The Origins of the Dwarves | Of the Lords of Beleriand : Silmarillion Series - Part 5 of 10

Why do Dwarves exist? Where did they come from? Who was the first one? Today we'll look at the divine origins of the race of Dwarves. And the Vala lord who created them!
Check out the full playlist:
Part 1 | The Grey Elves of Beleriand - • Grey Elves of Belerian...
Part 2 | The Return of the Noldor - • The Return of the Nold...
Part 3 | The Battle of Glory - • The Battle of Glory | ...
Part 4 | The Elven Realms of Beleriand - • The Elven Realms of Be...
Part 5 | The Origins of the Dwarves - • The Origins of the Dwa...
Part 6 | The Dwarves of Beleriand (and also Ents?) - • The Dwarves of Beleria...
Part 7 | The Many Clans of Men - • The Many Clans of Men ...
Part 8 | The Edain: Elf-friends Among Men - • The Edain: Elf-friends...
Part 9 | The Servants of Shadow - • The Servants of Shadow...
Part 10 | The Ruin of Beleriand - • The Ruin of Beleriand:...
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Much love, stay groovy, and navaer mellyn nin!

[@sarahgould5435]

I always love the story of the Dwarves' creation. Aule didn't create them out of pride to say, "Look what I can do!" He made them out of impatience to teach and share his skill. Basically, he wanted someone to geek out with about smithing and just got too antsy waiting for the Elves to wake up. I can totally relate. My siblings have very often falken victim to,"You have to hear this *AWESOME* exerpt from this book I just finished!" If the Vanyar and Finarfin's host of Noldor hadn't stayed in Aman, I think I would end up really feeling sorry for Aule. I also love how Iluvatar accepts Aule's gift of the Dwarves the moment he offers. Before Aule even has time to finish his sentence, Iluvatar has already granted souls to what had basically been fleshy automatons. Just, "Good, you learned your lesson, right, these guys are mine now, *put that hammer down.* No, I totally haven't spent the entire time you've been working on them anticipating this moment to drop a note of my own into the free will variation I encouraged you to make to your theme at all." I also find it interesting that the Dwarves are rumored to be set aside to help Aule rebuild after the Dagor Dagorath. Aule has lost his two most famous Maiar who could have been his lieutenants. Also, his reason for creating the Dwarves in the first place indicates that any Maiar who might share kinship with him are unwilling to work with him and appreciate the beauty of Arda with him. Could the Dwarves be replacements for those Maiar who decided not to do that work?

[@totallynotthebio-lizard7631]

The Origin of the Dwarves is imo the most beautiful sub-plot in the Silmarilian. A powerful angelic being who shows ambition equivalent to the devil understanding his wrongdoing and willing to destroy a Valor's equivalent to the silmarils as repentance. And God shows mercy to these future children.

[@RobSojourn]

I would like to think that when (if?) Gimli gets to Aman, Aule puts down his hammer and hurries down to the shore trying to think of a way to say "hello" to one of his children with out Gimli's lil' head exploding.

[@tolkienuntangled]

That would be awesome!

[@volrosku.6075]

If Aule is in anyway of similar temperament to the Dwarves he would great gimli with cheers and laughter and a big hug commencing and great party wanting to hear from a dwarf the history of his people of the adoptive sons of illuvatar. As I doubt Mandos let's able enter his halls to get such stories very openly.

[@emilpeterson7034]

Tbh he must have been proud as fuck to see Gimli coming together with Legolas as best friends to Valinor. It would have shown how important his creation was and that they mended their relations with the elfs.

[@rollingthunder1043]

If he's anything like Balin and Dwalin, he'd probably greet Gimli with a skull-shattering headbutt and a nice, foamy pint.

[@albussr1589]

I bet Manwe is getting a terrible Headache the Moment these two meet

[@DragonoidBerserker1]

Speaking of subtlety, I like to think that the reason why the Dwarves weren't nearly as corrupted as Men in the Second Age was due to the fact that they were made to be stubborn, resistant, and strong willed by Aule, Sauron's former master. A subtle showing of Aule's superiority in craft.

[@strangerdanger9395]

Love this.

[@hadleyscott1160]

And Aules anger at his betrayal of him.

[@DragonoidBerserker1]

@@strangerdanger9395 Thanks

[@ptbot3294]

But surely Erus own children should be off higher craft than that of Aule

[@DragonoidBerserker1]

@@ptbot3294 You mean both men and elves?

