How long do dwarves live tolkien

Dwarves reach their conventional adult appearance at around 40 and then would look the same for most of their lives. Dwarves only get obviously "old" around 10 years before their deaths, at which point they age rapidly. The joke runs that female Dwarves are indistinguishable from the males because all Dwarves have beards. Surprisingly, this is actually canon.

In The War of the Jewels , Tolkien describes how female Dwarves were in garb, voice and appearance just like male Dwarves, down to the beards. This really is perfectly normal for a race like the Dwarves, written to be somewhat alien to Mankind. Female Dwarves rarely travel and so are not seen by other races. It is also thought that only a third of Dwarves are female, so they are rarer than their male counterparts. When the Dwarves first met other races of Middle-earth, they spoke a harsh language named Khuzdul and were impossible to understand.

Each dwarf has a Khuzdul name, which they keep secret. The name is not revealed to anyone else, nor does it appear on their tombs. Most of the language itself is secret as well and the Dwarves are reluctant to reveal it to other races, with the exception of a few place names that Gimli explains when the Fellowship travel into Moria.

The names his Dwarves use are outer names, or the names they chose for Elves and Men to refer to them. Dwarven burial is as particular as their other customs.

This is a traditional Dwarven tomb, made of one single oblong block, about two feet high, with Runes revealing his outer name and his title "Lord of Moria". The Dwarves refuse to bury their dead in earth, choosing only to bury them in stone. When they are unable to bury their dead in the preferred manner, they will burn them. For example, this occurs after the Battle of Azanulbizar when there were too many dead to build the required stone tombs.

It is normally an unfortunate thing for a dwarf to endure, but in the case of those Dwarves burned following the battle, it was a symbol of respect. Tolkien has written at length about the inspirations for the various inhabitants of Middle-earth.

Their secret language and "inner-names" were also based on the Jewish habit of using the language of the culture they were living alongside, while speaking their own language in private. Not to mention Dwarves' craftsmanship and love of beautiful things, which is linked to the Medieval perception of Jews. Even Dwarven flaws, such as their greed, were also based on this perception. Although their names come from Nordic Legend and their language is represented by Anglo-Saxon runes, Tolkien based their language very consciously on Semetic languages.

The failings of the Dwarves are well-known. In nature, they are often stubborn and secretive, with long memories that lead to lengthy grudges. A large chunk of the conflict in The Silmarillion is because the Dwarves murdered the Elf King Thingol over the the Necklace of the Dwarves, Nauglamir, which had been set with the last remaining Silmaril, an Elf-made jewel.

The Dwarves were gifted with seven ring but were unaffected in comparison, except for an increase in their goldlust and heightened disgust at those who stood between them and their treasure. Show 7 more comments. Active Oldest Votes. Using only the movies as source material Elves are immortal. Bilbo was Eleventy-One at his party, and he was considered "well-aged". If you're interested in information from the source material: Dwarves? They first appear in the Third Age.

They came therefore in the shape of Men, though they were never young and aged only slowly Improve this answer. Community Bot 1. Wrathchild Wrathchild 3 3 silver badges 15 15 bronze badges.

Hobbits also came 'of age' at 33, so older than people today - implying their lifespan is longer but not drastically longer than man. This would be consistent with the hypothesis that the first Orcs were Elves corrupted by torture. Add a comment. JohnP JohnP 8, 2 2 gold badges 35 35 silver badges 62 62 bronze badges. Yes, but that uses the book for source material. This information wasn't included in the movies. Wrathchild - So The OP did not specify only movie references, which would make it nearly impossible to guesstimate.

Yet while providing valuable information the whole first part of this answer doesn't really answer the complete question at all and seems simply comment to another comment. The only actual answer is the link given at the end, which you might want to elaborate a bit more on. Risen above what debate, JohnSmithOptional? Show 2 more comments. Tolkiens expanded Books give a more detailed account of life expectancy Wizards: Istari are in actuality "Maiar" thus they are Immortal, however they take on the physical attributes of human form, so it's not seen if they "Age" but apparently do.

Ainur Maiar, Valar Immortal Ents: Thousands of years However a majority of their time is spent inert Eagles: Unknown, but possibly thousands of years old Possibly immortal as they may be maiar in beast form. LazyReader LazyReader 1 1 silver badge 3 3 bronze badges. Featured on Meta. Now live: A fully responsive profile. Version labels for answers.

