Dwarves are a curious folk in mythology, and have even more curious roles that they play. They are said to have made some of the most significant magical items (such as Odin’s spear and Thor’s hammer), and so played significant roles in the outcomes of battles and intrigues among the Germanic gods and other beings. The influence of dwarvish tales on our modern society has largely been forgotten, even though some of their very names still linger on.
In the Norse creation myth, for example, after the earth, sea, hills, plants, heavens, Midgard (middle earth), and the clouds were created, the gods stationed four strong dwarfs (or dwarves, as popularized by Tolkien) named Nordri, Sudri, Austri, and Westri at the four corners of the heavenly vault to support it on their shoulders. From these we have received the four points on the compass, North, South, East and West, as we now call them.[1]
The dwarves of the general variety in Norse mythology were originally maggot-like beings, who were summoned into the presence of the gods and endowed with intelligence. These new creatures were then divided into two classes – those who were dark, treacherous, and cunning (dwarves, trolls, gnomes and kobolds) and those that were fair, good and useful (fairies and elves). The former were consigned to live underground in Svart-alfa-heim (the home of the black dwarves), and would be turned to stone if exposed to sunlight. The latter dwelt in the realm of Alf-heim, between heaven and earth.
Thus, at least in the earliest tales, the dwarves were considered to be in the same class as the other creatures of the night, and this may help explain another piece of old trivia. Allow me to go off on a little tangent here about the curiosities of the medical practices of some thousand years ago. There seems to have been, in the Anglo-Saxon tradition, the use of “metrical charms” to heal maladies and diseases, or to deliver from bad situations. These seem to have been a combination of prayers, sayings, verses, invocations and herbal remedies. Mingled within some of these remedies seem to be old cultural memories – old idioms and words that harken back to a pre-Christian era when belief in the old gods and the creatures of legend was the stuff of everyday life.
That brings us back to the dwarves being creatures of the dark. One of these charms, called “Against a Dwarf,” seems to be a remedy for sleeping disorders, and may associate dwarves with a sort of night demon, perhaps similar to the “mare” in “nightmare”[2]. The reason some think this to be so is because this particular charm mentions both a horse and the “Seven Sleepers of Ephesus,” which is a story that is found in early Christian tradition. There are Orthodox Christian icons that depict these “holy youths” (commemorated on Oct. 22) and their tale can be readily found and read on Orthodox websites (notably without any mention of dwarves, by the way). Anyway, this particular remedy calls for the names of the Seven Sleepers to be inscribed on seven “wafers such as one might offer” (I wonder if this harkens back to a tradition of offering wafers/loaves for Communion purposes, or perhaps to the seven loaves mentioned in Matthew 15:36?), and these were hung around the neck of the afflicted person by a virgin for three days. The Christian themes in this remedy are obvious and apparent, but there is also a rhyme[3] that is chanted three times that seems obscure, and may harken back to those earlier pre-Christian days when things like nightmares were thought to be caused by supernatural causes – like dwarves.
It would be a curious thing to be able to trace these riddles and rhymes back through the centuries to see where they all began, and where the dwarf came into the picture. The etymology of the word “dwarf” seems to be shrouded in mystery, and there are various theories about its origins.
There are, of course, other traditions about dwarves. Disney popularized the tale of the Seven Dwarfs back in 1937, giving them cute names that children would enjoy, but the tale did not start with Disney, and was recorded by the Brothers Grimm in 1812, which itself was an adaptation of an earlier play called “Little Snowdrop” (1731).
Tolkien greatly popularized dwarves in his wonderful tales of The Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings series, and The Silmarillion, and while these dwarves lived largely underground, they did not shun the sun as did goblins and orcs, nor did they turn to stone as did the trolls in Tolkien’s tales.
In the legends of Europe, there were mountain dwarves (the most magical), mine-dwelling dwarves (the most spiteful), and even dwarves that assisted men with agricultural pursuits (such as the Swiss dwarves).[4] There was also a curious newspaper article in the Morpeth Gazette in 1889 about a race of rather ugly dwarfs known as the Simonside Dwarfs who occupied the Simonside Hills of Northumberland in northern England. These mischievous dwarves delighted in leading people astray, particularly at night, sometimes carrying torches to lead the unwary into bogs.
So, the dwarven folk of legend are varied and complicated, some being good and some bad, some magical and some menial, and they appear in most Germanic/Nordic/Anglo-Saxon mythologies to one extent or another.
One last note. In The McGunnegal Chronicles, I’ve tried to adapt various world legends about dwarves, hinting at a number of old tales. Don’t be surprised if the Simonside Dwarfs show up in the fourth book, getting stirred up after many years of hiding. It is 1846, after all, and in just 43 years the newspaper will be reporting on them.
In this fourth volume, Colleen and Frederick also go to the land of the Dwarves in pursuit of Colleen’s grandfather, and find that it has fallen into a fractured state of disbelief, where the old ways have largely been forgotten, and the old dwarven magics neglected in favor of inventions. There, in the deepest realm – at the very heart of their world – the great gift that was given to the Dwarven people has been taken by … well, I won’t give it away. But I promise lots of adventure, new monsters, forays into the worlds of fairy tales, and new discoveries for Colleen, Frederick and all of The McGunnegals. The tentative title for this books is World of Unreason.
References:
[1] Guerber, H. A., Myths of the Norsemen From the Eddas and Sagas.
[2] Lewis, Matthew C. G. (thesis) (2005), Dreaming of Dwarves: Anglo-Saxon Dream Theory, Nightmares, and the Wið Dweorh Charm, University of Georgia
[3] https://getd.libs.uga.edu/pdfs/lewis_matthew_c_200905_ma.pdf, p. 39.
The McGunnegal Chronicles 
