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| Magical Myths 103 Lesson Seven The Dwarf |
| In lore, dwarves are short, powerfully built and are generally bearded and aged in appearance. Although this is because they reach maturity when only three years old and are gray-bearded by age seven. Their homes are the mountain of Scandinavia and Germany where they mine for precious metals to work into arms and amour and other artifacts, which often are endowed with magical properties. Some lore have dwarves turning into stone when caught in sunlight or often during the day, above ground, they appear as toads. In HP, dwarves were used to deliver singing Valentines to teenage wizards, hardly the usual line of work for a dwarf. They take pride in hard work so its not wonder the went about this frivolous business at Hogwarts with the attitude of children being forced to eat vegetables. In LOTR, the �Dwarves� were made by one of the Vala, Aul�, in secret from the other Valar. They were stout, strong, and unaffected by cold and fire. These Dwarves wee studier than the races that followed (Mortal man). Aul� also made his Dwarves stubborn, indomitable, and persistent in labor and hardship. They were brave in battle and their pride and their will could not be broken. |
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| For many of us, our first introduction to �dwarves� was by Walt Disney with a young lady called Snow White and her seven �friends�. Mr. Disney did get a few things right according to lore, his seven dwarves were shorter than human men, worked in mines and were proud and loved what they did. However, I would hardly think many dwarves, of lore and legend whistled while they worked, but we cannot be sure! |
| Why did Tolkien�s Dwarves and Elves not get along? According to Lluvatar�s (God) plan, the Elves were to be the �First Born� brought to life by the Valar (Angles), yet Aul� secretly made the Dwarves, who then were put on hold in a way until the Elves emerged. Once that took place, Iluvatar gave life to the Dwarves. Elves could never understand why the Dwarves preferred to live underground as they loved life, fresh air, nature, and all things living. It was Legolas�s father, King Thranduil, who imprisoned Gimil�s father Gloin, along with his 12 companions, while they were traveling through Mirkwood in the book, �The Hobbit�. The feud between Elves and Dwarves were greatly lessened due to Legolas and Gimil�s relationship during the War of the Rings. Gimil also made an impression with Galadriel, Elven Queen of Lothlorein, which won him a ride to the Undying Lands when Legolas build a boat after he got the calling and took Gimil with him. Dwarves in Tolkien�s world are not immortal, but had very long lives. It was the Dwarves who created the Mithril undershirt that Frodo wore and which saved his life on a few occasions. And after the siege of Gondor, the Dwarves also made the new gates to the White City of Mithril, the same impregnable material as was Frodo�s undershirt. |
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| Quiz: |
| The four Dwarf Kings |
| Samwise, Frodo, and Gimil the Dwarf in Lothlorein. |
| 1.) Most of us got our introduction to dwaves through who, and what was the story behind the moive? 2.) Describe what 'lore' tells us about dwarves. 3.) What did dwarves do in the HP world, or what did Lockhart have them doing. 4.) Why do you think the dwarves of HP would find this distastful? 5.) Who is Aul� and what does he have to do with dwaves in Middle-earth? 6.) Why did Elves and Dwarves of Middle-earth not get along and what changed that? 8.) Who's father imprsioned who's father? 9.) After the War of the Ring, what did the Dwarves do for Gondor? |
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| Hemlock fancies the larger rats...do treat him to one if you continue to send your lessons through him. |