Durin
Encyclopedia
Durin is the name of seven Kings of Dwarves
in J. R. R. Tolkien
's legendarium
. They were held by the Dwarves to be the reincarnations of the first one, Durin the Deathless, resembling him in appearance and said to have preserved memories of their 'earlier lives'.
Tolkien took the name Durin, like most of the dwarf names in his work, from Norse mythology
. This he later explained by the translation fiction: since Westron
was translated with English
, the language of Dale, used by Dwarves for their "outer" names, was translated with Old Norse. One way the original Old Norse
term durinn can be translated, appropriately, is "sleepy".
Discussions of the Durins (specifically in The Peoples of Middle-earth) must be read with care, since their number expanded as Tolkien's story developed. The Durin killed by the Balrog in , for example, was originally Durin III, but Durin VI in The Lord of the Rings
. (And a common typo on the Web lists him as "Durin IV".)
. Durin was created by Aulë
the Vala
during the First Age
. He was named "the Deathless" as he lived to a far greater age than any other dwarf, and he was revered by all dwarves as the eldest of their race.
Each of the seven Fathers founded a house of Dwarves. Durin's house was called the Longbeards. His people were known as Durin's folk
.
According to the traditions of the Dwarves, he was set to sleep alone beneath Mount Gundabad in the north of the Misty Mountains
, which remained a sacred place to them ever after. He awakened some time after the creation of the Elves
in , and according to an early version of the story travelled great distances to other Dwarf kindreds, where other Dwarves joined him. He arrived at the Mirrormere, a lake in a valley below Caradhras
in the Misty Mountains, and there founded what became the greatest and richest of the Mansions of the Dwarves: Khazad-dûm (Dwarrowdelf), afterward called Moria
(meaning 'Dark Chasm' in Sindarin
).
In the published version of the story, Durin died before the end of the First Age. An early version of Appendix B ("The Tale of Years") had him leading Dwarves from the ruin of Beleriand
to found Khazad-dûm at the beginning of the Second Age
; but Tolkien abandoned that line.
After Durin died, Khazad-dûm was ruled by "many generations" of his descendants, until the Balrog appeared in Moria. In this long line, Tolkien writes, there appeared occasionally "an heir so like to his Forefather that he received the name of Durin." More complete versions of the account of Durin's Folk make clear that the later Durins appeared scattered amongst many generations. These six further Durins were believed by the Dwarves to be reincarnations (or even reanimations) of Durin I, with memories of his earlier lives.
In , during the unsuccessful attempt to recolonize Moria, Balin
's party evidently found Durin's Axe. Though not stated in the text, many have concluded that this was an heirloom lost when Durin VI was killed by the Balrog in (A helm is also mentioned, not identified in the text as Durin's, from which some have conjectured "Durin's Helm" as well.) The Axe was evidently lost again when Balin's party was destroyed in .
. The Dwarves believed he had been given his ring by the Elven-smiths and not by Sauron
, though Sauron was involved in the making. Durin III allied his forces with Eregion
during the War of the Elves and Sauron, but they were unable to prevent its destruction, which led to a long period of isolation and gradual dwindling in Khazad-dûm.
Hammond and Scull conclude that Durin III was King of Khazad-dûm when the West Gate of Moria was constructed, the Durin whose name appears on the door. (It was made while the Dwarves were allied with Celebrimbor
.) This is a reasonable inference but appears to be unsupported by direct evidence from Tolkien. (Foster suggests that the Gate was constructed earlier, under Durin II.)
A persistent rumour on the Web holds that Durin IV was the king who led the Dwarves from Khazad-dûm to fight against Sauron with the Last Alliance at the end of the Second Age. Tolkien indicates that Dwarves of Durin's Folk did fight with the Last Alliance, but he does not say under which king they fought.
under Caradhras aroused a Balrog
from its hiding place in the depths. The Balrog killed Durin in , and became known as Durin's Bane. Durin was succeeded by his son, Náin I, whom the Balrog killed in the following year. Moria was then abandoned by its people.
in the Fourth Age
. His birth was apparently prophesied upon the accession of Dáin II after the Battle of Five Armies (although no record exists of the actual prophecy itself). He led Durin's Folk back to recolonize Khazad-dûm (Moria) some (unspecified) time after the beginning of the Fourth Age, where they remained "until the world grew old and the Dwarves failed and the days of Durin's race were ended".
Dwarf (Middle-earth)
In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Dwarves are a race inhabiting the world of Arda, a fictional prehistoric Earth which includes the continent Middle-earth....
in J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's legendarium
Tolkien's legendarium
The phrase Tolkien's legendarium is used in the literary discipline of Tolkien studiesto refer to the part of J. R. R. Tolkien's high fantasy fiction being concerned with his Elven legends; that is, historic events that have become legendary from the perspective of the characters of The Lord of the...