[@johns1625]

I really loved the part in the Silmarillion where Yavanna learns that her husband got to create his own race of people and she was immediately so alarmed she went directly to Manwe to complain. She saw the Dwarves were made to use axes over any other tool and she recalls to him that in her music when Arda was created she imagined the trees as singing out in the rain of Ulmo and the wind of Manwe and soil of Aule. So since the Dwarves would surely cut down every tree seeing the forests as only useful for fuel, Illuvatar grants Yavanna a similar wish and creates the Ents, the Huorns, and many other dark things in the woods to protect them. As she's telling Aule about this for what seems like forever and warning him that the trees will fight back, all he has to say in return is "Yet they shall still have need for wood" lmao. It was weird to me learning that the Ents are natural enemies of the Dwarves in a way!

[@ptbot3294]

When your husband come home with bastards, you are not wrong to complain!

[@jonathaneby9485]

Explains why Gimli was so scared in Fangorn 😂

[@kylegordy113]

@@jonathaneby9485truu hahaha

[@TheMarcHicks]

There is one exception. In the 2nd chapter of Lord of the Rings (Shadow of the Past), Frodo meets and talks to Dwarves coming down the Great Road-heading to the Blue Mountains....and many of them are from clans he has never seen before, fleeing from the Far East. I am guessing they must be dwarves from the Red Mountains region, fleeing the rise of Sauron.

[@maxpauley00]

Even the lore around the dwarves is tinged with a little bit of sorrow

[@albussr1589]

Thinking of the Dwarves of the adopted middle Children of Eru goes a long Way to explain their Relationship with the Elves Also, their Part of the Halls of Mandos must be like ... the biggest Workshop in Middlearth

[@Ower8x]

combined with the biggest tavern in Arda :D

[@christosvoskresye]

There are strong overtones of Abraham and Ishmael (Abraham's impatient attempt to produce an heir outside of God's plan) and Abraham and Isaac (in particular, how God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, but spared Isaac when He saw Abraham was obedient enough to go through with it).

[@SouthHill_]

So if you're gonna talk about Ents, is the next intro going to be a 22 hour sonorous symphony of Entish groaning and creaking?

[@Crafty_Spirit]

I hope so 😁

[@tolkienuntangled]

Don't tempt me 🙂

[@garretttekampe9564]

Yes please

[@mrdavman13]

@@tolkienuntangled do it please

[@Labyrinth1010]

Amazing.

[@TheMarcHicks]

BTW, one of Ulmo's servants went a bit nuts there for a little while. Osse initially joined forces with Melkor, but rejoined the Valar after being pardoned by Manwe.

[@andrejbanovcin6909]

Who else shouted STONEFEET! at the monitor when Dave introduced the stonefoots?

[@branharak1331]

Deserve more views dude, bring these stories to life

[@LeeGall333]

The creation of the dwarves is so unique and interesting! The interpretation leads your mind to all kinds of questions and Curiosity, of the details in between. I guess that goes for the entire world of Middle Earth!

[@pv0214]

Don't you mean dwarfs (just joking please don't purge me)

[@johnt.inscrutable1545]

@@pv0214 In English it could even be Dwarghs by using the "gh" from "enough".

[@totallynotthebio-lizard7631]

@@johnt.inscrutable1545 interesting

[@johnt.inscrutable1545]

@@totallynotthebio-lizard7631 - This comes from something shown me in 5th grade. An alternate spelling of “fish” being “ghoti” With the “gh” from enough, the “o” from women, and the “ti” from nation.

[@Athl3ticM3dic]

Dude I love your videos so much. You had me belly laughing with how you pronounce SIXTH. You say what sounds like SICTH. I know that’s petty and stupid but it gave me a laugh so there you go. Much Love. Keep doing what you’re doing. Your content is helping me get through fire season.

[@MrSmetanka]

The creation of dwarves and the concept of a world created from music are my two favourite parts in the Silmarillion. Just plainly beautiful ideas. Aulë as the blacksmith god is not original but I wonder if the creation of life by a blacksmith has roots in some lesser known mythos from the real world?

[@ysgramornorris2452]

Not necessarily a smith, but it's pretty common cross-culturally to have a craftsman-god creating humans. The Egyptian god Khnum comes to mind. Prometheus also made humans from clay.

