Dwarfs (Discworld)
Encyclopedia
Sam leighton is dwarf king
Dwarfs in Terry Pratchett
's Discworld
novels are similar to the Dwarves
of J. R. R. Tolkien
's Middle-earth
, to which they largely started out as a homage, and dwarves in other fantasy novels. They are short, stocky, bearded metal-workers, generally seen wearing chain mail and brandishing axes. However, they have many unique qualities.
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).
Incidentally, Pratchett uses the plural "dwarfs", not Tolkien's "dwarves", and "dwarfish" instead of "dwarven".
's thick skull is put down to dwarfish ancestry. It may be moot, as 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 6+1/2 ft 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 (this may have been retconned
by the time of the novel, 'Thud', where it is stated that Samuel Vimes, a human, has picked up a knack for judging the gender of dwarfs, making it likely that they are able to tell amongst themselves). 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
. This is primarily a practical survival trait; as quoted in Guards! Guards!
, "Rocks are hard, the darkness is dark. Start messing around with descriptions like that and you're in big trouble." The exceptions, such as the great playwright Hwel or the romantic Casanunda, tend to channel this focus into other habits. 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
").
. 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!
.
Dwarfish society is Anarchistic
. Decisions are made and information is spread by different groups of miners exchanging representatives. The closest thing to a leader dwarfs have is a dezka-knik or chief mining engineer, a title 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. Pratchett also states that dwarfs love to argue, especially with their Low King.
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 someone tries to stop them. 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. It's noted that a lot of (that is to say, all of them except "hi-ho") dwarf drinking songs seem to comprise the single word "gold" repeated in singsong. 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.
, "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. Its only defeat was at the hands of The Guarding Dark, a likewise anthropomorphic entity born from the mind of Sam Vimes, though its purpose is that of a cosmic Watchman; he/it does not keep the darkness out, it keeps it in.
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.
Knockermen were made obselete 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".
, 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' s opinion) acting like dwarfs.
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.
This movement appears to be in reference to feminism and/or the LGBT subculture
, 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 (a reference to real 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.
, in that it has a lot of guttural k's and z's. Drudak'ak tend to converse entirely in the language. It is not spoken much in front of humans in general, possibly because humans themselves find it difficult to master. Dwarfs who speak Morporkian invariably translate any meaningful parts of their name when doing so.
Kad'k is famed for having no words for rock
. It has hundreds of words describing different kinds of rock, but not a single word that simply means "rock" (a trait apparently shared with Trolls), much like the Inuit language
supposedly has many words for different kinds of snow (in fact a fallacy, see here
). "Show a dwarf a rock and he sees, for example, an inferior piece of crystal
line sulphite
of barytes." (Witches Abroad
)
Known words and phrases, besides those mentioned above, include:
The (admittedly small) lexicon of Dwarfish words reveals only 15 letters: a, b, d, e, g, h, i, j, k, n, r, s, t, u, and z. The capital "D" in AaDb'thuk may be a separate letter, or it may simply be a differently inflected "d."
The word Hnaflbaflwhiflsnifltafl (a predecessor to the game of Thud) could be a Dwarfish word, but since it is obviously derived from the Scandinavia
n "Hnefatafl", and since it contains a number of letters (f, l, w) not found in any Dwarfish words and lacks any of the diacritic
s one would expect in a Dwarfish word that long, it is probably of human, rather than Dwarfish origin.
The enclitic -ak or -'ak appears to mean "not," and generally to indicate the opposite of something.
s (Albrechtson), although these can be based on relations other than the father (Snoriscousin) and even get recursive
(Glodssonssonsson).
Dwarfish first names are usually either the same as humans of the region (Rhys, Bjorn, Gloria), mono- or duo-syllables reminiscent (to a greater or lesser extent) of Tolkien's dwarf names (Glod, Gimlet, Timkin, Hwel), or emotional descriptors (which, like the surnames, are translated) (Cheery, Nosy, Dozy). (The last is based on the dwarf names in Walt Disney
's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
).
One basic minesign is the Long Dark, which merely announces the presence of a mine. It is a circle with a single horizontal line through it. (This resembles the logo of London Transport
, which was originally the symbol for the London Underground
.)
The minesign for the Following Dark is a circle with two parallel diagonal lines slashed through it, making it resemble a No symbol
. This is not a good sign, and can result in grags in a mine sitting surrounded by candles (as mentioned in Thud). It translates as "we await what follows with dread", or, more loosely, "Repent, ye sinners!".
The minesign for the Summoning Dark is one small circle enclosed by a larger circle with a tail - or an "eyeball with a tail". Dwarves believe that enscribing it is like a curse that brings the Summoning Dark down on the area. Dwarf lore holds that it is very dangerous to leave any of these in the dark.
). Ironhammer killed himself when falsely told of Bloodaxe's death. Bloodaxe was subsequently killed at the Battle of Koom Valley. According to legend he killed 57 troll
s there, and a loaf of Battle Bread that he supposedly wielded has become a cultural icon and is in the Dwarf Bread Museum in Ankh-Morpork
. However, in Thud!
it's revealed that he was trying to prevent the battle when a flash flood trapped him in a sinkhole. The Battle Bread found next to Bloodaxe's body casts doubt on the authenticity of the A-MDBM loaf, unless of course he carried more than one.