. They were held by the Dwarves to be the reincarnations of the first one, Durin the Deathless, resembling him in appearance and said to have preserved memories of their 'earlier lives'.
Tolkien took the name Durin, like most of the dwarf names in his work, from Norse mythology
Norse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
. This he later explained by the translation fiction: since Westron
Westron
Westron, or the Common Speech, is a fictional language in the fantasy works of J. R. R. Tolkien.Westron is the closest thing to a lingua franca in Middle-earth, at least at the time during which The Lord of the Rings is set. "Westron" is an invented English word, derived from West...
was translated with English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, the language of Dale, used by Dwarves for their "outer" names, was translated with Old Norse. One way the original Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
term durinn can be translated, appropriately, is "sleepy".
Discussions of the Durins (specifically in The Peoples of Middle-earth) must be read with care, since their number expanded as Tolkien's story developed. The Durin killed by the Balrog in , for example, was originally Durin III, but Durin VI in The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
. (And a common typo on the Web lists him as "Durin IV".)
Durin the Deathless
Durin the Deathless was the eldest of the Seven Fathers of the DwarvesFathers of the Dwarves
In Norse Mythology and in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves were the first of their race....
. Durin was created by Aulë
Aulë
Aulë is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, who is primarily discussed in The Silmarillion, but appears also in Tolkien's other works. In Tolkien's pantheon of Middle-earth, Aulë is a knowledge deity, sometimes worshipped as a god by men, representing skill and craftsmanship,...
the Vala
Vala (Middle-earth)
The Valar are fictional characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. They are first mentioned in The Lord of the Rings, but The Silmarillion develops them into the Powers of Arda or the Powers of the World...
during the First Age
First Age
In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, the First Age, or First Age of the Children of Ilúvatar is the heroic period in which most of Tolkien's early legends are set...
. He was named "the Deathless" as he lived to a far greater age than any other dwarf, and he was revered by all dwarves as the eldest of their race.
Each of the seven Fathers founded a house of Dwarves. Durin's house was called the Longbeards. His people were known as Durin's folk
Durin's folk
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, Durin's folk, also known as the Longbeards, were the most important clan of Dwarves. Their name comes from that of their first king, Durin I "The Deathless". They were the eldest and greatest of the seven Dwarf-clans.They originally...
.
According to the traditions of the Dwarves, he was set to sleep alone beneath Mount Gundabad in the north of the Misty Mountains
Misty Mountains
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy world of Middle-earth, the Misty Mountains is a mountain range, running for 795 miles from north to south, between Eriador and the valley of the Great River, Anduin, and...
, which remained a sacred place to them ever after. He awakened some time after the creation of the Elves
Elf (Middle-earth)
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Elves are one of the races that inhabit a fictional Earth, often called Middle-earth, and set in the remote past. They appear in The Hobbit and in The Lord of the Rings, but their complex history is described more fully in The Silmarillion...
in , and according to an early version of the story travelled great distances to other Dwarf kindreds, where other Dwarves joined him. He arrived at the Mirrormere, a lake in a valley below Caradhras
Caradhras
In the fictional universe of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, Caradhras, also called the Redhorn , and known in the Dwarves' language as Barazinbar, is one of the mightiest peaks in the Misty Mountains...
in the Misty Mountains, and there founded what became the greatest and richest of the Mansions of the Dwarves: Khazad-dûm (Dwarrowdelf), afterward called Moria
Moria (Middle-earth)
In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, Moria was the name given by the Eldar to an enormous underground complex in north-western Middle-earth, comprising a vast network of tunnels, chambers, mines and huge halls or 'mansions', that ran under and ultimately through the Misty Mountains...
(meaning 'Dark Chasm' in Sindarin
Sindarin
Sindarin is a fictional language devised by J. R. R. Tolkien, and used in his secondary world, often called Middle-earth.Sindarin is one of the many languages spoken by the immortal Elves, called the Eledhrim or Edhellim in Sindarin....
).
In the published version of the story, Durin died before the end of the First Age. An early version of Appendix B ("The Tale of Years") had him leading Dwarves from the ruin of Beleriand
Beleriand
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional legendarium, Beleriand was a region in northwestern Middle-earth during the First Age. Events in Beleriand are described chiefly in his work The Silmarillion, which tells the story of the early ages of Middle-earth in a style similar to the epic hero tales of Nordic...
to found Khazad-dûm at the beginning of the Second Age
Second Age
The Second Age is a time period from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings. Tolkien intended for the history of Middle-earth to be considered fictionally as a precursor to the history of the real Earth....