[@joaojeffersoncavalcantiwan812]

Its not quite music, but some indian tradition put the vibration om as the seed of criation, or something like that.

[@lukesayers5850]

You said "real world" vas is das?

[@SonofSethoitae]

According to Greek mythology, Hephaestus created automatons to attend him in his palace and forge, not unlike the dwarves are described before being ensouled by Illuvatar. Additionally, according Hesiod specifically he created Pandora, the first woman, on the orders of Zeus.

[@elizabethmiddleton4733]

Thank you for this video! I'm a recent subscriber and I have to say, I am astounded at the great effort and details you put into all of your videos. I enjoy them very much! Also, you have a very pleasant and soothing voice.

[@tolkienuntangled]

Thanks so much! I'm really glad you enjoy the videos

[@russrichardson991]

I am happy to say the same. I consider myself well-versed in the lore and its characters, but always mix up (for instance) Finrod & Turgon and their respective realms. It’s difficult to recount these stories without feeling that they are actually history! ❤️

[@scenab8478]

Great video about the beginning of the DWARFS. I can't believe we only know about 1 dwarf family

[@djerykhornubis2466]

This idea that craftsmen being inherently bringers of chaos in a otherwise peaceful and benevolent (natural) world is the most constant theme in Tolkien's work. His experience (in particular WWI) made him despise/fear industry and technological advancements while he loved a more traditional, simple, down to earth, rural lifestyle. That is why all of his character and civilisation arks and struggles revolve over that technology->arrogance->destruction paradigm. For instance, he praises humble Hobbits, Rohan riders, over arrogant Numenoriens and Gondoriens, wood elves over Noldors, Gandalf (humble rider/smoker...) over Saruman (arrogant industry CEO), and of course, Elves/Ents (placid, unchanging) over orcs (results of craftmanship, ever transforming through destruction) with humans ever in balance between the two trends.

[@mlebrooks]

I love that your begining shifted language. So Tolkien!

[@hansnordby6932]

I am really enjoying these series videos of yours. Your statement that from Sauron's point of view giving the dwarves rings of power was kind of a waste got me thinking. What might have happened if Sauron had foreseen that the dwarves would not be corrupted to his will and instead had given all 16 rings to men? He would have certainly gotten 7 more ringwraiths but perhaps without the rings the dwarves would have had less greed and gold lust and they could have retained better relations with the elves.

[@ichisichify]

in the modern market of countless uninspired Tolkienesque rehashes, it is astonishing how much the original has a certain dignity to it that its copies rarely achieve

[@joemck74]

I never seen it before, but there's a straight parallel between Aule being genuinely ready to destroy the Dwarves and being stopped by their proving their sentience by pleading for mercy (which they could not have done unless Eru Illuvitar had willed them to be truly Alive) and Yahweh's testing of Abraham by offering his son for sacrifice. Tolkien always said he didn't like allegory, but......

[@elessarKP]

And it continuous not to be. You see in the case of Aule and Illuvitar is the exact opposite o Abraham's. Aule offers in humility to destroy the Dawrves while Abraham begins to do it after being ordered. The one is an acte that shows humility and the other is one that show obediance. Illuvitar does not seek blind obedience but humility and good intentions.

[@0megasight]

Honestly, I really understand Aule’s desire for students. Mairon had either already turned to Melkor, or would shortly, and Aule’s whole purpose is to create things. There’s no greater thing to create than something that can understand you and perhaps surpass you, and that’s what Aule’s trying to do. He’s just desperate for the companionship of fellow craftsfolk

[@J0HNJ0RDAN]

We know the influence of multiple religions can be found in Tolkien's work. One theme that struck me here, was how nothing that happens, no individual act, is outside of the ultimate will of Eru. What Melkor meant for evil, Eru wove into his ultimate plan and even used it to contribute to its beauty. Aule gets impatient.. Eru uses it for everyone's greater good.

[@ericgardner3140]

Aule destroying the first 7 is somewhat akin to the story from the Old Testament of Abraham and Isaac, in so far as "God" demands the sacrifice of the "Son", only to say JK, I was only testing you. It is always fun to re-read his works and see the underlying Catholicism of Tolkien bleeding into his writings. Sometimes so subtle, that it takes a few readings to notice it. I read his books every year, and I feel like I always discover a new perspective in which to view is work.

