# Dwarf - Creature: Humanoid - Date: 1000 - Canonical: https://www.lanternhall.org/bestiary/dwarf/ > Norse smiths who forged Thor's hammer, Grimm's seven miners, Tolkien's thirteen gold-hungry exiles: the bearded, ale-loving, axe-wielding dwarf of every game descends from one list of names in an Icelandic poem. **Why it matters:** The dwarf is the clearest case of a single literary source standardizing a creature: Tolkien's reading of Norse myth fixed the dwarf as a stout, stubborn craftsman-warrior, and games from D&D to Dwarf Fortress built on that. ## Quick answers **Where does the Dwarf come from?** Norse and Germanic myth (Old Norse dvergr); the Völuspá's dwarf-list, often dated to around 1000 CE, via Tolkien's The Hobbit (1937) **When did the Dwarf first appear?** c. 1000, in Völuspá (Poetic Edda). **How did the Dwarf get into games?** Key appearances: Dungeons & Dragons (1974), Warhammer Fantasy Battle (1983) and Dwarf Fortress (2006). **Why is the Dwarf significant?** The dwarf is the clearest case of a single literary source standardizing a creature: Tolkien's reading of Norse myth fixed the dwarf as a stout, stubborn craftsman-warrior, and games from D&D to Dwarf Fortress built on that. ## Origins The dwarf begins in the north, as the Old Norse *dvergr* and the Old English *dweorg*. In the Icelandic poems of [the Poetic Edda](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-eddas/), dwarves are not yet short — the sources are vague about their size — but they are already makers. *Völuspá*, often dated to around 1000 CE, tells how the gods created them and then recites the *Dvergatal*, a roster of dwarf names: Durin, Dvalin, Thorin, Fili, Kili, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Nori, Thrain, Thror, Oakenshield — and Gandalf. [Snorri Sturluson](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/snorri-sturluson/)'s *Prose Edda* (c. 1220) explains that dwarves quickened like maggots in the flesh of the slain [Giant](https://www.lanternhall.org/bestiary/giant/) Ymir, and tells how the brothers Brokkr and Sindri forged the gods' treasures, Thor's hammer Mjölnir among them. Norse dwarves live in stones and mountains, hoard gold, curse what is stolen from them — the dwarf Andvari's ring dooms the Völsungs — and, in *Alvíssmál*, turn to stone in daylight. German legend gave the dwarf Alberich, keeper of the Nibelung treasure, and the [Brothers Grimm](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/grimms-fairy-tales/) gave the world the seven dwarfs who mine the mountains in "Snow White" (1812), the version Walt Disney animated in 1937. ## Into the dungeon Three months before that film, [J. R. R. Tolkien](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/j-r-r-tolkien/) published *[The Hobbit](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-hobbit/)*, in which thirteen dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield hire a hobbit to help reclaim their mountain and gold from the [Dragon](https://www.lanternhall.org/bestiary/dragon/) Smaug. Tolkien lifted twelve of their names and their leader's byname straight from the *Dvergatal*. In *[The Lord of the Rings](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-lord-of-the-rings/)* and *[The Silmarillion](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-silmarillion/)* he went further, giving the dwarves a maker (the smith-god Aulë), a secret language, Khuzdul, a lost kingdom, Moria, and a representative in Gimli, whose friendship with the elf Legolas set the template for the bickering mixed [The party](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/party/). He also popularized the plural "dwarves" over the more usual "dwarfs." From Tolkien the dwarf marched into [Chainmail](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/chainmail/)'s Fantasy Supplement (1971) and then into [Dungeons & Dragons](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/original-dungeons-and-dragons/) (1974), one of three non-human [Player character](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/player-character/) options. The original rules made dwarves fighters only, capped at 6th level, but gave them a knack for noticing slanting passages and traps underground and a bonus against giants. [AD&D](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/advanced-dungeons-and-dragons/) fleshed out hill and mountain dwarves; later settings added the gray duergar of the Underdark and [Dragonlance](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/dragonlance/)'s gully dwarves. [Games