The Secret of the Dwarves
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| Description | No description |
| Collections | LOTRTraditions |
| Uploaded | 2019-06-25 |
(Little hobbits): Tell us about the dwarves, Gandalf!
(Boromir): The scribes of Minas Tirith have gathered all that has been written about them, and not much is known. They are a mysterious race, and we will probably never know everything about them.
(Gandalf): Nonsense, Boromir. The scholars of Gondor are not wizards, but I am one, so let me tell you about...
Dwarves
The meaning of the term "dwarf" seems to have been lost to the scribes of Minas Tirith, but if you cannot find the answer were you expected to find it, dear hobbits, look elsewhere. There are female dwarves too, and they are called by a different name, that is: a feminine version of "dwarf". In the 14th century Þjalar Jóns saga we learn that the female version of "dwarf" (Norse dvergr), is "dyrgjá". So if we cannot find out what 'dvergr" means, let us see if we can decipher "dyrgjá".
One dwarf named Alvíss claimed the hand of Þórr's daughter Þrúðr in marriage, but he was kept talking until daybreak and turned to stone. More riddles.
I say again: "Our myths however, describes dwarfs as being similar to maggots that festered in the flesh of Ýmir before being gifted with reason by the gods." They are still festering in the flesh of Ymir until age 7, when they are weaned.
(Boromir): No word yet about their skills as smiths?
They crafted beautiful objects before they died, and brought these items with them into the grave when they died. They are there to awaken the memories of previous lives, in the children that enter the burial mound to be reincarnated. So the "dwarves" don't actually make these items, they just collect them in the burial mounds. Although, since they are reborn, they technically made these items themselves. But in a previous life.
(Boromir): Why do they wear Phrygian caps then?
Because they are born, and the Phrygian cap is a symbol of the child that has been born. This is how the child appears from the opening, as viewed by the midwife. Some times the child is even born with an intact amniotic bag on the head. Thos born with an intact amniotic bag are thought to be "marked" by the gods. Bendis: The Thracian Artemis. Mithra. Born naked, from a rock, only wearing a Phrygian cap. Paris of Troy (BTW: Troy means "Three times").
Mind you, Boromir, dwarves are greedy, because they are children. They need to be greedy. They will help themselves whenever they can, and take more than they need. To make sure they get enough - and survive childhood. They start to become their ancestors around age 7 because that is when they start to loose their milk teeth and the teeth "of their forebear" start to grow.
Nine "rings", months in the womb, the become a mortal man. Seven "rings", years, from maggot to dwarf, and to begin the reincarnation process. Three "rings" to become an elf. Three trips to the realm of the dead, to be fully reincarnated and become an elf. But there is one ring that seeks to rule them all, one ring to bind them, one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. One ring for the Dark Lord on his throne. In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie. One "ring", one single "god", Sauron, to bring them all to shadow in the dark deserts of Mordor. A ring that will seek to dominate and ruin all life. A ring that will corrupt you, and twist your mind and body. A ring of pure evil.
(Boromir): The scribes of Minas Tirith have gathered all that has been written about them, and not much is known. They are a mysterious race, and we will probably never know everything about them.
(Gandalf): Nonsense, Boromir. The scholars of Gondor are not wizards, but I am one, so let me tell you about...
Dwarves
The meaning of the term "dwarf" seems to have been lost to the scribes of Minas Tirith, but if you cannot find the answer were you expected to find it, dear hobbits, look elsewhere. There are female dwarves too, and they are called by a different name, that is: a feminine version of "dwarf". In the 14th century Þjalar Jóns saga we learn that the female version of "dwarf" (Norse dvergr), is "dyrgjá". So if we cannot find out what 'dvergr" means, let us see if we can decipher "dyrgjá".
Norse "dyr/dyrr", neutral noun; 1. Door, door opening, 2. Door, hallway.So there we have it: "dwarf" means simply "door opening into the earth". And their doorway into the mountains are known to be "doorways between worlds". Völuspá details that the dwarfs were the product of the primordial blood of the being Brimir and the bones of Bláinn. Norse "Brimir"; fire. Norse "Bláinn"; the blue one (i.e. he is dead). So they came from the blood of fire and the bones of the dead. Another riddle. And both Brimir and Bláinn are just different names for Ýmir ("hymn"). The first sound. Our myths however, describes dwarfs as being similar to maggots that festered in the flesh of Ýmir before being gifted with reason by the gods.