[@Labyrinth1010]

Jeez ,Rainbow Dave. You can turn topics I had little interest in before into something truly wonderful. Amazing, as always.

[@maxrander0101]

i think the main reason for his creation being allowed to live on and being given true life is that it was foreseen that they would be needed in the future after all without them many wars against the darkness would of been lost yes in time those old alliances broke down but they were still a respected race by most others even some elves still wanted to honour those alliances they just felt that the Dwarves were delving to deep and loved the riches found too much and started to value gold and jewels over friendship

[@johnt.inscrutable1545]

I hold to the stated reason. That being that Aüle immediately humbled himself and offered to destroy them in order to be forgiven. And in the very instant that he humbled himself Eru imbued them with life which is why they shrank away from the potential strike of Aüle.

[@marhawkman303]

I think that in some place Tolkein hints that Eru Illuvatar... actually expected all of this to happen. Yeah... Illuvatar's ability to see the future... applied to even Melkor. Which is a bit... interesting as it makes it seem like Melkor's "betrayal" was expected from the start.

[@Crafty_Spirit]

Please post your introducing words with a translation 😀 It gives a nice feeling. And I actually surmise that Tolkien spelled it as dwarves because he somehow prefer it for asthetic reasons, he's admitting to a guilty pleasure 😁 Another random note: I've just realised that as Aulë created the two lamps and Yavanna the two trees, both eventually failed, but the moon and sun who were built by Aulë based on Yavanna's creation, endured. It closes the mild 'rivalry' between the spouses.

[@tolkienuntangled]

'Gamut sanu yenet' means 'well met'. And 'dayamu khuzan ai-mênu' means 'blessing of the ancestors upon you' in neo-Khuzdul. I'll actually explain it more fully in next week's video 🙂

[@Crafty_Spirit]

@@tolkienuntangled Cool. And thanks for answering a question in the video that followed me. I was not sure whether Dwarves are a match for Elven and Human warriors because Gimli mentions during the battle of Helm's Deep something like "these Dunlendings are too tall (i.e. dangerous) for me to fight". So I wondered whether despite their supreme endurance that their short stature would give them a critical disadvantage when fighting a tall Man or Elv. They defeated the army of Doriath however. I don't know too much about battle physics but if Tolkien says that they were the most redoubtable warriors then I guess superior raw power and resistance to wounds (and superior armor and weaponry) would compensate their restricted range. They seem to suck though against Elven archers.

[@mrdavman13]

@@Crafty_Spirit I imagine they would rely on their crafting abilities and gadgets to handle their shortcomings or weak points. I know people don’t really love the hobbit especially the last movie but one scene I do love is when the dwarves shoot those flying twirling blades to cut up all the arrows and it even shocks thranduil when they crash into a bunch of elven archers. I know it’s not necessarily cannon but there’s not a whole bunch of hard facts when it comes to dwarves especially old dwarves or far off dwarves. Who knows what kind of gear they made to help them out during a battle to even out the tide. Maybe even just standard heavy siege weaponry was enough to tip the scales, I’m sure they could do the math and physics to create some fun things and have the skills to make it

[@waynepurcell6058]

The Cawood type sword at 33:05 is a really nice fit for a Dwarven kit. The axe would really fit too if the lug and butt weren't so oversized.

[@freddaniel5099]

Awesome video! One of your best! 👍

[@taldavidof8266]

Chilling my friend... chilling... amazing emotions

[@Nipsheberath]

Love this always.. keep on watching

[@Djynni]

Great video 👍

[@chomps163]

another amazing video

[@ducatirottie]

Dude, you are the best!👍🏽

[@dimtirigordon122]

What if videos are pretty popular. But I’ve, but I’ve noticed that there has never been a “what if a if a valar joined Melkor”. I think that would be kinda fun, and I think you could do a really good job. You have really good In-depth analysis.

[@dubya85]

epic man well done

[@Erebdai]

Great video. As someone who is hearing impaired can it be possible to get closed captioning so i can read along? Sadly speakers make my hearing aid crackle. Also l love the dwarves, did all the dwarves of Beleriand sink into the ocean?

[@aquafreshka9308]

Insane video thanks

[@Runamoinen]

I'd never realized before now that the number of clans of elves and dwarves mirror the number of rings they received from Sauron. Is it possible that there are nine clans of men? The three houses of Edain in Beleriand, the men of Rhovanion (Rohan and Dale), Rhun, Harad, Khand, Dunland and the Druedain?

