History of the Dwarves

Dwarven History
The history of the dwarves dates back to even before the elves who are said to be the first born. They were created by the Ainu, Aulë the fourth most powerful of the Valar and the smith of the Valar. Aulë, out of impatience and wanting to have a people that he can show his skills to, created the dwarves and showed them how to be master smiths. Aulë though could not give the dwarves true consciousness, it was Aulë father and the God of Middle Eargh, Eru Ilúvatar, who gave them this gift and adopted them as his children. Eru Ilúvatar however, would not allow the dwarves to live till the Elves, his first children, were awakened, thus the dwarves were put into a type of sleep till the Elves arrived.

About a hundred years after the elves awakened, in the First Age, the seven fathers of the Dwarves were aroused. Only one of those seven is known and his name is Durin I who came to be called Durin the Deathless. Each of the seven dwarves became a king of his own clan, and each built his own great hall. Belegost and Nogrod being built in the Blue Mountains (Ered Luin), while the dwarves of these holds formed alliances with the Noldor(A clan of Elves) and fought in their wars. Durin I, however, traveled into the Misty Mountains and founded the great hall of Khazad-dûm, also known as Moria. During the First Age the Dwarves formed alliances with the Elves, and both prospered from trade. Dwarves from Belegost invented the famous Dwarf-mail of linked rings and fashioned the finest steel the world had ever seen. They also constructed the hall of Thingol, Menegroth, and were rewarded with the pearl Nimphelos. They participated in some of the major battles of the first age and fought alongside Elves and Men including The First Battle of Beleriand and the Nirnaeth Arnoediad (Battle of Unnumbered Tears) where Dwarves of Belegost won great renown. They were the only ones able to stand against the dragon Glaurung because of their superior equipment and ability to withstand the heat of the dragon’s breath. In that battle Azaghâl the Lord of Belegost was killed by the dragon but in turn wounded the worm so badly that it fled the battle.

The Dwarves of Nogrod were famed for the craftsmanship of their weapons. Most notable amongst their smiths was Telchar. Dwarves from Nogrod crafted the necklace Nauglamír and Thingol requested smiths from Nogrod to insert a Silmaril into that necklace. Thus were united the greatest works of Elves and Dwarves. Those Dwarf-smiths were however driven mad by gold-lust and murdered Thingol and stole the necklace and the stone. The Elves of Doriath pursued the smiths to the death and reclaimed the Nauglamír, but two of the slayers of Thingol escaped from the pursuit and in Nogrod told how Dwarves were slain by command of the Elven-king, who thus would cheat them of their reward. The Dwarves of Nogrod lamented the death of their kin and their great craftsmen and took thought of vengeance. Though the Dwarves of Belegost tried to dissuade them from their purpose the Dwarves of Nogrod invaded Doriath. Since the death of the King and the silence of Melian the captains of the Grey-elves were cast into doubt and despair and offered little resistance. There was a hard battle in the Thousand Caves where the Dwarves of Nogrod were victorious and took the Nauglamír and Silmaril. On the return journey to the Blue Mountains the Dwarves of Nogrod were assailed by Beren and his son Dior with many Green-elves of Ossiriand. There many of the Dwarves were slain and Beren himself slew the Lord of Nogrod and wreslted from him the Necklace of the Dwarves. Some of the Dwarves escaped from the battle but those were ambushed in the slopes beneath Mount Dolmed by the Shepherds of the Trees.

After the first age most tales telling of Dwarves are about the Dwarves of the line of Durin, who are commonly called Durin’s Folk or Longbeards. Durin I enjoyed a very long life and lived through most of the First Age. Every now and then through the following ages a Dwarf was born of this line that was so alike to Durin that he was considered to be Durin reborn. Prophecy told that Durin would be reborn seven times and the coming of Durin VII would mark the decline of the Dwarves.
Durin II was born in the Second Age. It is not known exactly when, but he was in power when the smith Narvi built the west gate of Khazad-dûm the year 750. His reign was an era of great prosperity when the halls of Khazad-dûm were greatly expanded and the Noldorin Elves of Lindon moved into Eregion to trade with the Dwarves for mithril. Population boomed because many refugees from Belegost and Nogrod, which were destroyed at the end of the First Age, moved to Khazad-dûm.

Durin III was in power around the year 1600 of the Second Age. He was gifted with the seventh and most powerful of the Dwarven Rings of Power. It was the Elven smith Celebrimbor and not Sauron who gave him the ring. The rings of power did not have the effects that Sauron had intended, possibly because Aulë had made the dwarves especially to resist evil domination. The only apparent effect of the rings was that the Dwarves became more greedy, but they were not turned into wraiths like men. Sauron tried to recover the rings. Two he reclaimed fairly soon and four ended up in dragon hordes. The ring of Durin, Sauron did not reclaim until the 2845th year of the Third Age when he captured Thrain II.

50,000 of Durin's folk helped the Last Alliance,but some worked for Sauron.

Durin VI was born in the 1731st year of the Third Age. At that time the race of Dwarves had already begun to dwindle. In the year 1980 of the Third Age the Dwarves were deepening their mithril mines when they stumbled upon a Balrog of Morgoth. Durin VI was slain by the Balrog and a year later his son Nain I (TA 1832 - TA 1981). After that the Dwarves of Durins line fled and abandoned Khazad-dûm but the Balrog remained.
Most of Durin’s Folk went to Grey Mountains (Ered Mithrin]) where they built new halls. However Thror's son Thrain I (TA 1934 - TA 2190) now King of Durin’s Folk went to the Lonely Mountain and founded the kingdom of the Lonely Mountain or Erebor in the year TA 1999. Deep within the mountain he found an extraordinary jewel that he called the Arkenstone and was regarded as the greatest treasure of his house.

Thrain’s son Thorin I chose to rather stay in Grey Mountains than Lonely Mountain so between TA 2190 and TA 2590 Grey Mountains was the seat of Kings. In TA 2589 however the Dwarven halls in that region were attacked by cold-drakes from the north. The King at the time, Dain I (TA 2440 - TA 2589) was slain along with one of his sons, Frór (TA 2552 - TA 2589). The older son Thror (TA 2542 - TA 2790) fled with his people to Lonely Mountain.

For 200 years the wealth and fame of Lonely Mountain grew until the coming of Smaug the Golden in TA 2770. Thror managed to escape
Dwarven forces engage the Goblins through a back door with his family but most of the Dwarves of Lonely Mountain were slain by the dragon and the wealth of Durin’s folk was lost. Some time later Thror gave his son Thrain II (TA 2644 - TA 2858) the ring of power and started wandering the world with his friend Nar. He ended up in Khazad-dûm where he was murdered and mutilated by the orc king Azog. This was the catalyst of a war that was called the War of Dwarves and Orcs. The war lasted seven years and ended in the Battle of Azanulbizar where Dain Ironfoot (TA 2767 - TA 2901) killed Azog.

In the years to come the ring slowly poisoned Thrain’s heart with greed and in 2845 Thrain set out alone to reclaim Erebor. This resulted in him being captured by Sauron and he died in the dungeons of Dol Guldur.

Now Ulrin, son of Dain Ironfoot, prepares the Dwarven clans for a crusade. A crusade to take back the lands that have fallen to the Orcs of Gundabad and the Misty Mountains