| Dwarfs (discworld) |
Website Links For Dwarfs |
Information AboutDwarfs (discworld) |
|
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 as a homage to, 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 Tolkien's "dwarves", and "dwarfish" instead of "dwarven".) 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 outside of Überwald). BIOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY Dwarfs are shorter and stockier than humans, nearly always bearded (with the exception of Count Casanunda and Mad in XXXX), and live to about 300. Despite this, the dividing line between dwarfs and humans seems somewhat blurred, and Pratchett has hinted that humans and dwarfs can interbreed; for example, Nanny Ogg 's thick skull is put down to dwarfish ancestry. Dwarfs see their dwarfishness as a matter of culture, rather than genetics or height. Hence, Captain Carrot Ironfoundersson is accepted as a dwarf, despite being a six-and-a-half-foot tall human. 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 prefer not to spend much time on the subject; 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. Despite the awkwardness that comes of this, it is traditionally considered rude to discuss female dwarfs in conversation. 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. Despite their mistrust of outright metaphor, the dwarfs do have a deep love of word association, as long as such associations are direct. For instance, their word for "smelter" is also their word for a police investigator, since the two are said to be performing the same task, separating out the dross to uncover the pure truth beneath. The senior advisor to the Low King is called an "ideas taster," and in their language, if someone "sees the light", he has been blinded by the morals of surface society. Their scientific or species name (in Latatian ) is ''Hortus decorus'' (i.e. "Lawn ornament"). CULTURE AND SOCIETY Dwarfs tend to be Miners . They have a natural fascination with minerals (especially Iron and Gold ) and feel more comfortable underground. Their mining has led to a longstanding enmity with Trolls , who are made of rock, and have a tendency to remain motionless for long periods, and dislike the fact that when they sleep they can wake up finding themselves as an ornamental fireplace whilst Dwarfs dislike the fact that there is rock that can wrench their arms out when they have found it. The most famous troll/dwarf fight was the Battle Of Koom Valley , in which both sides are traditionally said to have ambushed the other, on several occasions. Each time shouting "Remember Koom Valley!". The dwarfish Board Game of Thud commemorates this/these battle(s). The full history of the battle is revealed in '' Thud! ''. 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, (a parody of High 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). The Low King acts as a final court of appeal in disputes. The primary weapon other than bread products (see below) in dwarf culture is the Axe , which is often used even when the frequently confined spaces of underground tunnels make them impractical. A traditional dwarfish axe is multifunctional; one side is a Pickaxe used for prospecting, and the other side is a Battle Axe used if anyone tries to stop you. Axes are so important culturally that dwarfish Ankh-Morpork City Watch members are allowed to use them instead of the regulation swords, and both male and female dwarfs typically carry a (decorative) axe to social functions. Cheery Littlebottom 's attempts to feminise this tradition have not been met with great success, at least by human standards. There is a tendency among dwarfs, who in their native mines are often soft-spoken, filial and respectful, to suddenly transform into beer-swilling, brawling, axe-waving clichés when they go abroad. Some dwarfs attempt to project greater machismo by carrying more and larger axes, and wearing heavier and more elaborate armour than standard. This is known as "clang" (a play on Bling ). 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. However, it is then common for the new couple's parents to turn around and present them with a wedding gift even larger than the debt, so this may be seen as ceremonial--though still necessary. Religion Dwarfish society has no religion, but does have gods "just in case". Their creator god, called Tak , is believed by the dwarfs to have fashioned the three races of the Discworld, Dwarf, Human and Troll, from a geode. Tak is said to have "written the Laws," and "written the world", in that order (in a similar vein to Jewish theology). For this reason Dwarfs place a very high value on words and writing, and the destruction of a word (such as say, erasing a blackboard) is seen as a reprehensible crime by more conservative dwarfs. Despite this, Tak is not worshipped; he left after creating the world and demands little from his believers. As Grag Bashfullsson says in '' Thud! '', "Tak does not require that we think of Him, only that we think." Further details of these gods are not known, with the exception of the Trickster , Agi Hammerthief. Dwarfs do not believe in demons or similar either, but traditionally bury their dead with good weapons in case the demons don't know about the fact. In place of gods and demons, they do have several dozen different words for "dark". Many of these are highly mystical and dangerous, such as the "closing dark," the "calling dark" and the "waiting dark" (the dark that waits to fill new holes). Worst of all is the " Summoning Dark ", which is said to have a mind of its own and to seek out and corrupt certain victims susceptible to it. However, others such as the "Guarding Dark" are forces of protection. 