The New Notion Club Archives
The New Notion Club Archives

Seven Houses of the Dwarves by LOTRO[]

The Game The Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) has developed its own version of the Seven Houses of the Dwarves. I would like to present my first (quite small) steps to harmonize that version with the material already compiled by The New Notion Club Archives (NNCA). I would like to point out that there might wait some work, especially for historians of the Ironfists and above all of the Blacklocks.

For further explanation concerning the Dwarven Rings of Power, please consider this Link.

JRRT/NNCA: Longbeards.
LOTRO: Longbeards.
Place of Awakening: Gundabad (Hithaeglir).
Dwarven Ring of Power: Angya (also called Handórm).[1]

JRRT/NNCA: Firebeards.
LOTRO: Narfanghoth.[2]
Place of Awakening: Mallost (Ered Luin).
Dwarven Ring of Power: Úrya or Vanya.[3]

JRRT/NNCA: Broadbeams.
LOTRO: Landorrim.[4]
Place of Awakening: Mallost (Ered Luin).
Dwarven Ring of Power: Úrya or Vanya.[5]

JRRT/NNCA: Ironfists.
LOTRO: Zhélruka.
Place of Awakening: unknown place (Spine of Arda).
Dwarven Ring of Power: Tínya.[6]

Not long after they had awakened, the first king of the Ironfists led his people eastward towards the Mountains of the Orocarni (why?). Only then they came into contact with the Blacklocks. But this historical detail had already got lost as western "loremasters of later days" guessed that the Ironfists had awakened close to the Blacklocks.[7]

Soon the relationship between the two dwarven tribes became quite hostile and a war broke out between them (why?). The remaining Ironfists retreated westward. They settled again in the mountains and valleys of the Spine of Arda. There they lived as a minority among the Stiffbeards. It was during these years that the Ironfists adopted many cultural features of the Stiffbeards. This is the reason why the Zhélruka of the late Third Age showed characteristics of their Stiffbeard relatives.

Later on the Ironfists got an invitation of the King of the Longbeards to populate Mount Gundabad (really plausible?). They were summoned again by their king to find a new home for the tribe. This time, the Ironfists turned west towards Hithaeglir. But they never arrived at Gundabad. Instead they established a new dwarven fortress of their own somewhere inside Ered Mithrin, named Thafar-gathol.[8][9]

JRRT/NNCA: Stiffbeards.
LOTRO: Temámir.
Place of Awakening: unknown place (Spine of Arda).
Dwarven Ring of Power: Taurya or Tulcya.[10]

Compared to other dwarves, the Stiffbeards (Temámir) maintained a rather open attitude towards foreign people. And they had plenty of opportunities to trade, talk and learn from others, for their main settlements were situated around the northern central parts of Endor, where many trade routes meet. Thus the Stiffbeards became the wisest among the dwarves.[11]

JRRT/NNCA: Blacklocks.
LOTRO: Kámbrada.
Place of Awakening: unknown place (Orocarni).
Dwarven Ring of Power: Sindya (also called Manthríf).[12]

Although victorious in the conflict with the Ironfists, the Blacklocks never wholly recovered from those battles (why?). As a comparatively small people, they endured through the ages. Their numbers dwindled even more when they fought along the Longbeards in the War of the Dwarves and Orcs. But when they returned to the Orocarni, they had lost most of their economic ability to sustain themselves. At that time, the Blacklocks were ruled by a dwarf named Drása. They began to raid their neighbours, particularly the Stonefoots.[13]

At last they were defeated by the minions of Sauron. Their remaining homestead was destroyed. The Blacklocks were enslaved and deported to Mordor. There they renamed themselves as the Khirvísa, the Stout-axes.[14] Thus the Kámbrada had become the Mornaugrim of the late Third Age.

JRRT/NNCA: Stonefoots.
LOTRO: Abnúzhu.
Place of Awakening: unknown place (Orocarni).
Dwarven Ring of Power: Taurya or Tulcya.[15]

During the late Third Age, the Stonefoots (Abnúzhu) still dwelt in the Orocarni,[16] probably where they once had awakened.

