INTRO:

Hello and welcome to Myth Monsters, my name is Erin and I’ll be your host for these little snack bite size podcasts on folklore and mythical monsters from around the world. 

These podcasts focus on the actual cryptids, folklore and mythic monsters from global mythology, rather than focusing on full stories of heroes and their big adventures.

I’ll also be dropping in some references that they have to recent culture and where you can see these represented in modern day content so you can learn more, and get as obsessed as I am about these absolute legends of the mythological world.

Blimey it’s the end of August, what a wild and horribly hot month it’s been over here in the UK. Also we’ve been plagued with train strikes this month so it’s been all a bit hectic. I’m excited to be covering this one though - it’s been on my list for a long time!

DESCRIPTION:

This week we’re going back over to the Nordics and looking at the wonderful Dwarves! This is one that honestly, there is so much information on - I’m actually excited to be able to fill this one out with as much information as possible for you so that you can get the most out of the podcast for this legendary monster this week.

Dwarves in the most traditional sense are described as short, humanoid beings that are generally quite stocky and broad. Dwarves usually have wonderful beards that they would decorate with metal, plait and generally take very good care of. They would usually dress in armour that would be adorned by gold and silver, and decorated with dwarven symbols. They are a very proud race, and hold their culture and practices very close to their hearts, with very few outsiders learning from them. They are also often described as having a Scottish accent, which I think is pretty funny for a Scandinavian monster.

They usually lived within hollowed out mountains, where they would create great and mighty halls, much like the Scandinavian Viking warriors with their ale halls. 

Dwarves are fiercely loyal to each other within their kind, and treat any Dwarf like family. It is said that they also adore gems, gold and jewels - much like Dragons that would invade their rich homesteads. However, as much as they were seen as greedy from outside influences, they also had an aversion to influence, making them extremely difficult to manipulate or possess. They are also noted as being extremely easily offended if someone is rude to them and loved holding a long-term grudge against not only the person, but the race they belong to also.

When most people think of Dwarves, they think of men - however, Dwarvish women were also prevalent within their societies. They looked and sounded similar to their male counterparts - including the beards too, but they would often not leave their mountain halls to keep on top of their duties. However, I will say here that Dwarves were very often not likely to marry - they were actually more likely to focus on their crafts, sometimes making the outside races believe that there were no women or child Dwarves. 

In regards to powers, they were immensely strong and were naturally resistant to extreme temperatures. They also had longer lives than other races, which sometimes was up to 250 years! They also, as you probably already know, had an affinity for metalworking and smithing, and were fantastic at crafting, much like their competitive and sometimes, friendly race of gnomes. In contrast, their sworn enemy were the Elves - who they often blamed for the destruction of their mountain homes and the murders of their kinsmen. They also considered Elves to be rude and generally stuck up - as they often belittled them and insulted their nomadic culture.

ORIGIN:

Now moving onto etymology, the word Dwarf comes from the Old English word dweorg, which sometimes translates over to dizzy as it’s sometimes believed that Dwarves had the power to sometimes make humans suffer mental disorders. However, the funny thing about this monster’s etymology is the plural of it - and that is up to your own belief in what you think is correct. 

There are technically two and that’s Dwarfs and Dwarves - it’s generally believed that Dwarf’s with an f is more popular, even though grammatically incorrect. Tolkien actually popularised this version in his Lord of the Rings books and later said exactly this; 

"I am afraid it is just a piece of private bad grammar, rather shocking in a philologist; but I shall have to go with it."

This was back in 1937, but Dwarves with a v was used as early as 1818, and in all honesty - I’m a proper stickler for grammar, which is why I’ve used it for this episode. 

For history though, this monster is actually pretty interesting - because in theory, this is a German monster, not Scandinavian. So sorry I’ve deceived you - although I’m not really, there are loads more links to Nordic mythos than German so that’s why we’ve focused on this so far. 

The first mentions of Dwarves were in the Nibelungen lied, which translates into the Song of Nibelungs, an epic poem from 1200 that the germanic speaking people were excellent at, where the first Dwarf, Alberich, guards his secret treasure with the utmost ferocity. 

However, the biggest mention of Dwarves is within the Poetic Edda which puts them within Norse mythology, as this was again written in the 13th century but by the Norse people. Dwarves were described as born from the bones and blood of Ymir, the giant who formed the Norse universe after death. It was said that the Dwarves were like maggots living within the decaying body of the giant, before being blessed with meaning and purpose by the Gods. 

There were four main Dwarves in Norse mythology that were named in the Edda, Norðri, Suðri, Austri and Vestri, who were given the blessing of holding up the sky. Aside from this though, other Dwarves were given jobs such as smithing, brewing mead, healers, jewellers and unfortunately, even some unsavoury roles such as murderers or even stalkers and rapists of human women.