Bloodaxe was first mentioned in Feet of Clay
, and his full history was revealed in The Fifth Elephant
and Thud!. His name is possibly based on Brian Bloodaxe
, a computer game character from the 1980s, in turn probably named for Brian Boru
, a 10th century Irish king, and Eric Bloodaxe
, a 10th century Viking king.
for the City Watch and one of the first dwarfs to be openly female, pronouncing her name as Cheri. She now often wears a leather skirt and has slightly raised iron heels on her boots while on duty. Her surname translates in Dwarfish as Sh'rt'azs ('shortarse'). Her family lives in Überwald, except for her late brother Snorey who died in a gas explosion somewhere under Borogravia. She is introduced in Feet of Clay
and appears in all subsequent Watch novels, most notably The Fifth Elephant
. Cheery was promoted to Sergeant shortly prior to Thud!
.
's unstereotypical behavior for a witch. Advertises himself as the world's second greatest lover (His claim of "I try harder" refers to ad campaigns by Avis Rent-A-Car
) but also as an "outrageous liar", making any of his claimed exploits dubious. First mentioned in a footnote to Reaper Man
, he subsequently appeared in Witches Abroad
and Lords and Ladies
. He is referenced in Soul Music and had a brief cameo in Carpe Jugulum
where he reflects upon a fellow highwayman being killed by the Magpyrs. His name is a reference to Giacomo Casanova
, although, as a dwarf, he obviously stands more "unda" than "ova" his conquests. Notable line: "Kneel and deliver!"
. He and a group of other dwarves, including his fiancee, Boddony, introduce the moveable type printing press to Ankh-Morpork and found the city's first newspaper, the Ankh-Morpork Times. Like most dwarfs, he is primarily interested in gold and technology, but he seems to also want to keep the Times going for reasons beyond this. His name is a play on Johann Gutenberg, the German inventor of moveable type, being a rough translation of "Gutenberg" to English.
". His name is a reference to the Welsh 'hwyl', meaning "a stirring feeling of emotional fervour and energy". He is the most talented playwright in the Disc and works for the travelling theatrical company of Olwyn Vitoller. Hwel is a dwarf and as such comes from the Ramtop mountains. Like Casanunda, he is utterly indifferent towards gold and mining and is involved in an extremely undwarfish occupation. Being the most gifted playwright in the Discworld, Hwel creates his works under the influence of an unstoppable inspiration, which drives him to the verge of insanity with the vivid images it forces into his mind. Because he is unusually sensitive to the "inspiration particles" which are a fundamental particle of the Discworld universe, Hwel receives every idea for every play in the multiverse all at once. Hwel's plays are usually modified and tinkered with by the author even long after their creation. An example is the play he writes as instructed by the Duke of Lancre. The play actually twists its own form and makes Hwel completely alter the plot, reversing all of the characters.
. He is a conscientious gardener, but its location on the campus of a major magical faculty means that his handiwork has a tendency to be disrupted by supernatural events. Modo believes in compost in much the same way that humans believe in gods (dwarfs aren't religious, exactly). It is unknown what he puts in his compost but it certainly brings up the roses. His personal theory is that they want to get as far away from the compost as possible. One of his compost heaps also, for one brief moment in Reaper Man
, came alive, and it took a whole bottle of Wow-Wow sauce
to stop it.
His time at UU has clearly mellowed him to a point normally thought unthinkable in dwarfs, as infractions that might make other dwarfs explode into a murderous frenzy evoke nothing more than a laugh and a good-natured reassurance that no wrong has been done, even or especially where his gardening was concerned; when Windle Poons dug up his painstakingly grown lawn in an attempt to escape the coffin his well-meaning colleagues had buried him in, Modo reassured Windle that a little sod, a little seed, and five hundred years would be over before he knew it.
He is a cousin of Glod Glodsson (Soul Music
).
) and thus has a slight lilt to his accent. He is considered a moderniser who is interested in embracing new cultures and ideas. He has held council with the Diamond King of Trolls and is untroubled by (and indeed seems quite interested in) the new trends in feminisation. His tolerance was somewhat tested by Adora Belle Dearheart having removed four thousand priceless golems from territory that, by rights, belonged to him, but little seems to have come of it.
He is unusually liberal for a grag living above ground, not carrying an axe and showing his face. Despite this he is very knowledgeable about dwarfish law being capable of advising the Low King and Vimes about the Summoning Dark and being fluent in ancient Dwarfish and old Troll.
Despite not wielding an axe he is more than capable of defending himself with what appears to be a dwarfish version of martial arts.
She is the owner and proprietor of Shatta (a dwarfish fashion house) as well as the partner in business and love of Pepe.
Dwarfs in Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
's Discworld
Discworld
Discworld is a comic fantasy book series by English author Sir Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which, in turn, stand on the back of a giant turtle, Great A'Tuin. The books frequently parody, or at least take inspiration from, J. R. R....
novels are similar to the Dwarves
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....
of 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 Middle-earth
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of the majority of author J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place entirely in Middle-earth, as does much of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....