[@torianholt2752]

Most definitely for the 7 lines of the Dwarves, I would've thought the 3 Elven rings represented the Noldor, Sindar, and Teleri, but instead they were given to the greatest Elven rulers, (Elrond, Galadriel, and Cirdan.)

[@nosaurian]

​@@torianholt2752 I believe they would represent the three kingdoms in Lindon, Mirkwood and Lothlórien

[@ianheins650]

Good work

[@perrykendrick1058]

How did the balrog end up under moria? In the movie gandalf says that dwarves dug too deep and awakened an ancient evil, but Duran built and occupied moria before the last battle that sent the balrogs into hiding. Maybe I'm missing something but this thought just came to me as I'm laying in bed listening to this episode again.

[@mattiassvanberg8292]

I also wonder that.

[@bpett1999]

Since the Misty Mountains were raised by Melkor during the Years of the Trees, I’ve always thought that the Dark Lord set a sleeping Balrog at the base of the Hithaeglir as a sort of “booby-trap.” Also, the reason why there is so much mithril in Khazad-Dûm might be because Morgoth planted it there as bait for unsuspecting miners/dwarves.

[@TheMarcHicks]

Dwarves sounds more accurate to me than Dwarfs-for precisely the examples you gave.

[@bry8636]

Dwarves were resistant to corruption…but fought for Sauron.

[@krystianklima2503]

Great 👌

[@MankindFails]

I've seen in a real TV documentary that for around a hundred years Medieval Venice had a monopoly on artisanal shiny things. They had such monopoly because they had a guild of Dwarfs and short small peoples that would go all over Europe to gather minerals, metals, gems and such. They had the phrygian caps like in Snow White. They had glyphs no one else could understand, they left them all over Europe. They say they were as good if not better than we are now at finding precious things. They could even know what minerals was in a mountain from the taste of the water going through said mountains. Then after a hundred years. The rest of Europe finally understood the values of such things so it became the industry we know today. So Venice lost it's monopoly and the guild lost it's purpose so they just disappeared from History and became legends or myths. Some German old guy still had a story about one of his ancestor having one of those dwarfs living at their house for a while. Said he was very nice and friendly. He just needed a place to live while he was gathering stuff around lol. The idea of dwarfs and short guys seem to be both about being discreet and about the fact the smaller you are the less you have to dig big tunnels.

[@MrBrachiatingApe]

That's super interesting, and it must have been for practical reasons and, I would guess, Venice paying homage to all of the European myths of gnomes, hobgoblins, dwarfs, etc--all of the chthonic little people who had an unsurpassed eye for the wealth hidden within the earth. Those myths and legends seem to go back to the early Neolithic at least. Totally unrelated, but I read one author who claims that the story of the stork bringing children to parents that we still hear in many many cultures around the world, or a bird at least if not a stork, might be as much as 70,000 years old based on when DNA says that different populations telling this version of The well of souls story on far side of the earth were last in regular contact.

[@MankindFails]

@@MrBrachiatingApe Thanks. Yeah some legends really seem to take their origins from something real. Even if you look up Santorini on Wikipedia. There's a part about the Exodus. The idea that this volcano could be the cause of the plagues of Egypt. Another shady theory I saw was about Cyclops and Griffins. They say there's a Greek Island that once was part of a migration route. So there's so many bones of everything on that Island, even today you don't even have to dig to find something weird. So a mammoth skeleton looks like a Cyclops and triceratops bones look like a griffin. Then you can imagine what people thousands of years ago thought when they found T-Rex heads in the ground. Maybe that's the origin of the legend of dragons.

[@royvives]

Fantastic retelling of Tolkien lore!

[@Phuskooz]

WOOOO!!! LET’S GO!!!

[@samvogel3146]

I thought it fascinating how Tolkien claims that if dwarves were more commonly spoken about and therefore followed common linguistic evolutions, the proper plural would be dwarrow. Indeed, he uses that version in the name Dwarrowdelf

[@marcusrowan7212]

The biggest difference between all these creators who fall to evil and Eru, imo, is that Eru creates things for the joy of creating them. He creates things because that is what Eru does. and he takes joy in giving his creations Freedom independent of his own dominion. The others create TO gain dominion. And they covet and seek to dominate the creations of others.