Workshop](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/games-workshop/)'s *[Warhammer Fantasy Battle](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/warhammer-fantasy-battle/)* (1983) fielded Dwarfs as a full army, and the setting would come to define them as a nation of grudge-bearers who write every wrong into a great Book of Grudges. Computer games took the dwarf as standard issue: a race in [Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/wizardry/) (1981) and [Ultima](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/ultima-i/), a hero in [HeroQuest](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/heroquest/) (1989), a starting race of Ironforge in [World of Warcraft](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/world-of-warcraft/) (2004), a companion or [class](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/character-class/) option from [Baldur's Gate](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/baldurs-gate/) to [Baldur's Gate 3](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/baldurs-gate-3/). The most dwarven game of all is [Dwarf Fortress](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/dwarf-fortress/) (2006), in which [Tarn Adams](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/tarn-adams/) and his brother Zach simulate a settlement of dwarves who dig too deep, brew mushroom wine, fall into strange moods, and die in comedies of error that players swap as legends. ## Variations Bethesda's *Elder Scrolls* inverted the idea: its "Dwarves," the Dwemer whose brass machines fill the ruins of [The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-elder-scrolls-morrowind/) and [The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-elder-scrolls-skyrim/), were really a vanished race of elves. [Terry Pratchett](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/terry-pratchett/)'s [Discworld](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/discworld/) dwarfs are all bearded, which makes the question of which ones are female a running political issue. [C. S. Lewis](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/c-s-lewis/)'s dwarfs in [The Chronicles of Narnia](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-chronicles-of-narnia/) are cynical and practical. But the Tolkienian core — beard, axe, mine, ale, pride, and a grievance about gold — remains so fixed that most games only need the word "dwarf" to tell players exactly who has joined the party. ## Migration - 1000: Völuspá (Poetic Edda) — The Dvergatal lists dwarves named Durin, Thorin, Fili, Kili, Bombur — and Gandalf. The poem is often dated to around 1000. - 1220: Snorri's Prose Edda — Dwarf smiths Brokkr and Sindri forge Thor's hammer Mjölnir; dwarves bred like maggots in the giant Ymir's flesh. - 1812: Grimms' Children's and Household Tales — The first volume includes 'Snow White' and her household of seven mining dwarfs. - 1937: The Hobbit — Tolkien's thirteen dwarves take their names from the Völuspá and their grudge from a dragon's theft. That December, Disney's Snow White opens. - 1974: Dungeons & Dragons — The dwarf joins elf and hobbit as a non-human player character, a sturdy fighter with a level cap. - 1983: Warhammer Fantasy Battle — Games Workshop's grudge-keeping Dwarfs become one of the tabletop's great miniature armies. - 2006: Dwarf Fortress — Tarn and Zach Adams simulate a whole doomed colony of dwarves, down to their moods and drinking habits. ## Facts - Twelve of the thirteen dwarves in The Hobbit — all but Balin — take their names from the Völuspá's list of dwarves. - 'Dwarfs' is the usual English plural; 'dwarves' is recorded from 1818 but was popularized by Tolkien. - The Hobbit (September 1937) and Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (December 1937) appeared within months of each other. - In Alvíssmál, Thor keeps the dwarf Alvíss talking until sunrise turns him to stone — a fate Tolkien gave to trolls. - Original D&D dwarves could only be fighting-men, and could rise no higher than 6th level. - The Elder Scrolls' vanished 'Dwarves,' the Dwemer, are actually a lost race of elves known for their machines. ## Sources and further reading - [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwarf_(folklore)) - [Wikipedia — Dwarves in Middle-earth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwarves_in_Middle-earth) - [Wikipedia — Dwarf (Dungeons & Dragons)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwarf_(Dungeons_%26_Dragons)) --- From The Lantern Hall (https://www.lanternhall.org/), a museum of fantasy literature and roleplaying games.