#mr.kida headcanons

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What are your headcanons regarding dwarves and their attitude towards treasure and gold?

Hello Anon! I do in fact have a lot of thoughts about this subject. I always go by the legendarium as something that is fallible (since Tolkien’s work is written from the POV of unreliable narrators), especially when it comes to the secretive dwarves who do not share their culture and secrets openly. This leaves a lot of room to recontextualize or even straight up change things (hence the “not canon compliant” disclaimer on my blog lol) and this is one of those cases. 

Anyways, here are some of my headcanons about dwarves and their treasure.

Dwarves are stereotyped as being greedy by other races, this is rooted in many stories circulating about dwarves going to extreme lengths to protect their treasure. This is especially true about the Durin’s Folk dwarves, who are said to have killed men for simply laying claim to what these dwarves felt was rightfully theirs. One of the more well known examples being Fram, the Lord of the Éothéod, who claimed the hoard of the dragon Scatha after slaying it.  This hoard contained treasure which Durin’s Folk claimed as theirs. Fram refused to give it to them, and it is said by many that he was murdered by the dwarves of Durin’s Folk as retribution. Among the race of men  it’s said that this story illustrates the greediness of dwarves.  Fram is said to have had rightfully earned this treasure as it was he who killed this dragon, and the dwarves acted in dishonor and tried to steal it from him.  

Much of this story does ring true for the dwarves, but their attitudes towards treasure is misinterpreted by the outsiders who tell these tales. Dwarves see treasure in two ways, there is treasure meant for trade and monetary gain, which they will guard as anyone would with their money. And then there is the most important type of treasure, artifacts made by their ancestors and loved ones.  The value of their artifacts is not determined by what materials have been used, but rather by WHO made them and who used them, as well as their age. Some of the most ancient and precious artifacts are made of crude stone and wood, not gold and silver. Their artifacts represent their history, heritage, and the story and souls of their ancestors.   To specific families their most important treasures or heirlooms may also be trinkets or craft made by loved ones who have since passed, it can also be tools or weapons that these dwarves used while still alive.  Dwarves  believe that these artifacts  can be used to communicate with their dead, both their ancient ancestors and those who recently passed, which naturally means that their protected treasure is of massive cultural importance. It’s also said that artifacts falling into the wrong hands may disturb the peace of the dead, which may contribute to them becoming restless spirits which is something no dwarf wants for their loved ones. 

The reason as to why Durin’s Folk may very well have killed Fram for what he did is because they are particularly protective of their artifacts. The treasure he took originally belonged to them which then had been stolen  by the dragon Scatha. Many of these artifacts were in fact of cultural or sentimental importance, which means it was something they sought to get back. It’s also good to note that Fram didn’t just claim artifacts from any dwarf clan, these were dwarves who had been exiled from their lands in Khazad-dûm. Big part of their cultural heritage had been lost when it fell which meant that they were even more desperate to protect what little they had left.   And they do not look kindly upon outsiders that steal from them, especially their most treasured objects. 

TLDR: Dwarvish treasure is sometimes artifacts that are extremely important in dwarvish culture. And clans such as Durin’s Folk who have lost so much are desperate to protect the little they have left of their cultural heritage.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed it. I have more headcanons about this particular subject but that would be too long of a post haha. 

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Where the bowels of the earth meets the sky, they dance.

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Been showing some of this on discord today, some of you may be interested so here's some of my own tolkien dwarf world building/hc notes (there is a lot so these are snippets). Beware, it's personal notes of mine so there may be grammatical errors as well as typos haha.

cw for pregnancy, and death (and child death) mentions, as well as other darker themes such as child soldiers

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Based on this A Stiffbeard dwarf and their companion.

Certain parts of the Stiffbeard clan breed giant cats. The mother cats sometimes take it upon themselves to help out with the dwarflings.