, to which they largely started out as a homage, and dwarves in other fantasy novels. They are short, stocky, bearded metal-workers, generally seen wearing chain mail and brandishing axes. However, they have many unique qualities.
Dwarfs originate from the Ramtops and Überwald, but many have moved down to the Sto Plains (Ankh-Morpork
Ankh-Morpork
Ankh-Morpork is a fictional city-state which prominently features in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of fantasy novels. As cities go, it is on the far side of corrupt and polluted, and is subject to outbreaks of comedic violence and brouhaha on a fairly regular basis...
is now the largest dwarfish colony on the Disc outside of Überwald).
Incidentally, Pratchett uses the plural "dwarfs", not Tolkien's "dwarves", and "dwarfish" instead of "dwarven".
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 OggNanny Ogg
Gytha Ogg is a character from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. She is a witch and member of the Lancre coven.- Personality :The character of Nanny Ogg is based on the Mother stereotype of the Triple Goddess myth...
's thick skull is put down to dwarfish ancestry. It may be moot, as 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 6+1/2 ft human.
As Tolkien implied of his dwarves, Discworld
Discworld (world)
The Discworld is the fictional setting for all of Terry Pratchett's Discworld fantasy novels. It consists of a large disc resting on the backs of four huge elephants which are in turn standing on the back of an enormous turtle, named Great A'Tuin as it slowly swims...
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 (this may have been retconned
Retcon
Retroactive continuity is the alteration of previously established facts in a fictional work. Retcons are done for many reasons, including the accommodation of sequels or further derivative works in a series, wherein newer authors or creators want to revise the in-story history to allow a course...
by the time of the novel, 'Thud', where it is stated that Samuel Vimes, a human, has picked up a knack for judging the gender of dwarfs, making it likely that they are able to tell amongst themselves). 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
Metaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
or allusion
Allusion
An allusion is a figure of speech that makes a reference to, or representation of, people, places, events, literary work, myths, or works of art, either directly or by implication. M. H...
. This is primarily a practical survival trait; as quoted in Guards! Guards!
Guards! Guards!
Guards! Guards! is the eighth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, first published in 1989. It is the first novel about the City Watch. The first Discworld computer game borrowed heavily from Guards! Guards! in terms of plot.-Plot:...
, "Rocks are hard, the darkness is dark. Start messing around with descriptions like that and you're in big trouble." The exceptions, such as the great playwright Hwel or the romantic Casanunda, tend to channel this focus into other habits. 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
Garden gnome
A garden gnome or lawn gnome is a figurine of a small humanoid creature, usually wearing a pointy hat, produced for the purpose of ornamentation and protection from evil sorcery, typically of gardens or on lawns....
").
Culture and society
Dwarfs tend to be minersMining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
. They have a natural fascination with minerals (especially iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
and gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
) and feel more comfortable underground. Their mining has led to a longstanding enmity with trolls
Troll (Discworld)
Trolls in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, unlike the monstrous trolls of folklore and J. R. R. Tolkien, have been subverted into a moderately civilised race. Trolls on the Discworld are, essentially, living, mobile rocks...
, 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
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
of Thud commemorates this/these battle(s). The full history of the battle is revealed in Thud!
Thud!
Thud! is Terry Pratchett's 34th Discworld novel, released in the United States of America on September 13, 2005, the United Kingdom on 1 October 2005. Thud! was released in the U.S. three weeks before it was released in Pratchett's native UK, to coincide with a United States signing tour...
.
Dwarfish society is Anarchistic
Anarchist schools of thought
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
. Decisions are made and information is spread by different groups of miners exchanging representatives. The closest thing to a leader dwarfs have is a dezka-knik or chief mining engineer, a title loosely translated into Morporkian as "king". All dwarfs owe allegiance to the Low King, (a parody of high king
High king
A high king is a king who holds a position of seniority over a group of other kings, without the title of Emperor; compare King of Kings.Rulers who have been termed "high king" include:...
) 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. Pratchett also states that dwarfs love to argue, especially with their Low King.
The primary weapon other than bread products (see below) in dwarf culture is the axe
Axe
The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood; to harvest timber; as a weapon; and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol...
, 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
Pickaxe
A pickaxe or pick is a hand tool with a hard head attached perpendicular to the handle.Some people make the distinction that a pickaxe has a head with a pointed end and a flat end, and a pick has both ends pointed, or only one end; but most people use the words to mean the same thing.The head is...
used for prospecting, and the other side is a battle axe
Battle axe
A battle axe is an axe specifically designed for combat. Battle axes were specialized versions of utility axes...
used if someone tries to stop them. Axes are so important culturally that dwarfish Ankh-Morpork City Watch
Ankh-Morpork City Watch
The Ankh-Morpork City Watch is a fictional police force within the Discworld series of books by Terry Pratchett. It is based in the city-state of Ankh-Morpork on the Discworld. The Watch was originally two units, the Day Watch and the Night Watch which were combined after the events of Men at Arms...
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. It's noted that a lot of (that is to say, all of them except "hi-ho") dwarf drinking songs seem to comprise the single word "gold" repeated in singsong. 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
Bling-bling
Bling is a slang term popularized in hip hop culture, referring to flashy, ostentatious or elaborate jewelry and ornamented accessories that are carried, worn or installed, such as cell phones or tooth caps....