Within Norse myth, they were loyal worshippers of Thor - due to his use of the hammer and being the god of crafters. One dwarf, Alviss, actually swore that he would marry Thor’s daughter, but Thor kept him talking all evening, and when the sun rose - he turned to stone, much like Trolls within Norse mythology too. They were also very much linked with Hel, and death - due to their death infused conception in the bones of Ymir, and forged the great doors between worlds in Norse mythos. If you want to hear more about the Norse universe, I talked about it a lot in my Jotunn episode!

Lastly, of course we have to mention that they’re in the Grimm tales in Jakob Grimm’s Deutsche Mythologie, however, often confused with other creatures such as gnomes and halflings. We also have to discuss that they’re one of the main races in Lord of the Rings, with most of the qualities I’ve described already - our favourites of course being the team from the Hobbit, and Gimli from the original trilogy. 

Now of course and lastly, the real life comparison is the condition known as dwarfism - where growth is stunted in the individual - making them shorter than the average person. It’s not known what causes this, but people with dwarfism do have a normal life expectancy and can live perfectly good and healthy lives. It affects about 1 in 40,000 people - which sounds like not very much but there are nearly 8 billion people on the planet. 

CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE: 

Now onto modern media, where we obviously have absolutely loads so I hope you’re ready - hold onto your tool belts.

For art, we have very few actual portraits but there are two by Enrico Albrici from the 1700s, one called Dwarfs Celebrating a Festival, and the other Dwarfs Cutting a Large Block of Cheese - that are both really cute. However, I would genuinely look up independent art from stuff like Warhammer, Warcraft or Dungeons and Dragons for some really cool Blacksmithing or Warrior based artwork with Dwarves.

In movies, we have quite a few like; Labyrinth, Thor, The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, 7 Zwerge, Star Trek, Defiance, Avengers: Infinity War, Chronicles of Narnia & Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

For TV, we have; Doctor Who, Once Upon a Time, Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy and of course the upcoming Rings of Power, Lord of the Rings series.

In video games, we have ones such as; Dragon Age, Lineage 2, Arcanum, Deep Rock Galactic, Golden Sun, Delve Deeper, Legend of Zelda, Master of Magic, Neverwinter Nights, Overlord, Paladins, Bastion, Pillars of Eternity,  Runescape, World of Warcraft, Warcraft, Age of Mythology, Darksiders, Dark Souls 2, Dwarf Fortress, Elder Scrolls, Final Fantasy 4, 5, 9 & 14, God of War, Pathfinder, The Dwarves & Smite.

My book recommendation this week is a bit different, because I’ve just binged Neil Gaiman’s Sandman on Netflix - and he wrote a fantastic book on Norse mythology literally called Norse Mythology - so I’d really recommend this, for a truly fantastic writer and a bunch of great stories from this mythos.

DO I THINK THEY EXISTED? 

Now it’s time for, do I think they existed?1359

I would love to think that everyone’s favourite miners from Norse mythology existed, but I think the most likely culprit here is the existence of dwarfism throughout the ages, which could totally explain the misinterpretation. However, are there any links to Blacksmiths specifically being people who have dwarfism? I don’t find anything to back this up unfortunately. 

But I do like the idea of the Dwarves from LOTR existing, just for the fun catchphrases and the Scottish accents. I do also like the idea of master blacksmiths living in our mountains, and honestly, it makes me sad that blacksmithing has taken a step back in recent times - I think it’s possibly the coolest profession.

But what do you think? Did Dwarves settle in the mountains of Earth? Let me know on Twitter!

OUTRO: 

I’m so glad we got to cover this one, it was super fun! With my love of RPG’s, it’s definitely a monster I’m really passionate about and love to see in modern media

Next week, we’re actually doing the funniest thing and following this up with the historic enemies of the Dwarves - and technically staying within Nordic mythology. Yes, next week we are looking at the elegant and beautiful Elves - might not be so beautiful though, so find out next Thursday! Toss me, don’t tell the elf!

For now, thank you so much for listening, it’s been an absolute pleasure. If you enjoyed this podcast, please give it a rating on the service you’re listening on - I’ve got the twitter for any questions, or suggestions on what monsters to cover next and I’d love to hear from you. The social media handles for Tiktok, Youtube and Instagram are mythmonsterspodcast, and twitter is mythmonsterspod. But all of our content can be found at mythmonsters.co.uk - you can also find us on Goodpods and Patreon if you want to help me fund the podcast too.

Come join the fun though and share this with your pals, they might love me as much as you do.

But for now, stay spooky and I’ll see you later babes.