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A sketch of King Náin II of Durin's Folk, and her baby Dáin I

I hc Náin to be a dwarrowdam King hehe

ALSO!! Not Dáin Ironfoot, this is his great grandpa

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Doodled some dwarvish dancers tonight

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Some more explanations and headcanons!

Long post below

Eyes:

Their eyes are animal-like, where the pupils function much like they would on a cat. Their iris is huge, in some cases, the white of their eyes hardly show at all. The eyes are also quite big in comparison to their faces. Making them look quite inhuman.

More under the cut:

Their noses are quite pronounced (this is from my Galadriel piece: LINK ) and also somewhat dwarvish in many ways. It also makes their apperance even more catlike.

Their skin is often (but not always) quite pale with blue/purple undertones, their lips are blue as if they had been drained of blood, humans often find them looking akin to walking coprses because of this.

Proportions:

They are tall and lanky, but their hands and feet are quite big and long compared to the slenderness of their limbs (think Javier Botet). This adds extra uncanniness to their apperance.

Patterns of movement:

Something that adds an extra layer of freakiness to the elves is that they just... don't move that much when they don't have to. When you live as long as they do, time becomes fleeting. An elf watching the scenery may sit as unmoving as a statue for several hours without even batting an eye about it. They also walk and move so gracefully that they look almost like they are floating, and they will walk very slowly unless in a hurry (which isn't very often). When the petty dwarves first saw the elves, they believed them to be some sort spirit of the undead because of this (and later, demonic beings when the elves began killing them off). But they also just.. don't move right in the eyes of humans. The way they walk, turn their heads, anything, it's much like an animal. Elves can also be incredibly fast, meaning that sometimes they can go from sitting as still as a statue to snapping their heads in another direction in a few seconds. Which can be incredibly startling and frightening to other races.

Thanks to factors like these, other races often find them to be quite Beautiful and etheral, but also quite eerie and sometimes even frightening.

My take on elves

I imagine elves as being beautiful but in a very uncanny way. Humanlike but still clearly inhuman. And just like dwarves, very androgynous, but instead on the other side of the spectrum. In the picture, we see an elvish man and a dwarvish woman for example.

Also censored nudity (body reference) under the cut.

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Another dwarrow moon priest. I imagine that in dwarven society, albinism has religious significance. These dwarves are believed to have souls connected to the moon itself, which some say give them mystical powers.They are born  visually impaired, but are said to be able to see into realms beyond instead. 

Their skin is extra sensitive to sunlight, so they rarely leave the mountains during daytime without protective gear. This has created the belief that they are bound to the night sky itself.   They are highly revered and many of them become religious figureheads because of this. They are also regarded as highly attractive marriage candidates for royal marriages, this has led to some royal families having a genetic disposition to albinism. Blacklock dwarves of royal blood are especially prone to being born with the condition, which is seen as an indication of their strong connection to the celestial bodies 

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Ok so sometimes I make visual guides for my own dwarven related HCs. Basically I’m trying to think up different ways that dwarves might differ from humans that clearly show that they are in fact a different species. This is one of my ideas relating to dwarven eyes and how they might make dwarves look uncanny to humans. Thought I might post it even though that means a double post for today. 

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Another Dwarrowtober-piece!

Day 13: Prayer. Day 14: Tradition, and Day 15: Sword The hair cutting ceremony is part of the sacred mourning rituals which are practiced when a family member or loved one passes on to the next life. Dwarves cut their hair and beards to indicate the loss they have suffered, to lose someone is seen as losing a part of yourself and this is what the hair cutting symbolizes.

During this period of mourning, they keep their beards short but also avoid wearing elaborate hairstyles as it is seen improper. The length of the mourning period is highly personal, some keep it up for a few years, some do not let go of their grief for as long as they live.

Prompt list below:

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Dwarves and death - My headcanons

TW mentions of death and funeral practices Time to share some headcanons! This one is sort of grim as it focuses a lot on death, these are heavily based in the legendarium but as always, I'm not always canon so keep that it mind. Here we go!