).
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 . 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!Thud!
Thud! is Terry Pratchett's 34th Discworld novel, released in the United States of America on September 13, 2005, the United Kingdom on 1 October 2005. Thud! was released in the U.S. three weeks before it was released in Pratchett's native UK, to coincide with a United States signing tour...
, "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
Trickster
In mythology, and in the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a god, goddess, spirit, man, woman, or anthropomorphic animal who plays tricks or otherwise disobeys normal rules and conventional behavior. It is suggested by Hansen that the term "Trickster" was probably first used in this...
, 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. Its only defeat was at the hands of The Guarding Dark, a likewise anthropomorphic entity born from the mind of Sam Vimes, though its purpose is that of a cosmic Watchman; he/it does not keep the darkness out, it keeps it in.
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
Firedamp
Firedamp is a flammable gas found in coal mines. It is the name given to a number of flammable gases, especially methane. It is particularly commonly found in areas where the coal is bituminous...
. 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!
Thud!
Thud! is Terry Pratchett's 34th Discworld novel, released in the United States of America on September 13, 2005, the United Kingdom on 1 October 2005. Thud! was released in the U.S. three weeks before it was released in Pratchett's native UK, to coincide with a United States signing tour...
, though they would be more akin to rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
s or imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
s than priests.
Knockermen were made obselete in the Ramtops when a dwarf in Ankh-Morpork invented the Davy lamp
Davy lamp
The Davy lamp is a safety lamp with a wick and oil vessel burning originally a heavy vegetable oil, devised in 1815 by Sir Humphry Davy. It was created for use in coal mines, allowing deep seams to be mined despite the presence of methane and other flammable gases, called firedamp or minedamp.Sir...
. 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 WatchAnkh-Morpork City Watch
The Ankh-Morpork City Watch is a fictional police force within the Discworld series of books by Terry Pratchett. It is based in the city-state of Ankh-Morpork on the Discworld. The Watch was originally two units, the Day Watch and the Night Watch which were combined after the events of Men at Arms...
, 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.
This movement appears to be in reference to feminism and/or the LGBT subculture
Cuisine
Bread is also a significant part of dwarf culture throughout the Disc. Dwarf bread is like hardtackHardtack
Hardtack is a simple type of cracker or biscuit, made from flour, water, and sometimes salt. Inexpensive and long-lasting, it was and is used for sustenance in the absence of perishable foods, commonly during long sea voyages and military campaigns. The name derives from the British sailor slang...
, only more so; its properties are a parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of Middle-earth
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of the majority of author J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place entirely in Middle-earth, as does much of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....
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 (a reference to real 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
Litter box
A litter box, sometimes called a sandbox, sand box, litter tray, litter pan, dirt box, catbox, or cat box, is an indoor feces and urine disposal box for cats that are permitted free roam of a home but who cannot or do not always go outside...
is apparently a preferred seasoning.
The Low King sits on an (apparently) ancient loaf of dwarf bread called the Scone of Stone (a parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of the Stone of Scone
Stone of Scone
The Stone of Scone , also known as the Stone of Destiny and often referred to in England as The Coronation Stone, is an oblong block of red sandstone, used for centuries in the coronation of the monarchs of Scotland and later the monarchs of England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom...
).
Besides dwarf bread, dwarfish cuisine consists largely of things found underground, such as fungi
Fungus
A fungus is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds , as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria...
, rodent
Rodent
Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....
s and bits of rock. Rat
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
is a staple of the dwarf diet, provided it is completely covered in ketchup
Ketchup
Ketchup is a sweet-and-tangy condiment typically made from tomatoes, vinegar, sugar or high-fructose corn syrup and an assortment of...
or a similar sauce to hide the taste. Ankh-Morpork
Ankh-Morpork
Ankh-Morpork is a fictional city-state which prominently features in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of fantasy novels. As cities go, it is on the far side of corrupt and polluted, and is subject to outbreaks of comedic violence and brouhaha on a fairly regular basis...
'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.
Language
The language of Discworld Dwarfs (Kad'k) bears a superficial resemblance to Tolkien's Dwarven language KhuzdûlKhuzdul
Khuzdul is a constructed language devised by J. R. R. Tolkien. It is one of the many fictional language set in his Secondary world, often called Middle-earth...
, in that it has a lot of guttural k's and z's. Drudak'ak tend to converse entirely in the language. It is not spoken much in front of humans in general, possibly because humans themselves find it difficult to master. Dwarfs who speak Morporkian invariably translate any meaningful parts of their name when doing so.
Kad'k is famed for having no words for rock
Rock (geology)
In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...
. It has hundreds of words describing different kinds of rock, but not a single word that simply means "rock" (a trait apparently shared with Trolls), much like the Inuit language
Inuit language
The Inuit language is traditionally spoken across the North American Arctic and to some extent in the subarctic in Labrador. The related Yupik languages are spoken in western and southern Alaska and Russian Far East, particularly the Diomede Islands, but is severely endangered in Russia today and...
supposedly has many words for different kinds of snow (in fact a fallacy, see here
Eskimo words for snow
The "Eskimo words for snow" claim is a widespread misconception alleging that Eskimos have an unusually large number of words for snow. In fact, the Eskimo–Aleut languages have about the same number of distinct word roots referring to snow as English does...
