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Dwarfs in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels are similar to the Dwarves of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, which they largely started out pastiching, and dwarfs/dwarves in other fantasy novels. In other words; short, stocky, bearded metal-workers, generally seen wearing armour and brandishing axes. However, they have many unique qualities.
(As the above indicates, incidentally, Pratchett uses the plural "dwarfs", not "dwarves".)
Dwarfs originate from the Ramtops and Überwald, but many have moved down to the Sto Plains ( Ankh-Morpork is now the largest dwarfish colony on the Disc). Dwarfs live to be about 300.
As Tolkien implied of his dwarves, Discworld dwarfs of both sexes have beards. However, while Tolkien stated that female dwarves are rare, and disguise themselves as male when they must travel, female Discworld dwarfs are common, but are traditionally indistinguishable from males at all times. Dwarfs tend not to concern themselves much with this; the dwarfish language has a gender neutral pronoun, usually rendered as "he" when speaking human languages. Dwarfish courtship is an incredibly tactful affair, primarily concerned with finding out which gender the other dwarf is.
Most dwarfs are intensely literal-minded, even by Discworld standards, and have absolutely no sense of metaphor or allusion. There are exceptions; the greatest playwright on the Discworld is a dwarf named Hwel.
Dwarfs tend to be miners. They have a natural fascination with minerals (especially ironThis article is about metallic iron. For the ironing device, see ironing manganese iron cobalt Fe Ru Full table General Name, Symbol, Number iron, Fe, 26 Chemical series transition metal Group, Period, Block 8 (VIIIB), 4 , d Density, Hardness 7874 kg/m3, and goldFor alternative meanings, see gold (disambiguation Gold is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Au ( L. aurum and atomic number 79. A soft, shiny, yellow, heavy, malleable, ductile (trivalent and univalent) transition metal, gold d) and feel more comfortable underground. Their mining has lead to a longstanding enmity with trolls, who are made of rock, and have a tendency to remain motionless for long periods. The most famous troll/dwarf fight was the Battle of Koom ValleyThe Battle of Koom Valley was a battle between dwarfs and trolls in Terry Pratchett's Discworld. It is the only known battle in which both sides ambushed the other. There have actually been several battles in Koom Valley, possibly because it's a naturally, in which both sides ambushed the other. The dwarfish board gameA board game is any game played with a premarked surface, with counters or pieces that are moved across the board. Simple board games are often seen as ideal "family entertainment" as they can provide entertainment for all ages. Some board games, such as of ThudThud is a board game devised by Trevor Truran, inspired by the Discworld novels of Terry Pratchett. It bears a slight resemblance to the ancient Norse games of Hnefatafl and Tablut (and, in Dwarfish, is supposedly called Hnaflbaflwhiflsnifltafl ) but has commemorates this battle.
A dwarfish community is run by a dezka-knik or chief mining engineer, a title usually loosely translated into Morporkian as "king". All dwarfs owe allegiance to the Low King, who is selected by council in the Überwald dwarf city of Schmaltzberg. The current Low King is Rhys Rhysson, son of a small coal-mining clan in Llamedos. He got the job largely because he wasn't from a significant Ramtop or Überwald family (see below).
Dwarfs see their dwarfishness as a matter of culture, rather than genetics or height. Hence, Captain Carrot IronfounderssonDiscworld characters Carrot Ironfoundersson is a corporal in, and later captain of, the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. As the brief Discworld companion states: :"Carrot Ironfoundersson is Captain of the Ankh-Morkpork City is accepted as a dwarf, despite being a six-foot human.
Dwarfish society has no religion, but does have gods "just in case". Further details of these gods are not known, with the exception of the tricksterIn the study of mythology and religion, a trickster is a god, goddess, spirit or human who breaks the rules of the gods or nature, sometimes maliciously (for example, Loki) but usually with ultimately positive effects. Often, the rule-breaking takes the f, Agi Hammerthief.
In the past, a significant part of dwarfish culture was the "Knockerman", who went into mines ahead of the other dwarfs to check for firedamp. The Knockermen wore leather armour, designed to be shock-absorbing, and conical leather hats. The ones who returned were respected for their bravery, and told stories of hearing kobold-like spirits and Great A'Tuin's heartbeat. They became advisors and lawmakers. If dwarfs had a religion they would have been considered priests.
This fell out of practice in the Ramtops when a dwarf in Ankh-Morpork invented the Davy lamp. The Überwald dwarfs, however, felt the Knockermen were too important to be replaced by a device, and this caused something of a rift between the two groups. Many traditionalist Überwald dwarfs now refuse to come to the surface at all and, if they must, wear the Kockerman's outfit to protect themselves from the Sun. They are called drudak'ak, which translates as "they don't get out in the fresh air enough".
Another recent development offending traditionalist dwarfs is the trend for young dwarfs in Ankh-Morpork and elsewhere to be openly female. This trend seems to have been started by Cheery Littlebottom, a member of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, who was surprised at the way human females distinguished themselves from males. Since, historically, the "typical" dwarf was not actually assumed to be male (it was more the question being deemed irrelevant) this is a curious reaction, except inasmuch as the disapproval is of dwarfs not (in the drudak'ak
Bread is also a significant part of dwarf culture throughout the Disc. Dwarf bread is like hard tack, only more so. It will enable you to survive for days (by making you realise you are surrounded by things that look more edible) and never goes stale, possibly because it was always stale. Its primary use is as a weapon. Feel the pain. (It is, of course, a parody of waybread.)
The Low King sits on an ancient loaf of dwarf bread called the Scone of Stone (a parody of the Stone of Scone).
When dwarfs are married, it is customary for the debts to their parents (consisting of all the money spent on them before they married, such as for food and lodgings) to be paid off by their partner.