[@berkeleysmith6630]

I know someone already partially said this but, we know that 3 of Thorins company Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur were not of Durins Folk. We know this from the Appendixs at the end of Appendix B we see a family line of Durins folk and it says in a few little notes that they were not in Durins line. Another note is that following the destruction of Beleriand many Dwarves left for Khazad-dum "swelling their numbers".

[@tolkienuntangled]

Yeah, thanks for the correction, you're absolutely right!

[@alicephillips4253]

Appreciate the grammar lesson

[@MellowMutts270]

Awesome video! I did not know a lot of this! I used to like the dwarves least of all in the mythos. Not because they are short lol but because I thought they were sort of “manly” men, if that makes sense. Like those guys that are obsessed with a sport and don’t really have any depth to them. I didn’t realize just how rich their history is granted my knowledge came mostly from the movies. The more I read and learned the more I appreciate them as much as any other of the children of Iluvatar

[@Crafty_Spirit]

Hi :-) It's interesting that in many fantasy stories and games, dwarves are presented as stereotypically masculine and the Elves sometimes effeminate. I think popular images of them are built on this shallow observation that dwarves are always bearded, Elves (almost) never 🥴

[@tolkienuntangled]

To be fair, I don't think Dwarves were done as well as they could have been in the movies. Especially Gimli and Thorin.

[@waynepurcell6058]

@@tolkienuntangled Thorin, Kili, and Fili were travesties appearance wise as well as character wise. Dwarves aren't supposed to be eye candy. They just stuck those guys in there blatantly fishing for female viewers. Gimli "looked" like a dwarf should, they just used him for a funny man FAR to much.

[@princeLaharl2]

I just got a newfound wonder and respect for the dwarves.

[@bee-l-zee-bub4298]

Binged watched all your videos, excellent stuff. Quick question, why didn't the dwarfes of Erebor not have the same Armour crafting abilities as the dwarfes that took down the dragon in the Battle of Tears? Again, in the words of Ted, "most excellent videos, dude!

[@Gilmier]

Dwarf of the 1st Âge (Fire Beards/Broad Beams) maybe wasnt with the Longs Beards in the Grey Mountain, Erebor and the Iron Hills since the Fall of Khazad-dum

[@michaelhoust5801]

Aule may well have been even more powerful than Melkor, regardless of Tolkien's commentary, as Aule was able to create the dwarves. Melkor wasn't able to do that.

[@marhawkman303]

hmm hard to say, but... we still don't know exactly where Dragons came from. Just that the FIRST dragons... were "bred" by Melkor. Seemingly Melkor took some other living thing, and... changed it, DRASTICALLY, but... the end result was... magnificent.

[@rhodanjolwa7044]

Why don't you create a compilation KZbin video of your works? It's not always convenient to watch your videos separately. And you're only ones who do this.

[@Srevengel]

kzbin.info/door/y_g32mFqxga8YMNhUKKl-Qplaylists

[@emilpeterson7034]

Makes me think... Balrogs were slain quite easier than a flying fire dragons even if both are extremley strong. But Gandalf went solo and won but his spirit left and Tour slained 5 alone. Wonder if with help from the istari (saruman, Gandalf) & the wise like galadriel, Elrond and Glorfindel. The dwarf could have reclaimed Moria ALOT earlier. Which would have made them & the west alot stronger aswell. Especially if they managed to get Erebor back & kill smaug which would open Dale again and the free people would have been so much stronger. But guess elves and stubborn dwarfs made it impossible, aswell as the istaris way of not intervening that way.

[@Mr713mexican]

Maybe but 1) relations where bad between them and 2) they didn’t even know it was a balrog. They just knew they stirred a great slumbering evil. It could be anything, nameless things, ungolianth, balrog, dragon, anything. They wouldn’t temp to get themselves killed with an enemy they can’t prepare for.

[@elgatochurro]

Tbh though the dwarves and elves did stay killing each other over the Scimarils

[@emilpeterson7034]

Quite weird that no survivors from the greatest dwarfen kingdoms that lasted through the first age to the third. None realised what it was. Or even described It to read about it or ask loremaster. As I said with more cooperation elves Etc like Glorfindel would realised what it was. All of the white council + an army of dwars would smash it

[@hansnordby6932]

@@emilpeterson7034 I agree that Glorfindel would have been the first to recognize a Balrog since he personally fought and killed one ( and was pulled to his death by it much like Gandalf) at the fall of Gondolin.