). "Show a dwarf a rock and he sees, for example, an inferior piece of crystal
Crystal
A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are arranged in an orderly repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions. The scientific study of crystals and crystal formation is known as crystallography...
line sulphite
Sulfite
Sulfites are compounds that contain the sulfite ion SO. The sulfite ion is the conjugate base of bisulfite. Although the acid itself is elusive, its salts are widely used.-Structure:...
of barytes." (Witches Abroad
Witches Abroad
Witches Abroad is the twelfth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, originally published in 1991.-Plot:Following the death of Witch, Desiderata Hollow, Magrat Garlick is sent her magic wand, for Desiderata was not only a witch, but also a Fairy Godmother. Having given the wand to Magrat, she...
)
Known words and phrases, besides those mentioned above, include:
- AaDb'thuk - "Okay" (literally, "All correctly beamed and propped")
- Bura'zak-ka - "Town hall"
- Bad'dhakz - "YeastYeastYeasts are eukaryotic micro-organisms classified in the kingdom Fungi, with 1,500 species currently described estimated to be only 1% of all fungal species. Most reproduce asexually by mitosis, and many do so by an asymmetric division process called budding...
bowl"
- B'tduz - A game in which two dwarfs stand a few feet apart and throw rocks at each others' heads.
- B'zugda-hiara - "lawn ornament"; a deadly insult, unless used by a very close friend (Wyrd SistersWyrd SistersWyrd Sisters is Terry Pratchett's sixth Discworld novel, published in 1988, and re-introduces Granny Weatherwax of Equal Rites.- Plot :...
).
- D'hrarak - "Not dwarfs", seems to refer to dwarfs who have been cast out of dwarfish culture
- Dr'zka - "Not really a dwarf", refers to dwarfs who do not obey all dwarfish traditions, but are not quite d'hrarak.
- Drudak'ak - Dwarfs who don't get out into the fresh air often enough. The traditionalists. (The Fifth ElephantThe Fifth ElephantThe Fifth Elephant is the 24th Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. It introduces the clacks, a long-distance semaphore system. The novel was nominated for the Locus Award in 2000.-Plot summary:...
)
- G'daraka - "Fresh" is a loose translation. Dwarfs who have just married and have had their debts paid off are said to be in a state of G'daraka. This means they are "free, unencumbered, new dwarfs."
- Gr'duzk - "Good day"
- Ha'ak - Exact translation unknown, but it is an offensive term for an openly female dwarf.
- Jar'ahk'haga - Literally "ideas taster". This is the title of the senior advisor to the Low King (The Fifth ElephantThe Fifth ElephantThe Fifth Elephant is the 24th Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. It introduces the clacks, a long-distance semaphore system. The novel was nominated for the Locus Award in 2000.-Plot summary:...
)
- K'ez'rek d'b'duz - "Go around the other side of the mountain", according to Nanny OggNanny OggGytha Ogg is a character from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. She is a witch and member of the Lancre coven.- Personality :The character of Nanny Ogg is based on the Mother stereotype of the Triple Goddess myth...
. A name for Granny WeatherwaxGranny WeatherwaxEsmerelda "Esme" Weatherwax is a fictional character from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. She is a witch and member of the Lancre coven. She is the self-appointed guardian of her small country, and frequently defends it against supernatural powers...
.
- Kruk - "Law". The kruk is mostly about mining rights, but covers all aspects of dwarfish culture.
- Kzad-bhat - "Headbanger"; Carrot's dwarfish name.
- Sh'rt'azs - A family name, translated as "Littlebottom" (and, when pronounced, sounds like "shortarse" in non-rhotic forms of English).
- T'dr'duzk b'hazg t't - "Today is a good day for someone else to die." The famous well-thought-out dwarfish battle-cry. After being declared somebody HAS to die. It is an obvious parody of the KlingonKlingonKlingons are a fictional warrior race in the Star Trek universe.Klingons are recurring villains in the 1960s television show Star Trek: The Original Series, and have appeared in all five spin-off series and eight feature films...
"Today is a good day to die."
- Zadkrdga - "The one who smelts". Also, as explained above, "investigator". One who finds the pure ore of truth in the dross of confusion. (ThudThudThud may refer to:*Thud , a 2002 board game inspired by Terry Pratchett's Discworld series*Thud!, a 2005 Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett*Thud , an album by Kevin Gilbert*F-105 Thunderchief, a U.S...
)
The (admittedly small) lexicon of Dwarfish words reveals only 15 letters: a, b, d, e, g, h, i, j, k, n, r, s, t, u, and z. The capital "D" in AaDb'thuk may be a separate letter, or it may simply be a differently inflected "d."
The word Hnaflbaflwhiflsnifltafl (a predecessor to the game of Thud) could be a Dwarfish word, but since it is obviously derived from the Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n "Hnefatafl", and since it contains a number of letters (f, l, w) not found in any Dwarfish words and lacks any of the diacritic
Diacritic
A diacritic is a glyph added to a letter, or basic glyph. The term derives from the Greek διακριτικός . Diacritic is both an adjective and a noun, whereas diacritical is only an adjective. Some diacritical marks, such as the acute and grave are often called accents...
s one would expect in a Dwarfish word that long, it is probably of human, rather than Dwarfish origin.
