Therein lie, | On yonder mountain high, | Treasures hungered for, | By both king and beast of sky.

A (short) examination of the history of dwarfs in myth and fiction, the evolution of their depictions, and their inclusions in various fantasy works.

CHAPTERS

Introduction: 00:00
Pygmies and Ancient Greece: 01:20
Dwarfs in Old Norse Myth: 04:00
Dwarfs in Germanic Folklore Post-Christianization: 18:50
Dwarfs and Tolkien (and Antisemitism): 24:30
Dwarfs in Tabletop Roleplaying: 31:07
Dwarfs in Video Gaming: 41:01
Outro: 43:14

WORKS CITED

Aristotle, History of Animals, Book VIII, Part 12, translated by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson
Simek, Rudolf. Dictionary of Northern Mythology, translated by Angela Hal. 2007, pp. 67-69.
Snorri, Sturluson, and Jesse L. Byock. The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology. London: Penguin, 2005. Print.
Larrington, Carolyne. The Poetic Edda. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Hall, Alaric, "Þur sarriþu þursa trutin": Monster-Fighting and Medicine in Early Medieval Scandinavia, 2009.
Gudmund Schütte, The Nibelungen Legend and Its Historical Basis, 1921
Bronner, Simon J. The Americanization of the Brothers Grimm; Following Tradition. 1998
Brackmann, Rebecca. Dwarves are not heroes: Antisemitism and the Dwarves in J.R.R Tolkien’s Writing. Mythlore, 2010.
Pötzsch, Holger; Hammond, Philip, eds. (2019). War Games: Memory, Militarism and the Subject of Play. New York, New York: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Paizo Publishing, Pathfinder 1st Edition Player's Handbook, 2007
Wizards RPG Team, D&D 5e Player's Handbook, 2014
Etymonline.com. (2024), Online Etymology Dictionary. [Accessed 02/05/2024]
Wikisource.org. (2024) Snow_White_and_the_Seven_Dwarfs [Accessed 02/08/2024]
Dice-scroller.com. (2024), Most Popular Dnd Classes and Races [Accessed 02/10/2024]

Video Clips and Gameplay Footage


Peter Jackson, Warner Bros., New Line Cinema, ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’
Peter Jackson, Warner Bros., New Line Cinema, ‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, ‘The Witcher - S1E6'
’Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung, 'Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (1924)'
The Walt Disney Company, ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’

Creative Assembly, ‘Total War: WARHAMMER III Immortal Empires Trailer’
Creative Assembly, ‘Total War: WARHAMMER III Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs Trailer’

Michael Hirst, ‘Vikings’

Peter Jackson, New Line Cinema, ‘The Lord of the Rings Trilogy’

Ralph Bakshi, ‘The Lord of the Rings (1978 Animated Film)’
Trey Parker, ‘South Park - T.M.I’
Dominic Sena, ‘Season of the Witch’
MiloshAi, ‘Lebowski meets hobbits’

BBC, ‘Select Video Interviews of JRR Tolkien (Compiled by Talking About Tolkien)’

BBC, ‘Interview with Dennis Geroult, 1971’
AFI Dallas Film Festival, ‘David Lynch at AFI Dallas Film Festival’

Gameslice, ‘Fallout 4 Interview with Todd Howard [E3 2015]'

Fatshark, ‘“Bardin” - The Song Book’

Omarck01, ‘Final Fantasy VII Summon: 06 Odin
’

FudgeMuppet, ‘The Last of a Dead Race’
GameZine, ‘The Dwarves Gameplay’
Steam Store Page, ‘Dwarves: Glory, Death and Loot'
Steam Store Page, ‘Dwarf Journey’
Steam Store Page, ‘Below the Stone’

Game Mojo, ‘Bronzebeard’s Tavern - Gameplay’
Parable Gaming, ‘Dwarf Starting Zone | WoW Zone Lore’
Steam Store Page, ‘We Are The Dwarves’

Capcom USA, ‘Chronicles of Mystara - The Dwarf’

RetroDre, ‘Golden Axe (Using the Dwarf)- 1/2’

Zedasprata, ‘Neverwinter - Dwarf Cleric Level 60 (Gameplay)’

Dennis Ljeti, Baldurs Gate Gameplay

Dennis Ljeti, Baldur’s Gate III Gameplay

Dennis Ljeti, Neverwinter Nights Gameplay
Dennis Ljeti, Deep Rock Galactic Gameplay
Dennis Ljeti, Dwarf Fortress Gameplay

Dennis Ljeti, Total War: WARHAMMER III Gameplay

Dennis Ljeti, Vermintide II Gameplay

Music


The Walt Disney Company, ‘Dig, Dig, Dig/ Heigh-Ho
’

Farya Faraji, Ambient Ancient Greek Music
Wardruna, ‘Völuspá’

Wardruna, ‘Algir-Tognatale’
Alexander Nakarada, ‘Adventure’
Alexander Nakarada, 'Mjolnir'
Alexander Nakarada, ‘Sad Piano Background Song’

Dabu & Simon Swerwer, ‘Drink & Industry’

Blizzard, The Burning Crusade OST, ‘Tavern (Dwarf)’


Thumbnail Art

The Dwarf Forge by GrimoireFantastico, DeviantArt
Dwarven Hall, Steam Store, Iratus: Lord of the Dead Community Items