[@johnhenley7349]

I have one question about the time line. When Gimli brought... I actually forget who, but I'm pretty sure it was Gimli who sang the song about Durin's awakening, "The World was young, the mountains green, No stain yet on the world was seen." When Durin first woke, wasn't still the age of stars? The Sun and Moon hadn't risen, or even risen yet?

[@ethanquirk28]

The Dwarves were supposed to awaken around the same time the Eldar left for Valinor. That would put it around the 1132nd year of the Trees. The sun wasn’t created until the 1500th year pf the Trees. In years of the sun that would put the Dwarves’ awakening a good 3500 years prior to the sun. Only the stars were in the sky, seven of which Durin saw in hid reflection in the lake at the entrance to Moria

[@philipmarsh2172]

Stonefoots? STONEFEET, surely?

[@johnbigboote8900]

Quick question, and I apologize if you've touched on this elsewhere: Did Melkor create the Orcs out of nothing, or did he simply corrupt already existing Elves?

[@CoolAsianGuy]

the latter

[@johnbigboote8900]

@@CoolAsianGuy Thanks!

[@bpett1999]

This might be a bit over-reaching, but you could make an argument that each of the Valar had a corresponding “race of Children”: Of course, Aulë had the dwarves, Yavanna had the Ents, and Manwë had the eagles. But one could make the argument that the Elves - particularly, the Sindar - were precious to Varda, whereas the Ñoldor were pecious to Oromë. Moreover, it could be possible that Ulmo had two races of his own -- the Falmari (analogous to Uinen) and the Édain of Númenor (analogous to Ossë). Lastly - although I admit, this is quite a long stretch - one could claim that the hobbits are analogous to the Feäntúri, particularly Irmo and Nienna.

[@BigApeBooks]

Is it just me, or does Durin the 3rd, look a bit like Sean Connery? Well done, sir!

[@jonomakepeace]

How did the Balrog of Moria get into Khazad Dum if that is where Durin I, the first awakened, oversaw the comings and goings?

[@TheKennn22]

Who did Duran have children with if he was awoke by himself, did he wait for a straggler from another clan or something? Or did I miss something

[@billbaxter3800]

I believe it's natural for a craftsman or artist to be proud of their work and others tend to praise them for their creations. Pride is a mortal sin.

[@gordias1046]

Desire for the power of the creation in the secret flame leads one to stray from the design of the original Illuvatar's creation. If Illuvatar is pure good, then straying from his designs is the source of evil.

[@dreagen3131]

I don't get how else are considered the first children how is it not the Valor and Maiar

[@justintheking1]

Comment for the algorithm!

[@Michael-xg7ej]

When you say “did not become his puppets”. The dwarves became greedy which was not their trait until the rings were given. Even the hearts of the dwarves were corrupted by this gift of the enemy, so in essence he did make them puppets of his and we can see this in Thror.

[@GenuinelyCurious120]

Cool beans

[@JonBoullion1020]

Yes, I too have somewhat of a religious experience when I look upon my incredible self in any reflection.

[@johnt.inscrutable1545]

I always thought formidable was just a fancy word for redoubtable!?!

[@floriankoch8705]

Wouldn't it be completely within in Tolkien's symbolism if Durin lived 2401 (=7x7x7x7) years? Just as 3 is the magic number for the Elves, 7 seems to be the magic number for the dwarves. It's not provable at all ofc, but I'd like to think that this is a number Tolkien might have chosen.

[@joeyreed8013]

It's like a parallel to Abraham and Sarah.

[@davidthetraveler1466]

It's really such a shame that Aule's students (the eventual Sauron and Saruman) didn't take the same lessons of humility to heart as he did. They might have actually been able to contribute more to the world than just their wars and strife.

[@albertoromeroguerra7927]

Dave of many Colours. Does the "In pairs male and female" is mentioned in Peoples of Middle Earth?

[@tolkienuntangled]

Yeah there's a section in that book called "Of Dwarves and Men".