The enclitic -ak or -'ak appears to mean "not," and generally to indicate the opposite of something.
Names
Dwarfish last names are, as mentioned above, usually translated into when speaking other languages. Knowing what the name means is part of knowing who the dwarf is. They can be descriptive clan-names (Littlebottom, Rocksmacker) or patronymicPatronymic
A patronym, or patronymic, is a component of a personal name based on the name of one's father, grandfather or an even earlier male ancestor. A component of a name based on the name of one's mother or a female ancestor is a matronymic. Each is a means of conveying lineage.In many areas patronyms...
s (Albrechtson), although these can be based on relations other than the father (Snoriscousin) and even get recursive
Recursion
Recursion is the process of repeating items in a self-similar way. For instance, when the surfaces of two mirrors are exactly parallel with each other the nested images that occur are a form of infinite recursion. The term has a variety of meanings specific to a variety of disciplines ranging from...
(Glodssonssonsson).
Dwarfish first names are usually either the same as humans of the region (Rhys, Bjorn, Gloria), mono- or duo-syllables reminiscent (to a greater or lesser extent) of Tolkien's dwarf names (Glod, Gimlet, Timkin, Hwel), or emotional descriptors (which, like the surnames, are translated) (Cheery, Nosy, Dozy). (The last is based on the dwarf names in Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 American animated film based on Snow White, a German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. It was the first full-length cel-animated feature in motion picture history, as well as the first animated feature film produced in America, the first produced in full...
).
Minesign
While dwarfs are noted for gossip, they can also be taciturn even amongst themselves. "Minesign" is how they convey their feelings to other dwarfs. Like real-world hobo code, minesigns can be scratched or drawn on any available surface, and generally refer to the different kinds of dark referred to above. They are described as an unofficial ballot, voting by graffiti, to show your view on what is going on in your mine. There are many signs, and presumably they can convey a range of ideas; but only a few, ranging from neutral to negative, are explicitly described in Thud.One basic minesign is the Long Dark, which merely announces the presence of a mine. It is a circle with a single horizontal line through it. (This resembles the logo of London Transport
Transport for London
Transport for London is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London in England. Its role is to implement the transport strategy and to manage transport services across London...
, which was originally the symbol for the London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
.)
The minesign for the Following Dark is a circle with two parallel diagonal lines slashed through it, making it resemble a No symbol
No symbol
The no symbol is a circle with a diagonal line through it , surrounding a pictogram used to indicate something is not permitted...
. This is not a good sign, and can result in grags in a mine sitting surrounded by candles (as mentioned in Thud). It translates as "we await what follows with dread", or, more loosely, "Repent, ye sinners!".
The minesign for the Summoning Dark is one small circle enclosed by a larger circle with a tail - or an "eyeball with a tail". Dwarves believe that enscribing it is like a curse that brings the Summoning Dark down on the area. Dwarf lore holds that it is very dangerous to leave any of these in the dark.
B'hrian Bloodaxe
The first Low King of the Dwarfs, and a great cultural hero. His life is told in the opera Bloodaxe and Ironhammer. He was the lover of Ironhammer, who forged the Scone of Stone (a reference to the Stone of SconeStone of Scone
The Stone of Scone , also known as the Stone of Destiny and often referred to in England as The Coronation Stone, is an oblong block of red sandstone, used for centuries in the coronation of the monarchs of Scotland and later the monarchs of England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom...
). Ironhammer killed himself when falsely told of Bloodaxe's death. Bloodaxe was subsequently killed at the Battle of Koom Valley. According to legend he killed 57 troll
Troll (Discworld)
Trolls in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, unlike the monstrous trolls of folklore and J. R. R. Tolkien, have been subverted into a moderately civilised race. Trolls on the Discworld are, essentially, living, mobile rocks...
s there, and a loaf of Battle Bread that he supposedly wielded has become a cultural icon and is in the Dwarf Bread Museum in Ankh-Morpork
Ankh-Morpork
Ankh-Morpork is a fictional city-state which prominently features in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of fantasy novels. As cities go, it is on the far side of corrupt and polluted, and is subject to outbreaks of comedic violence and brouhaha on a fairly regular basis...
. However, in Thud!
Thud!
Thud! is Terry Pratchett's 34th Discworld novel, released in the United States of America on September 13, 2005, the United Kingdom on 1 October 2005. Thud! was released in the U.S. three weeks before it was released in Pratchett's native UK, to coincide with a United States signing tour...
it's revealed that he was trying to prevent the battle when a flash flood trapped him in a sinkhole. The Battle Bread found next to Bloodaxe's body casts doubt on the authenticity of the A-MDBM loaf, unless of course he carried more than one.
Bloodaxe was first mentioned in Feet of Clay
Feet of Clay
Feet of Clay is the nineteenth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, published in 1996. The story follows the members of the City Watch, as they attempt to solve murders apparently committed by a golem, as well as the unusual poisoning of the Patrician, Lord Vetinari.The title is a figure of speech...
