The Seven Houses of the Dwarves | Tolkien Explained

As most Tolkien fans are aware, the dwarves in his most famous works are often referred to as Durin's Folk, named after the original king of their people. However, Durin was not the only father of the dwarves. In fact, there were seven, each accounting for their own clan, with their own heritage and history. Today, on Nerd of the Rings, we are covering the Seven Houses of the Dwarves. In an earlier video, we covered the different clans of the elves, explaining their hierarchy, in which we learned things like the sylvan elves of Mirkwood ranked lower than Thranduil and Legolas, who were Sindar, and they in turn were not as noble as the Noldor such as Galadriel and Elrond. While the dwarves don't have this kind of hierarchy among their race, like the elves they originated from a single source. As we've covered in other videos, the dwarves are created in secret by Aulë, the smith of the Valar. He teaches his seven creations to speak the language he had created for them, Khuzdul. When he is finally confronted by Iluvatar, Aulë offers to destroy his creations, which did not have souls of their own, but merely operated through Aulë himself. In this moment, Iluvatar gives the dwarves true life, though he decrees that they will not awaken before his own chosen firstborn, the elves. He also tells Aulë that their creations would often have strife between them. As they are made to slumber, Aulë places the Seven Fathers in various locations within the earth, where they would lay until their time to wake. Durin, the eldest and greatest of all, was set alone in Mount Gundabad at the north of the Misty Mountains. Two others are placed in the Blue Mountains to the west, while the other four are made to rest in the east. In the Elder Days, sometime after the elves awake at Lake Cuivienen, the Fathers of the Dwarves come forth from their chambers. Durin awakes at Gundabad and travels south. He comes to a lake that would come to be known as the Miramir, where he sees seven stars reflected as a crown above his head, despite this being during the day and no stars being visible in the sky. Taking this as a sign, Durin goes into the mountains and founds the city of Khazad-dûm. The Longbeards, or Durin's Folk, would prosper for thousands of years. But Durin and his people would not factor much into the earliest days of the world. Instead, it is the dwarves to the west, in the Blue Mountains, that would play major roles in the First Age. These dwarves, whose people would be known as the Firebeards and the Broadbeams, would found the great dwarf cities of Belagost and Nogrod. As they awake shortly after the elves, these dwarf cities are already established prior to the elves making their journey west to Beleriand. The northernmost city, Belagost, generally had better relations with the elves than their southern kin. The dwarves of Belagost are the first to forge mail of linked rings and also engage in trade with the Sindar of Middle-earth, including Thingol of Doriath. In fact, it was the dwarves of Belagost who carved the Thousand Caves of Menegroth for King Thingol. The dwarves of Belagost also marched side by side with the elves in the great alliance known as the Union of Maedhros in 472. While the dwarves of Nogrod also fought in this conflict against Morgoth, it is those of Belagost who were able to withstand the fire of the dragon Glaurung. Their lord, Azaghal, succeeds in driving off Glaurung when he uses his last breath to stab the beast in the belly. As for the dwarves of Nogrod, their relationship with the elves was much more fraught with evil deeds, and explain a great deal of the elven enmity toward the dwarves. Later in the First Age, Thingol tasks some of the dwarves of Nogrod with placing the stolen Silmaril of Beren and Luthien into the Nauglamir. The Nauglamir was a great necklace that the dwarves of the Blue Mountains had fashioned for Finrod, who was long ago slain. Out of greed for both the necklace of their ancestors and its new jewel, these dwarves kill Thingol and steal the necklace. However, they would be hunted down by Beren and the green elves and destroyed. The dwarves of Nogrod would not only be known for this act of violence and greed. While the northern kin would be better known for their deeds in battle, the dwarves of Nogrod were known to be the better craftsmen. In fact, the great smith Telchar forges the dragon-helm of Dor-lómin, the knife Angrist, which Beren uses to steal a Silmaril from Morgoth's crown, and most notably, the sword Narsil, the sword of Elendil, which would be reforged as Anduril for Aragorn. Now, it's not only the dwarves who were hostile in the relationship with the elves. In addition to the seven houses of the dwarves, there was actually an eighth group, the petty dwarves. The petty dwarves were smaller in stature than their kin and originated from exiles of the seven dwarf clans. They were actually the first to establish strongholds in Beleriand, specifically