#prolly a lot of typos and stuff in this wooops

[mrkida-art]

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.