, and his full history was revealed in The Fifth Elephant
The Fifth Elephant
The Fifth Elephant is the 24th Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. It introduces the clacks, a long-distance semaphore system. The novel was nominated for the Locus Award in 2000.-Plot summary:...
and Thud!. His name is possibly based on Brian Bloodaxe
Brian Bloodaxe
Brian Bloodaxe is a British platform game written by Charles Bystram and released by The Edge Software in 1985. It was published for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC 464 .-Plot:...
, a computer game character from the 1980s, in turn probably named for Brian Boru
Brian Boru
Brian Bóruma mac Cennétig, , , was an Irish king who ended the domination of the High Kingship of Ireland by the Uí Néill. Building on the achievements of his father, Cennétig mac Lorcain, and especially his elder brother, Mathgamain, Brian first made himself King of Munster, then subjugated...
, a 10th century Irish king, and Eric Bloodaxe
Eric Bloodaxe
Eric Haraldsson , nicknamed ‘Bloodaxe’ , was a 10th-century Scandinavian ruler. He is thought to have had short-lived terms as the second king of Norway and possibly as the last independent ruler of the kingdom of Northumbria Eric Haraldsson (Eric, anglicised form of ; died 954), nicknamed...
, a 10th century Viking king.
Sergeant Cheery Littlebottom
Sergeant Cheery Littlebottom is a forensic alchemistAlchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
for the City Watch and one of the first dwarfs to be openly female, pronouncing her name as Cheri. She now often wears a leather skirt and has slightly raised iron heels on her boots while on duty. Her surname translates in Dwarfish as Sh'rt'azs ('shortarse'). Her family lives in Überwald, except for her late brother Snorey who died in a gas explosion somewhere under Borogravia. She is introduced in Feet of Clay
Feet of Clay
Feet of Clay is the nineteenth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, published in 1996. The story follows the members of the City Watch, as they attempt to solve murders apparently committed by a golem, as well as the unusual poisoning of the Patrician, Lord Vetinari.The title is a figure of speech...
and appears in all subsequent Watch novels, most notably The Fifth Elephant
The Fifth Elephant
The Fifth Elephant is the 24th Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. It introduces the clacks, a long-distance semaphore system. The novel was nominated for the Locus Award in 2000.-Plot summary:...
. Cheery was promoted to Sergeant shortly prior to Thud!
Thud!
Thud! is Terry Pratchett's 34th Discworld novel, released in the United States of America on September 13, 2005, the United Kingdom on 1 October 2005. Thud! was released in the U.S. three weeks before it was released in Pratchett's native UK, to coincide with a United States signing tour...
.
Giamo Casanunda
A dwarf notable for a his colossal powdered wig and uncharacteristic sense of romance and libido, mirroring Nanny OggNanny Ogg
Gytha Ogg is a character from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. She is a witch and member of the Lancre coven.- Personality :The character of Nanny Ogg is based on the Mother stereotype of the Triple Goddess myth...
's unstereotypical behavior for a witch. Advertises himself as the world's second greatest lover (His claim of "I try harder" refers to ad campaigns by Avis Rent-A-Car
Avis Rent A Car System
Avis Rent a Car System, LLC is a car rental company headquartered in Parsippany-Troy Hills Township, New Jersey, United States. Avis, Budget Rent a Car and Budget Truck Rental are all units of Avis Budget Group....
) but also as an "outrageous liar", making any of his claimed exploits dubious. First mentioned in a footnote to Reaper Man
Reaper Man
Reaper Man is a Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. Published in 1991, it is the 11th Discworld novel and the second to focus on Death. The title is a reference to Alex Cox's cult movie Repo Man.-Plot:...
, he subsequently appeared in Witches Abroad
Witches Abroad
Witches Abroad is the twelfth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, originally published in 1991.-Plot:Following the death of Witch, Desiderata Hollow, Magrat Garlick is sent her magic wand, for Desiderata was not only a witch, but also a Fairy Godmother. Having given the wand to Magrat, she...
and Lords and Ladies
Lords and Ladies (novel)
Lords and Ladies is the fourteenth Discworld book by Terry Pratchett. It was originally published in 1992.-Synopsis:At the end of Witches Abroad, Magrat Garlick, Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax left Genua bound for home, in Lancre...
. He is referenced in Soul Music and had a brief cameo in Carpe Jugulum
Carpe Jugulum
Carpe Jugulum ) is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, the twenty-third in the Discworld series. It was first published in 1998....
where he reflects upon a fellow highwayman being killed by the Magpyrs. His name is a reference to Giacomo Casanova
Giacomo Casanova
Giacomo Girolamo Casanova de Seingalt was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, Histoire de ma vie , is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of the customs and norms of European social life during the 18th century...
, although, as a dwarf, he obviously stands more "unda" than "ova" his conquests. Notable line: "Kneel and deliver!"
Gunilla Goodmountain
Goodmountain is a major character in The TruthThe Truth (novel)
The Truth is the twenty-fifth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, published in 2000.The book features the coming of movable type to Ankh-Morpork, and the founding of the Discworld's first newspaper by William de Worde, as he invents investigative journalism with the help of his reporter Sacharissa...