[@sulljoh1]

I guess JRR saw a lot of horrors coming from machines in WWI. There's defiantly an anti-industrial, anti-engineering theme in these stories. It's like the opposite of Star Trek's techno-optimism

[@carlosmarquez5901]

I see parallels between the story of Aule and the dwarves and the tale of Abraham and Isaac, a "father" readied to kill his "son(s)" in the name of the Lord Whom is actually just testing the faith of His servant and prevents them from doing it

[@dankalisz3235]

The Idea that Creators have the potential to go down the path of Evil is because... No Act of Creation can Start Without an Act of Destruction...

[@Arturo_S3]

What about dragon sickness?

[@teck1756]

How did Durin's line begin? He was the only unpaired of the Dwarf Fathers, right? How did he have kids? Did the dwarven women of other clans migrate to the Grey or Misty Mountains, or something? Is there some reason or significance he was unpaired?

[@tolkienuntangled]

This is an excellent question that I've wondered myself many times before. I imagine he must have adopted houseless dwarves during his wanderings, and united them all under the banner of Durin's Folk. Presumably his spouse was one of these dwarves.

[@teck1756]

@@tolkienuntangled It's rather interesting thinking about it... It means that all of Durin's line must share blood with at least one other Dwarf Father. We know that it's custom of the elves (though not rule, since we see some exceptions) to not re-marry; I wonder if that's true of dwarves as well. If Durin was to have had several wives throughout his more than 2 millennia of life as Durin the First, perhaps his line could have included dwarves of many or all clans. I would have much loved it if Tolkein had written a Silmarillion-like account of Dwarfish history.

[@12classics39]

@@teck1756Durin definitely didn’t have more than one wife. Appendix A explains that Dwarves only take one spouse in their lifetime. Some of them never marry out of preference of smithing over love, but some of them never marry because their beloveds reject them for another and they are unable to move on. So it appears that Dwarfs are only able to fall in love once in their lives.

[@gedion4000]

Wait, if he standardized the plural form to Dwarves, what was it prior?

[@cyler01]

what about duran’s bane?

[@H.G.Wells-ishWells-ish]

Not all the dwarves of note in the LotR and Hobbit were of Duran. Bombur, Bofur, and Bifur were likely from the Blue Mountains and fled around the ruining of Beleriand to Khazad-Dum. There they sort of became one clan from the three.

[@H.G.Wells-ishWells-ish]

During. Lol

[@H.G.Wells-ishWells-ish]

I hate spellcheck.

[@tolkienuntangled]

Very true. I forgot about Bifur, Bifur and Bombur

[@andrewcolley9639]

the want to keep is the difference

[@ladysensei1487]

I don’t think Tolkien made an error in dwarves. I think it was intentional because it’s more phonetic. I read once he fought the publishers to leave it in the books.

[@justrusty]

Aule and the Seven Dwarves. Sounds like aa Disney story.

[@lukesayers5850]

Bainbrow dayf is the brees keys! I smell crickets. Nooe. Im harving a strunk.

[@billbaxter3800]

If it's good enough for Tolkein it's good enough for me. Dwarves it is.

[@David_Fellner]

Although I'm not qualified to comment on your pronunciation of the Khuzdul language, I can at least say that I recognized that was the language you were speaking at the start of the video. So you musta been doing, at least, something right!

[@samuelbattershell3413]

1:28 The Correct plural for Dwarf is Dwarrow. Does Dwarrowdale ring a bell?

[@SonofSethoitae]

It's Dwarrowdelf

[@kennek1976]

What clan where the Petty Dwarves from? the ones the elves hunted

[@jonathonfrazier6622]

Outcasts from all of them.

[@jonathonfrazier6622]

Bombur was not one of Durin's Folk.

[@ostkaka8397]

I swear... if I hear Silly marrillion one more time xS

[@clcreations9571]

wonderus, how woderfuly mythical.

[@cuddles31]

God to Aule: "what the hell is this?"

[@johnt.inscrutable1545]

Why was Durin not paired with a female Dwarf? Does he actually have any direct descendants? Or were all of Durin’s Folk effectively “adopted” from the clans of Beleriand, or members the Easter clans who got “wander-itis”? Or was he a hermaphrodite? I’m not being frivolous, I’m truly curious. Thanks.

[@tolkienuntangled]

I've often wondered this too. I think the Longbeards were recruited by Durin from other clans, as opposed to being descended from him. Without a spouse, I see no way he could have had children.

[@Unused_Account_D3E2F1]

👍.