Dreisam (talk) 18:45, 5 February 2022 (UTC)

Thank you very mUch for the good overview.I guess now we should do the exact same thing for LOTRRPG/CODA and MERP/MECCG? --Haerangil (talk) 19:17, 5 February 2022 (UTC)

IMHO, there are two options (three, if you count ignoring one or the other version, which I do not):

  1. Merge the two versions. If *you* can (relatively) seamlessly merge the two versions, *plausibly*, then do so (preferably presenting your ideas here on this talk page, for review, like you have). I foresee that a number of serious conflicts must be resolved, again plausibly.
  2. Present *both* versions in parallel, preferably in the same article, with or without noting discrepancies.

On a cursory review, I am already confused by your presentation above. What exactly are you proposing? --Hlingler (talk) "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." EB Hall, "Friends of Voltaire", 1906 19:23, 5 February 2022 (UTC)

"What exactly are you proposing?" − (Hlingler): At least it seems possibly to collate LOTRO's names for the seven dwarven houses (Abnúzhu etc.) with already established denomination (Stonefoots etc.). Beyond that? I honestly don't know, since I neither have access to MECCG-sources nor any insight into LOTRRPG-material. Thus I cannot estimate how far and deep those "serious conflicts" really reach.
"I guess now we should do the exact same thing for LOTRRPG/CODA and MERP/MECCG?" − (Haerangil): That might be a very constructive idea. I would also suggest to include a chapter in the article which depicts and discusses the various difference between MERP and MECCG and LOTRRPG and LOTRO, together with the agreements made bei NNCA.
And we need tables! Otherwise it might be quite hard to understand that e.g. the ring Taurya may belong to Malln's people, which are also Vigdís' tribe but no longer Bárin's house, since Bárin aka Úri has replaced Thrár as the father of the dwarves of Nogrod whose king may later get the ring Vanya. Although Bavor's Jewel-Dwarves are Red Dwarves, they will obviously never be anything like the Anvil-Dwarves of the third (?) house  :-) Dreisam (talk) 20:38, 5 February 2022 (UTC)

Missing names for the seven tribes[]

If you compare the various pages for the seven tribes of the dwarves, you may recognize that some houses got more denominations than others.

Longbeards

  • first Khuzdul-name: ???
  • second Khuzdul-name: ???
  • Sindarin-name: ???
  • queen-oriented name: ???
  • describing name: Mountain-Dwarves
  • colour name: ???

Firebeards

  • first Khuzdul-name: Sigin-Baruzim
  • second Khuzdul-name: ???
  • Sindarin-name: Narfanghoth
  • queen-oriented name: ???
  • describing name: Anvil-Dwarves
  • colour name: ???

Broadbeams

  • first Khuzdul-name: Findu-Nahâb
  • second Khuzdul-name: ???
  • Sindarin-name: Landorrim
  • queen-oriented name: ???
  • describing name: ???
  • colour name: ???

Ironfists

  • first Khuzdul-name: Ghamîn-dôr
  • second Khuzdul-name: ???
  • Sindarin-name: ???
  • queen-oriented name: ???
  • describing name: Iron-Dwarves
  • colour name: ???

Stiffbeards

  • first Khuzdul-name: Mebel-Tarâg
  • second Khuzdul-name: ???
  • Sindarin-name: ???
  • queen-oriented name: ???
  • describing name: Frost-Dwarves (Glacier-Dwarves, Ice-Dwarves, Snow-Dwarves)
  • colour name: ???

Blacklocks

  • first Khuzdul-name: Zharmin-Narag
  • second Khuzdul-name: Mablâd
  • Sindarin-name: ???
  • queen-mentioning name: Vár's House/People/Folk/Tribe
  • describing name: ???
  • colour name: ???

Stonefoots

  • first Khuzdul-name: Azali-Dûraz
  • second Khuzdul-name: ???
  • Sindarin-name: ???
  • queen-mentioning name: Vigdís' House/People/Folk/Tribe
  • describing name: Jewel-Dwarves
  • colour name: Red Dwarves

I wonder if I have overlooked any denomination. Furthermore, perhaps some of the missing names ("???") should be invented anew? Would it not be nice to have at least one Khuzdul-name, one Sindarin-name and one describing name for each of the seven houses? Dreisam (talk) 23:28, 5 February 2022 (UTC)