In my head, dwarven culture and religion is inherently linked with death and reincarnation. The concept of death is always present but also celebrated. Some of their most important religious death related figures are the Seven Fathers.

Seven Fathers of the dwarves are destined to live and die seven times each. Due to this fact that they are viewed as figures not fully alive nor dead. That every time they reincarnate, they are believed to have one foot in the realm of the living and one foot in the realm of the dead. Some dwarves (such as certain moon priests) are believed to be able to peer into these realms while still alive, but only the incarnations of the seven fathers are believed to be able to enter the realm of the dead while in mortal form. In art, this is reflected in the way they are portrayed. They are always depicted with skull faces which symbolizes their deep connection to death itself. To dwarves death is very important, after death they are supposed wait in the afterlife until they are called by Mahal to rebuild the world. So it's important to live and die well.

In my hc they believe that in order to be reborn in their current form once Mahal calls for them, their bodies must be preserved in stone (Stiffbeards however preserve their dead in halls carved directly into the permafrost of the north east). If any parts are damaged or missing, they are usually replaced with a sort of beautifully decorated prosthethics.

However, sometimes a proper burial isn't possible. One examples (out of many) is the battle of Azanulbizar. So many dwarves died during the battle that they could not bury them according to their customs. So instead they were burned on great pyres, later known as the "burned dwarves". I hc that if a dwarf is not buried in "the proper" way, that essentially means that they will be reincarnated. In order to successfully go to the afterlife and live in peace they need a body ready in the mortal world for when they return. If that body is not preserved in stone or ice, they will be reborn in order to obtain a new body. If that new body isn't buried properly either, the cycle will continue. This is why it's incredibly important that tombs are well maintained and cared for, if they fall into disrepair it means that the dwarves who are buried there risk losing their mortal vessels.

Losing their vessels isn't necessarily a bad thing though, they are believed to go to the halls of waiting for seven days and nights after death to meet their kin, until their souls must once again return to Middle Earth. In their new forms, while living, they will not remember their old families and loved ones, however, in death they will remember all their past lives. The bittersweet nature of it all however is that they will not return to their past forms, once lost, they are lost forever.

Dwarves must also pass certain age related milestones to be able to reincarnate in that form. If a dwarf dies too young, they are destined to live again. They must experience the proper joys and sorrows of life to enrich their soul in order to stay in the Halls of Mandos after death. However, like mentioned earlier, this will be done in a completely new form. To dwarves, this is both a comforting and grim fact.

Some dwarves chose the road of reincarnation themselves, this is uncommon but there are several instances of it happening. Their motivations for doing so are however not known.

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Veery late submission for Dwarrowtober, day 5 with the prompt “crown”.  Had lots of stuff going on in my life that prevented me from being active on social media or drawing, that happens sometimes.  

I’m currently sick so this might come across like a bit of a ramble. But this is my version of Grór. Lord of the Iron Hills, and the sibling of Thrór. In my personal headcanon (which you can call “Mr.Kida-verse” haha) Grór is in fact a dam. I really like the parallels between Thorin, Frerin and Dís compared to the Rór-siblings. People often bring up the parallels between Thrór and Thorin when it comes to the dragon sickness, but they forget the parallels of their origin stories as well.   They were all cast from their homes due dragons, the middle sibling’s (Frerin and Frór) both die at a young age. Thorin built a new kingdom for his people just like both Thrór and Grór did etc etc

I think all this blank space leaves room for some fun storytelling. The fact that the siblings decided to go separate ways to me indicates that they did not separate in the most amicable way. I imagine them both being increeedibly stubborn with Grór being the worst out of the two. I also imagine that they were both quite hardened by their experiences, having experienced the sacking of their halls by the dragons, while also losing both their king and their father and brother in these attacks.

 Also wanted to add a bonus picture to this post, I also did a repaint of this promo picture of Thrór a few months ago just to see how he might have looked while he was young and it kind of peaked my interest to explore his youth some more (You might also recognize it since it’s currently my profile picture 8)