Nullokisdin and Sharbund. Before the Sindar met the dwarves of the Blue Mountains, they found the petty dwarves. Mistaking them for animals, the elves initially hunted the petty dwarves. Once the Sindar met the dwarves of Belegost and Nogrod, they realized their mistake. However, the petty dwarves would forever harbor a hatred for the elves, especially the Noldor, who they viewed as usurpers who took their lands. For Nullokisdin would become the realm of Nargothrond after it was abandoned by the petty dwarves, who had been hunted to near extinction. Sharbund, also known as Amanruth, would be under dwarven control until the very last remnant of the petty dwarves, Mim and his sons, who come into play in the Children of Hurin. Mim would die in 502 FA, the very last of his kind. I want to pause here and bring in a bit of brand new information found in the pages of The Nature of Middle-earth, which releases on September 2nd. I got an early copy of the book, and in it, it tells of a deeper connection between the petty dwarf Mim and Galadriel's brother Finrod, the founder of Nargothrond. In these notes of Tolkien, it is said that Finrod initially had the help of some of the petty dwarves, who feigned friendship with the elf. Finrod rewarded the petty dwarves generously for helping him build his realm, but Mim himself attempted to murder Finrod in his sleep, leading to the petty dwarves being driven into the wild. Years later, nearly all of Beleriand would be destroyed in the cataclysmic War of Wrath, including the cities of Belagost and Nogrod. With the beginning of the Second Age, most of what dwarven refugees remained would travel east, settling with Durin's folk in Khazad-dûm. Throughout the hundreds of years of the First Age, Khazad-dûm had thrived. Durin's folk had not only created a great wonder in their home in the Misty Mountains, but had also colonized the Grey Mountains and the Iron Hills. They had also begun trading with the early Northmen of Middle-earth, the ancestors of the later Men of Dale, Laketown, and the Rohirrim. As for Durin himself, he would live a remarkably long life, believed to be well over 2000 years. This earned him the nickname Durin the Deathless, but it was not the only reason for the title. According to dwarven tradition, their belief was that the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves would be reincarnated, returning to their people throughout history. Durin, for example, was believed to have been reincarnated six times. As for the other houses, we don't know their father's names, or how many times they were believed to have been reincarnated. Now before we dive into the history of the most well-known of the dwarven houses, let's cover the four who originated in the east. We are told that these Fathers of the Dwarves awoke in two pairs, and that they were at least as far from Gundabad as Gundabad was from the Blue Mountains, if not further. One pair was the Iron Fists and the Stiffbeards. The other was the Blacklocks and the Stonefoots. They create their halls in the land of Rhun, the land which literally means the East, and from which the Easterlings originate. We learn in Tolkien's writings that not all of these dwarves remained on the side of good. Tolkien tells us that while the dwarves were the race most resistant to the corrupting influence of Morgoth and Sauron, there were indeed some who aligned with the Dark Lords. In the First Age, some of the early men met dwarves who had fallen under the shadow and were evil of mind. Whether these dwarves ever fought in battle alongside the forces of Sauron or Morgoth isn't known, though we are explicitly told that none of Durin's folk ever fought on the side of evil. While we don't know much about the Iron Fists, Stiffbeards, Blacklocks, or Stonefoots in the Early Ages, there are some interesting notes about them in the Third Age. In the Fellowship of the Ring, we are told Frodo often met strange dwarves of far countries, seeking refuge in the West. They were troubled, and some spoke in whispers of the Enemy and of the land of Mordor. We are led to believe these were in fact some of the Eastern Dwarves. This would be at a time when darkness and war had grown in the lands of Rhun, causing these dwarves to abandon their ancient homes. We are also told of a specific battle that actually reunites all seven houses of the dwarves, but for that, we will have to return to the Misty Mountains and Durin's folk. As we pick back up in the Second Age, with the remnants of Belagost and Nogrod divided between the Blue Mountains and Khazad-dûm, we learn that it is the latter location where the relationship between dwarves and elves would reach new heights. With the elf lord Celebrimbor founding the realm of Eregion near Khazad-dûm, a great friendship comes about between the elven smith and those of the dwarves. Together, Celebrimbor and the dwarf Narvi forged the Doors of Durin, and the two races would communicate and trade openly with one another. It would be through