Norse "gjá", feminine noun; 1. Gully, ravine, mountain pass, cleft, crack/fissure in earth/mountain.
Source: Samlagets norrøn ordbok 5. utgåva, Oslo 2012.
One dwarf named Alvíss claimed the hand of Þórr's daughter Þrúðr in marriage, but he was kept talking until daybreak and turned to stone. More riddles.
In folklore they are usually described as old men with long beards.
Source: Gundarsson, KveldulfR Hagan (2007). Elves, Wights, and Trolls. Studies towards the Practice of Germanic Heathenry, page 73.
Most dwarfs are portrayed as having long beards, but some may have a childish appearance.Dwarves ofter come in groups of seven. They tend to wear Phrygian caps. Riddles, dear Boromir, riddles that no scribe can help you with. This requires wits. The door opening into the earth is burial mound, a symbol of the womb of the mother. This is their "doorway between worlds". Between the world of the living and the world of the dead, that is. When you are dead, you enter. When you are born you leave. You enter as a blue corpse. Bláinn. You leave due to the heat of love. Brimir. When you are born, you scream. The first sound. Ýmir. You start out as a "maggot". When it was said that a dwarf was kept talking until it turned to stone, that is because if the child waits too long before it is born, the placenta and the child itself will TURN TO STONE (a process called "lithopedion"). When they are described as old men with long beards with a childlike appearance, that is because when they are to become an elf, and go through the three symbolic rebirths, they first enter the burial mound (around age 7) and collect the HEAD of the dead forebear. Proudly they hold it up above them, when they leave the burial mound, and thus the "dwarves" are small, childlike in appearance, but with an ugly, bearded head. Dwarves come in groups of seven, because it takes seven years from their maggoty condition after birth to the age of reason.
Source: Lütjens, August (1911). Der Zwerg in der deutschen Heldendichtung des Mittelalters. Breslau, page 70-72.
I say again: "Our myths however, describes dwarfs as being similar to maggots that festered in the flesh of Ýmir before being gifted with reason by the gods." They are still festering in the flesh of Ymir until age 7, when they are weaned.
(Boromir): No word yet about their skills as smiths?
They crafted beautiful objects before they died, and brought these items with them into the grave when they died. They are there to awaken the memories of previous lives, in the children that enter the burial mound to be reincarnated. So the "dwarves" don't actually make these items, they just collect them in the burial mounds. Although, since they are reborn, they technically made these items themselves. But in a previous life.
(Boromir): Why do they wear Phrygian caps then?
Because they are born, and the Phrygian cap is a symbol of the child that has been born. This is how the child appears from the opening, as viewed by the midwife. Some times the child is even born with an intact amniotic bag on the head. Thos born with an intact amniotic bag are thought to be "marked" by the gods. Bendis: The Thracian Artemis. Mithra. Born naked, from a rock, only wearing a Phrygian cap. Paris of Troy (BTW: Troy means "Three times").
Mind you, Boromir, dwarves are greedy, because they are children. They need to be greedy. They will help themselves whenever they can, and take more than they need. To make sure they get enough - and survive childhood. They start to become their ancestors around age 7 because that is when they start to loose their milk teeth and the teeth "of their forebear" start to grow.
Nine "rings", months in the womb, the become a mortal man. Seven "rings", years, from maggot to dwarf, and to begin the reincarnation process. Three "rings" to become an elf. Three trips to the realm of the dead, to be fully reincarnated and become an elf. But there is one ring that seeks to rule them all, one ring to bind them, one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. One ring for the Dark Lord on his throne. In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie. One "ring", one single "god", Sauron, to bring them all to shadow in the dark deserts of Mordor. A ring that will seek to dominate and ruin all life. A ring that will corrupt you, and twist your mind and body. A ring of pure evil.