad to their tumultuous days in the latter half of the Third Age.
Thanks to my patrons - Will Harrison, Slowbro96, Vasco Sa Pinto, Gavin, Javi Iñesta ,Brn, JIV, Fipse, W Sean Mason, boi sophies, Stonetruck, ThunderStryken, Hallimar Rathlorn, Habimana, Ben Jeffrey, Harry Evett, Mojtaba Ro, Moe L, Paul Leone, Barbossa, mncb1o, Carrot Ifson, Andrew Welch and Catherine Berry
Patreon - / darthgandalf

[@SirBolsón]

Last time I was this early, the line of Durin was still going strong! 💪🏼😂

[@valiantredneck]

Sad. Pathetic and sad.

[@travisfinneran9792]

How dare you! The line is as strong as ever!!!!

[@SirBolsón]

@@NesherNZ ?

[@jjs5191]

The line of durin never failed. From durin the deathless to durin the 7th

[@jamesw3413]

Just went out to buy snacks, come back and I've got a 52 minute video on dwarves. You sir, are a hero

[@Tollcross406]

You have to love when the universe just gives you a big smile. Enjoy your snacks and Tolkien lore!

[@mdefoe28]

Other LOTR youtubers: a video everyday, same topics over and over, endless rants about ROP with hours long video for each episode, livestreams, collabs, "like and subscribe" Darth Gandalf: posts when he wants, niche topics, original ideas, refuses to elaborate further, leaves.

[@saeedshahbazian9889]

I love it when there's a new Darth Gandalf video, much more when it's a podcast. Keep up the great work

[@untitled568]

My favourite series is back so early, it almost never left..

[@PeculiarNotions]

Another excellent podcast-style video.

[@thomasalvarez6456]

To think, when Durin established Khazad Dûm, it would stand for longer than almost any other city. Only Tirion stood longer than it, being almost the same age. It outlasted, Armenelos, Doriath, Gondolin and entire civilisations. It's almost as old as the mountains themselves, both the city and the mountain are synonymous. It seems that even the mysterious reincarnation of Durin has some role within the mountain itself. The ancient homeland of Durin's folk has a mystical tie to its clan, being its lifeblood, something Durin's folk heard call them and even other dwarf clans to an extent. It's always fascinated me.

[@andrewhead1840]

I enjoy the end of these videos where you say and remember followed by some hilarious words of wisdom. :-) And really enjoyed this video overall of course keep them coming. :-) I'm blind and read audiobooks, but the history of Middle Earth has not yet been published as an audio Collection so I was very glad to know where the first age information about the long beards came from. :-)

[@grimkip460]

No freaking wayyyyyyyy!!! You sir, have made my day!

[@LewisPulsipher]

Thank you. I only discovered your channel recently - I don't usually listen to Tolkien lore - and I like your style.

[@istari0]

In my more fanciful moments, I like to think that someday we will find the remains of Khazad-dûm or some other Dwarven city deep inside our mountains and that perhaps even a colony of Dwarves still survives there.

[@WhoIsCalli]

Listening to this while playing Return to Moria - felt fitting 😊

[@neildaly2635]

Dain wasn’t as lucky as his old man, you see Dain was a Marine and he was killed with all the other Marines at a place called Wake Island. All joking aside, excellent summary of the history of Durin’s Folk!

[@cavetroll666]

Thanks for the video listening while I work my factory job

[@archiepetrie-tootell7392]

Banger of a vid, listening in the gym

[@or_gluzman561Peace_IL_PS]

maybe you can make a video about the way the eastern dwarven clan are represented in LOTRO

[@daganlove8536]

I'm loving the long videos

[@sayagarapan1686]

This was amazing. You're a wizard.

[@bendaly6260]

We need a film/TV show on the war in the north and the battle of Dale

[@BrianSmith-ql5nj]

Yes!

[@morgothsbain]

I love your videos so much man, Tolkien would be proud.

[@bristleconepine4120]

I, personally, am a bit dubious of JRRT's revision by having Durin's spirit returning to his body instead of reincarnation. Durin VI was killed by, well, Durin's Bane, so I can't imagine that there would have been much of his body left to return to. I prefer JRRT's original version where it was Durin's spirit being reborn into a new body. Suggestion for future podcast videos: can you put the source as a subtitle / caption when you are discussing a particular topic? I am wondering about the various sources of your narrative, and what level of canon they all pertain to! :)

[@dlxmarks]

I never liked the idea of Durin reentering his original body either. Does Durin's return displace the current line of succession and he starts a new one? Say he showed up during the reign of Thráin II. Does Thráin abdicate in his favor and does the heir apparent Thorin Oakenshield (and _his_ heir presumptive Dain Ironfoot) give up their claims to the kingship? Make no sense.

[@bristleconepine4120]

@@dlxmarks That's another problem, and yes, I agree!

[@DarthGandalfYT]

@@dlxmarks It makes me wonder if Durin only awakes when he's required. But yeah, it does create some issues when you consider that Durin VII is supposed to be descended from Thorin III.

[@dlxmarks]

@@DarthGandalfYT Yes, it would make sense for Durin to return if the line of succession would otherwise fail but it's still inconsistent with Tolkien's take on life and death for the mortal races. Thanks for creating a fantastic Tolkien channel that asks great questions and gives excellent answers.

[@jamaigar]

Everything you say about the war of the orcs and dwarves always sounds like power metal lyrics to me for some reason

[@johnt.inscrutable1545]

It’s amazing how you knew what I was doing in my backyard right down to the shape (not body shaped, just sort of oblong).