. He and a group of other dwarves, including his fiancee, Boddony, introduce the moveable type printing press to Ankh-Morpork and found the city's first newspaper, the Ankh-Morpork Times. Like most dwarfs, he is primarily interested in gold and technology, but he seems to also want to keep the Times going for reasons beyond this. His name is a play on Johann Gutenberg, the German inventor of moveable type, being a rough translation of "Gutenberg" to English.
Hwel
Hwel is a secondary character from "Wyrd SistersWyrd Sisters
Wyrd Sisters is Terry Pratchett's sixth Discworld novel, published in 1988, and re-introduces Granny Weatherwax of Equal Rites.- Plot :...
". His name is a reference to the Welsh 'hwyl', meaning "a stirring feeling of emotional fervour and energy". He is the most talented playwright in the Disc and works for the travelling theatrical company of Olwyn Vitoller. Hwel is a dwarf and as such comes from the Ramtop mountains. Like Casanunda, he is utterly indifferent towards gold and mining and is involved in an extremely undwarfish occupation. Being the most gifted playwright in the Discworld, Hwel creates his works under the influence of an unstoppable inspiration, which drives him to the verge of insanity with the vivid images it forces into his mind. Because he is unusually sensitive to the "inspiration particles" which are a fundamental particle of the Discworld universe, Hwel receives every idea for every play in the multiverse all at once. Hwel's plays are usually modified and tinkered with by the author even long after their creation. An example is the play he writes as instructed by the Duke of Lancre. The play actually twists its own form and makes Hwel completely alter the plot, reversing all of the characters.
Modo
Modo is the gardener at Unseen UniversityUnseen University
The Unseen University is a school of wizardry in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of fantasy novels. Located in the city of Ankh-Morpork, the UU is staffed by a faculty composed of mostly indolent and inept old wizards. The university's name is a pun on the Invisible College...
. He is a conscientious gardener, but its location on the campus of a major magical faculty means that his handiwork has a tendency to be disrupted by supernatural events. Modo believes in compost in much the same way that humans believe in gods (dwarfs aren't religious, exactly). It is unknown what he puts in his compost but it certainly brings up the roses. His personal theory is that they want to get as far away from the compost as possible. One of his compost heaps also, for one brief moment in Reaper Man
Reaper Man
Reaper Man is a Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. Published in 1991, it is the 11th Discworld novel and the second to focus on Death. The title is a reference to Alex Cox's cult movie Repo Man.-Plot:...
, came alive, and it took a whole bottle of Wow-Wow sauce
Wow-Wow sauce
Wow-Wow Sauce is a sauce apparently created by Dr William Kitchiner in the early 19th century. It contains port, wine vinegar, pickled cucumbers or pickled walnuts, English mustard and mushroom ketchup in a base of beef stock, flour and butter...
to stop it.
His time at UU has clearly mellowed him to a point normally thought unthinkable in dwarfs, as infractions that might make other dwarfs explode into a murderous frenzy evoke nothing more than a laugh and a good-natured reassurance that no wrong has been done, even or especially where his gardening was concerned; when Windle Poons dug up his painstakingly grown lawn in an attempt to escape the coffin his well-meaning colleagues had buried him in, Modo reassured Windle that a little sod, a little seed, and five hundred years would be over before he knew it.
He is a cousin of Glod Glodsson (Soul Music
Soul Music
Soul Music is the sixteenth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, first published in 1994. Like many of Pratchett's novels it introduces an element of modern society into the magical and vaguely late medieval, early modern world of the Discworld, in this case Rock and Roll music and stardom, with...
).
Rhys Rhysson
The current Low King, or possibly Queen, of the dwarfs. He hails from Llamedos (the Discworld's WalesWales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
) and thus has a slight lilt to his accent. He is considered a moderniser who is interested in embracing new cultures and ideas. He has held council with the Diamond King of Trolls and is untroubled by (and indeed seems quite interested in) the new trends in feminisation. His tolerance was somewhat tested by Adora Belle Dearheart having removed four thousand priceless golems from territory that, by rights, belonged to him, but little seems to have come of it.
Bashfull Bashfullson
An Ankh-Morpork grag (dwarfish loremaster) who assisted Vimes during the course of Thud!Thud!
Thud! is Terry Pratchett's 34th Discworld novel, released in the United States of America on September 13, 2005, the United Kingdom on 1 October 2005. Thud! was released in the U.S. three weeks before it was released in Pratchett's native UK, to coincide with a United States signing tour...
He is unusually liberal for a grag living above ground, not carrying an axe and showing his face. Despite this he is very knowledgeable about dwarfish law being capable of advising the Low King and Vimes about the Summoning Dark and being fluent in ancient Dwarfish and old Troll.
Despite not wielding an axe he is more than capable of defending himself with what appears to be a dwarfish version of martial arts.
Madam Sharn
The creator of Jewels, and a dwarf to be reckoned with. Described as a dwarf of some considerable girth in a breastplate so beautiful it can only be ornamental. Sharn wears so many rings it requires a second look to determine whether it is a gauntlet or not. On the basis of Sharn's fruity rich chocolatey voice and her own declaration she is supposedly female. She appears to have left Bonk against her volition but there's a suggestion she may find herself welcome should she choose to return.She is the owner and proprietor of Shatta (a dwarfish fashion house) as well as the partner in business and love of Pepe.