Durin I, on the other hand, wandered into a vale in the Misty Mountains which he named Azanulbizar. In a still pool in that vale, he saw a reflection of himself with a crown of seven stars. In the First Age , the Dwarves made 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. Before dying, the dwarf stabbed at the dragon's belly and 'pricked him so deep that he fled back to Angband '. The Dwarves of Nogrod were famous for the craftsmanship of their weapons. Most notable amongst their smiths was Telchar.

Thus were united the greatest works of Elves and Dwarves. Those Dwarf-smiths were driven mad by gold-lust, however, and murdered Thingol, stealing the necklace and the stone, igniting the bitter rivalry between Dwarves and Elves that would rage until the end of the Third Age.

But two of the slayers of Thingol escaped from this, and in Nogrod told how Dwarves were slain by command of the Elven-king, who thus would cheat them of their just reward. The Dwarves of Nogrod lamented the deaths 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.

On their return journey to the Blue Mountains , however, the Dwarves of Nogrod were assailed by a company that included Beren , his son Dior , and many Green-elves of Ossiriand.

Some of the Dwarves escaped from the battle, but they were ambushed in the slopes beneath Mount Dolmed by the Ents. Those Dwarves had been exiled from their homes during the Peace of Arda and were the first Dwarves to enter Beleriand. Durin I enjoyed a very long life and lived through most of the First Age. Occasionally in the following ages, a Dwarf was born of this line so resembled Durin that he was considered to be Durin reborn.

Prophecy told that Durin would be reborn seven times, and that the coming of Durin VII would mark the decline of the Dwarves. Durin II was born in the Second Age. He was gifted with the most powerful of the Dwarven Rings of Power. It was the Elven smith Celebrimbor and not Sauron who gave him the ring. The only apparent effect of the Dwarven rings was that the Dwarves became more greedy with gold lust, but they were not turned into wraiths like men.

Sauron subsequently tried to recover the rings. Two he reclaimed fairly soon and four ended up in dragon hoards. In of the Third Age , after centuries of greedy digging for mithril and other minerals, the Dwarves woke a Balrog that was sleeping in the deeps of the Misty Mountains since the First Age.

His son Thorin I later relocated to the Grey Mountains. For more than years the Dwarves of the Grey Mountains prospered until the dragons in the far North started to gain strength.

There, they prospered for over years until the dragon Smaug descended in TA The King and his company went in exile South, while most of the survivors went to the Iron Hills. Thus began the War of Dwarves and Orcs , in which the Dwarves destroyed all the Goblin strongholds in the Misty Mountains culminating in the great Battle of Azanulbizar.

The Goblin hosts issuing from Moria were strong and relentless until the arrival of fresh Dwarves of the Iron Hills. The Battle ended with the victory for the Dwarves, but at great cost. The Dwarven clans however were unwilling to repopulate Moria as Durin's Bane remained inside. Thorin gathered around him twelve dwarves , mostly from his own line, and was joined by Gandalf and Bilbo Baggins.

The Quest of Erebor ended with the death of Smaug. After a quarrel with the Men and Elves over the unguarded hoard, the Dwarves - assisted by those from the Iron Hills - united with the Men and Elves to fight the attacking Goblins and Wargs, in what was called the Battle of Five Armies , where Thorin was killed.

The Dwarves and Men of Dale stood for three days against the Easterlings, and once the news of Sauron's death spread to the Lonely Mountain the Easterlings retreated. During the Fourth Age , which began after the destruction of Mordor and Sauron, Dwarves and Men re-forged their friendship. During this time, Dwarves from the Lonely Mountain helped rebuild cities in Gondor and the fortress of the Hornburg , and some went to the newly established Dwarven realm of the Glittering Caves where Gimli was lord.

Gimli was thus the only Dwarf to ever be permitted to cross to the Undying Lands. Dwarf-lords raising their rings. Dwarves were a short, stocky race, a little taller than hobbits but much broader and heavier. Most Dwarves had thick, luxuriant beards in which they took great pride, and often forked or braided them and tucked them into their belts. They seem to have favoured simple durable clothing, coloured hoods and heavy cloaks for travelling, and belts of gold or silver.