[@Lawsan-d4e]

History of Harad would be cool

[@adamhuskey5306]

Great work!

[@m_rissspeedruns1231]

War of the ring idea: What if Merry and Pippin failed to get the ents to do anything about Isengard's destruction of Fangorn. The battle of the Hornburg (Helm's Deep) would mostly play out the same way they do in the book and/or film, with the exception of the huorns not showing up and Isengard not getting destroyed by Treebeard and co. What would be the future ramifications be in the war of the ring?

[@Lucy-yc4bc]

Great video!

[@DonMeaker]

Very interesting and exhaustive. The only missing part that I noticed was the absence of any discussion of the petty dwarves of Beleriand and their interactions with Turin and Hurin.

[@Lucy-yc4bc]

they weren’t a part of Durins folk

[@DCJMS]

with the Longbeards taking in so many migrants from the other clans does that make Durin's folk the Dunedain of Dwarfdom?

[@ProjectRedfoot]

Praise be to Darth Ganderp!

[@thedarkmasterthedarkmaster]

Man Dwarves really had it bad

[@lexington476]

Is there ever any indication of how deep Tlthe Dwarfs had to dig to awake the Belrog?😂

[@johnt.inscrutable1545]

Very.

[@swyjix]

“Far too” I believe is the scientific terminology.

[@Caesar_1415]

Very very deep, lol.

[@paolomesterom6899]

Nice topic!👌🏼

[@lamhuynh7201]

Kinda weird how durin could find other dwarfs considering him woke up alone and so far away. Either dwarf are multiplied/cloned out at industrial scale in a few decades or durin are actually deathless until he started ruling durin's folk and die from too much alcohol/gold

[@frederiklarsen5109]

Video idea: how big was the armies of the last alliance and of sauron during the last alliance

[@jackolantern147]

What would have happened if Sauron survived his rings destruction? I believe that his body was inside Barad'dur when the ring was destroyed which is why he died for good. But what would happen if he was outside Barad'dur when it happened, being limited to his physical form from now on? Would the captains of the west hunt him down and kill him once and for all? Would he wage a final desperate war with whatever forces are left? Would he be betrayed and a civil war occur? I think LOTRO had an idea about this with the evil tree and the lady of poisons.

[@theleakyprophet]

Bravo! This was enjoyable and interesting. What is the Arkenstone? A diamond? A silmaril?

[@iainmawhinney8867]

definitely not a silmaril; silmarils are a lot more powerful and Galadriel or Elrond would recognize them on sight if not by description, not to mention they'd burn any mortal flesh that touch them

[@tobigforyou]

Can you do a long form video on the Noldor?

[@morgant.dulaman8733]

Here's a question: Why did the White Council never attack the Balrog? Even with Saruman being a prick and later a traitor, I'd doubt he'd be able to stop them if most of the others were willing, and with their combined power, I doubt the fallen maiar would last long.

[@ThomFoolery12]

Nobody knew it was a Balrog, just some nameless, terrible creature that laid low the greatest dwarf city in history. It was unknown and dangerous but also not openly threatening. Why disturb it when more open foes had to be fought?

[@morgant.dulaman8733]

@@ThomFoolery12 A fair point. I'd note however that even if it was unknown, an entity that destroyed the most powerful dwarven civilization in the west had should certainly be on the radar of the wise. Further, destroying it and helping the dwarves reclaim Moria would have made for safer travel in the mountains and, if done after the fall of Erebor or the Dwarf and Orc wars, would have solidified the dwarves' favor as well as provided a stronghold against Sauron, checked the reach of orcs in the north, and provide safe travel through the mountains. Taking his reasonings for helping Thorin's expedition, I'd say these were all boons that would have been on Gandalf's mind for some time, while Galadriel would have enjoyed having whatever overthrew Kazad-Dum dealt with given how close it was to her kingdom, and Elrond would likely agree to most of what I mentioned for Gandalf. Even Saruman might want to get involved if it meant the aforementioned dwarven favor plus access to Mithril.

[@talesoftheeldar8688]

I was about to suggest this video ideea

[@MrTwiggy93]

Woho!

[@foxyshabazz]

How the blazes did more dwarves come into being? That part always seems missing from their creation myth, and always made me think that it is just a myth. Did Aule make a bunch of 'Mothers of the Dwarves' too, that we just aren't told about? Or did they emit spores like a fungus?

[@DarthGandalfYT]

I'm guessing other Dwarves might've awoken nearby after the Seven Fathers awoke. Because yeah, otherwise it wouldn't really make much sense.

[@darkjudge8786]

So we just skipping over where the first female dwarves came from after the 7 dudes were deposited?

[@hotdogtdog]

Just like star wars why are there no guard rails on any big chasoms.

[@dabestestgoblin8495]

Do you think in an ideal version of Arda, where Morgoth didn't decide to be edgy, that the dwarven decline would have still happened? I personally think so, albeit it would have been much slower rate.

[@FateDarkess]

the holes are normal shape dw :)

[@DRKrust492]

Using screenshots from the Hobbit just reminded more how abysmally horrible those movies were.

[@BrianSmith-ql5nj]

I disagree with you. The hobbit movies werent the scale of TLOTR trilogy however they were great movies in their own right. They will never be replicated or overshadowed by any other attempt at capturing that story on film!

[@BrianSmith-ql5nj]

👍👍

[@Lucy-yc4bc]

@@BrianSmith-ql5njthe animated film is a lot better

[@JoshuaLivie]

The Hobbit movies make the Rings of Power happen.

[@JoshuaLivie]

@@Lucy-yc4bc Much more accurate to Tolkien's vision.