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 the hammering of dead dwarfs trying to tunnel back into the world and Great A'Tuin's heartbeat. They became advisors and lawmakers. If dwarfs had a religion they would have been considered priests. It is possible that these are the "grags" (renowned masters of Dwarvish lore) mentioned in '' Thud! '', though they would be more akin to Rabbi s or Imam s than 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 Knockerman'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". In Morporkian they are called "deep-downers" Feminisation Another recent development 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. The trend seems to have been picked up in the Ramtops (where some dwarfs already had names like Gloria Thogsdaughter), but is something else found offensive by Überwald traditionalists. The swear word "''ha'ak''" is used by such dwarfs to indicate their disapproval, and is considered an extremely offensive term. 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'' It is not yet known what the effect has been on dwarfish society of certain strong hints by Low King Rhys that he is, in fact, Low Queen Rhys, and may be getting a dressmaker. This may, however, be one of the many reasons (s)he is regarded with little respect by the ''drudak'ak'', in addition to the schism between the modernist and traditionalist dwarfs, Rhys being regarded as a conservative member of the former group. Cuisine Bread is also a significant part of dwarf culture throughout the Disc. Dwarf bread is like Hardtack , only more so; its properties are a Parody of Middle-earth Cram and Lembas . 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 (although it is also used as a kind of currency), and it is made in many different types. These include boomerang biscuits, drop scones and close-combat crumpets. Reportedly the process of "forging" a loaf of dwarf bread includes gravel as part of the recipe, and Kitty Litter is apparently a preferred seasoning. The Low King sits on an (apparently) ancient loaf of dwarf bread called the Scone of Stone (a Parody of the Stone Of Scone ). Besides dwarf bread, dwarfish cuisine consists largely of things found underground, such as Fungi , Rodent s and bits of rock. Rat is a staple of the dwarf diet, provided it is completely covered in Ketchup or a similar sauce to hide the taste. Ankh-Morpork 's rich abundance of rats is one of its main selling points to potential dwarf immigrants. Dwarfs are also known to eat dog, but only if there is not any rat. Lawkeeping The common method of lawkeeping in dwarfish culture is very simple: as the dwarfs devote their time to mining, they have no official form of police or watch, and so their preferred method of punishing evildoers is to hang them up by the town hall, as that presumably would stop any thoughts of law breaking in the future. The punishment is not practised in Ankh-Morpork, however, because Ankh-Morpork doesn't have a town hall. LANGUAGE Discworld Languages DEVICES Devices have so far only appeared in '' Thud! ''. Spelt with a capital D, and with enough reverence that it can be heard in speech, 'Device' is the collective term for a variety of artifacts of unknown origin, but with many purposes, all of them of great power and value, such that they are "worth mining through a mountain of granite for". Devices are apparently indestructible, but apparently it is possible to cause them to deactivate permanently. The types described are Cubes and Axles, though an 'Average bar' is mentioned in passing. Most cubes so far discovered are owned by dwarfs, but all were created long before dwarf civilisation. The description of Devices in ''Thud!'' is similar in concept to the "Joker artefacts" described in Pratchett's 1976 novel '' The Dark Side Of The Sun '' Cubes Cubes are just that in appearance, six inches across, like ancient bronze, and glow green and blue when active. Cubes store approximately 10 years of constant sound, and when first activated by dwarfs are filled with natural sounds (such as running water and birdsong). Cubes are activated and deactivated by set sensual stimuli, which is most commonly a spoken word, but can be "a breath, a sound, a temperature, a point in the world, the smell of rain." Many cubes have never been prompted to work. It was a Cube, perpetually replaying sounds from the Battle Of Koom Valley , that drove the painter Methodia Rascal insane during the painting of his life's work: ''The Battle of Koom Valley''. The Cubes mentioned thus far bear a striking resemblance to the Thing in The Bromeliad (A trilogy, also by Terry Pratchett, which includes the books Truckers, Diggers and Wings), although the Thing possessed its own intelligence rather than being a recording device. Axles Axles are two six-inch-edge cubes joined perfectly on one face. They are presumably in activation and physical nature otherwise similar to Cubes, but this is not explained. When activated, Axles become a . This, combined with their complete autonomy without fuel and the use of a series of gear speed/torque gears allows them to power the mechanics and industries of entire dwarf cities, including tow-powered traffic. The Axle used by the Ankh-Morpork grags during the events of Thud became the property of the city. Its uses in the city are still being researched by the Artificers' Guildmaster Mr. Pony, but in theory it could revolutionize the heavy industrial and municipal workings of Ankh-Morpork. Lord Vetinari appears, speculatively, to link the use of the Axle with the extensive dwarf tunnels under the city. According to Captain Carrot, only three other Axles are known to exist. Average Bar Average Bars are mentioned, but not described in Thud! Currently nothing is known but one can assume they are indestructible and rare like all other Devices. In passing it is mentioned that they are "invaluable for food preparation". The fate of the Average Bar in Thud! is unknown but since the Axle from the same mine is now owned by Ankh-Morpork its reasonable to assume the same of the Average Bar. |
|
|