Khazad-dûm that Galadriel would one day travel with her daughter when they moved from Eregion to Lorien. Also in the Second Age, we know that Sauron, in his disguise of Annatar, gives seven rings of power to dwarf lords, which help them in building their seven great hordes of riches. It is implied that each of these rings was given to the king of each of the seven houses of the dwarves. Unlike the men, who were slowly transformed into ringwraiths, the dwarves are not dominated by their rings. Instead, their ability to create and amass wealth is enhanced, which would in part lead to their later run-ins with dragons. Durin's folk, being the dwarves we know the most about, are involved in quite a few significant events and conflicts over the following thousands of years. They assist Elrond and the elves of Eregion by attacking Sauron in the War of the Elves and Sauron. Later, some of their number marched with the Last Alliance of Elves and Men in the climactic Battle of the Second Age, where Sauron is defeated and his ring is taken by Isildur. The Third Age would be even more full of battle and war for the Longbeards. As early as 1300, the orcs of the Misty Mountains begin harassing the dwarves of Khazad-dûm, laying the foundation for a mutual hatred between the two races. In 1980, Durin's folk wake the Balrog in the depths of the Misty Mountains and are driven from their home. Most of the Longbeards go north to live in the Grey Mountains, while some follow King Thrain I to establish Erebor. After a short time, the dwarves of Erebor would actually abandon it in favor of joining their kin in the Grey Mountains. There they would prosper until 2570, when they are attacked again, this time by dragons. They hold out for 19 years before finally being driven from their home once again in 2589. Once again, Durin's folk split, with most traveling to reestablish Erebor with King Thror, the grandfather of Thorin, while some would go to the settlement in the Iron Hills. As we know from The Hobbit, Smaug would attack the kingdom under the mountain in 2770, and the Longbeards are once again refugees left to wander Middle-earth. Thror leads his people to settle in Dunland, but also journeys to Moria, where he is killed by Azog. His son, Thrain II, summons the Houses of the Dwarves to war, beginning the Six-Year War of the Dwarves and Orcs, which takes place beneath the Misty Mountains between Moria and Gundabad. In a move never seen before or after, we are told that all seven Houses of the Dwarves are represented in the climactic Battle of Azanulbizar. While they defeat the orcs, the other Houses of the Dwarves are unwilling to proceed with the war, due to the crushing losses on their own side. Thrain leads his people to the Blue Mountains, where he establishes a new realm of Durin's Folk. As we know, Thorin and his company, with the help of Bilbo, would reclaim Erebor a couple hundred years later. There, they would also battle alongside elves and men against the goblins and wargs in the Battle of Five Armies. During the War of the Ring, this area would be attacked by an army of Easterlings sent by Sauron. This conflict and the resulting siege, known as the Battle of Dale, would result in eventual victory for the dwarves and men, thanks in part to the destruction of the One Ring, causing their enemies to lose hope. Of course, we cannot fail to mention perhaps the most famous of Durin's Folk from the Lord of the Rings, Gimli son of Glóin, who joins the Fellowship of the Ring. We've covered his entire life in a previous video, but at the conclusion of the war, he founds a new realm of Durin's Folk in the Fourth Age. Behind Helm's Deep, Gimli becomes the first Lord of the Glittering Caves. The dwarves of this new realm would have a great friendship with the men and elves of the area, particularly of Gondor and Ithilien. In addition to Gimli's lands, the line of Durin would continue to rule over the realm of Erebor in the Fourth Age, and they would even make a return journey to their first great home. It is said that sometime after 171 FA, there would be the sixth and final reincarnation of Durin. Durin VII, or Durin the Last, would lead his people from Erebor back to Khazad-dûm, restoring their home to its former glory. It is said Durin's Folk would remain in Khazad-dûm until the world grew old and the dwarves failed, and the days of Durin's race were ended. Be sure to hit subscribe so you don't miss next week's video, which was voted on exclusively by my Patreon supporters. As always, I want to say a huge thank you to these great people who make this channel possible. TomDeBombadil19, Gail Elizabeth, Jim Limber-Davis, Jay Breakfield, Timothy Park, Sky Carcass, Zetroc, GrandStrategyNerd, TheDarkHairedOne, Saleem Rahman, Weiland, and Debbie. If you enjoyed the artwork in this video, check out the artists in the description and purchase prints of their great work for yourself. Thanks so much for watching and subscribing, and we'll see you next time on Nerd of the Rings.