; but Tolkien abandoned that line.
After Durin died, Khazad-dûm was ruled by "many generations" of his descendants, until the Balrog appeared in Moria. In this long line, Tolkien writes, there appeared occasionally "an heir so like to his Forefather that he received the name of Durin." More complete versions of the account of Durin's Folk make clear that the later Durins appeared scattered amongst many generations. These six further Durins were believed by the Dwarves to be reincarnations (or even reanimations) of Durin I, with memories of his earlier lives.
In , during the unsuccessful attempt to recolonize Moria, Balin
Balin (Middle-earth)
Balin is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He is an important supporting character in The Hobbit, and is mentioned in The Fellowship of the Ring.-In the books:...
's party evidently found Durin's Axe. Though not stated in the text, many have concluded that this was an heirloom lost when Durin VI was killed by the Balrog in (A helm is also mentioned, not identified in the text as Durin's, from which some have conjectured "Durin's Helm" as well.) The Axe was evidently lost again when Balin's party was destroyed in .
Durin III
He ruled circa and was the first bearer of one of the Seven Rings, although the latter was not widely known until the end of the Third AgeThird Age
The Third Age is a time period from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings. The history of Middle-earth is to be taken fictionally as a history of the real Earth....
. The Dwarves believed he had been given his ring by the Elven-smiths and not by Sauron
Sauron
Sauron is the primary antagonist and titular character of the epic fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.In the same work, he is revealed to be the same character as "the Necromancer" from Tolkien's earlier novel The Hobbit...
, though Sauron was involved in the making. Durin III allied his forces with Eregion
Eregion
In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, Eregion or Hollin was a kingdom of the Noldorin Elves in Eriador during the Second Age, located near the West Gate of Moria under the shadow of the Hithaeglir . Its capital was Ost-in-Edhil...
during the War of the Elves and Sauron, but they were unable to prevent its destruction, which led to a long period of isolation and gradual dwindling in Khazad-dûm.
Hammond and Scull conclude that Durin III was King of Khazad-dûm when the West Gate of Moria was constructed, the Durin whose name appears on the door. (It was made while the Dwarves were allied with Celebrimbor
Celebrimbor
Celebrimbor is a fictional character In J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. His name means "silver fist" or "Hand of silver" in Sindarin ....
.) This is a reasonable inference but appears to be unsupported by direct evidence from Tolkien. (Foster suggests that the Gate was constructed earlier, under Durin II.)
Durin IV
Tolkien records nothing of his reign. He would have lived in Khazad-dûm in the late Second or early Third Age.A persistent rumour on the Web holds that Durin IV was the king who led the Dwarves from Khazad-dûm to fight against Sauron with the Last Alliance at the end of the Second Age. Tolkien indicates that Dwarves of Durin's Folk did fight with the Last Alliance, but he does not say under which king they fought.
Durin VI
Durin VI was King of the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm in the Third Age, when their deep mining for mithrilMithril
Mithril is a fictional metal, originally used in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings. It is described as silvery and stronger than steel but much lighter in weight. The malleability, lack of tarnishing and use of the metal in jewellery suggest some similarity to the non-fictional metal...
under Caradhras aroused a Balrog
Balrog
Balrogs are fictional demonic beings who appear in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. Such creatures first appeared in print in his novel The Lord of the Rings, though they figured in earlier writings that posthumously appeared in The Silmarillion and other books.Balrogs are described as...
from its hiding place in the depths. The Balrog killed Durin in , and became known as Durin's Bane. Durin was succeeded by his son, Náin I, whom the Balrog killed in the following year. Moria was then abandoned by its people.
Durin VII
Durin VII or Durin the Last was the direct descendant of king Thorin III Stonehelm (according to some sources, his son), ruler of Erebor and the Iron HillsIron Hills
The Iron Hills are a fictional range of mountains in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings. They are remnants of the Iron Mountains of the First Age and are located east of the Lonely Mountain in the northeastern part of Rhovanion and the northwest of Rhûn. In the Third Age, they are home to a...
in the Fourth Age
Fourth Age
In the fictional world of middle earth "'the fourth age'" and the ages that preceded it, are time periods from J. R. R. Tolkien's universe of Middle-earth, described in his fantasy writings...
. His birth was apparently prophesied upon the accession of Dáin II after the Battle of Five Armies (although no record exists of the actual prophecy itself). He led Durin's Folk back to recolonize Khazad-dûm (Moria) some (unspecified) time after the beginning of the Fourth Age, where they remained "until the world grew old and the Dwarves failed and the days of Durin's race were ended".