Know Your LotRO Lore: Dwarven Lifestyle

You just can't help but crack a smile when you think about the Dwarven lifestyle. As the great Thorin Oakenshield once said, "If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." These are truly words to live by, both then and now.

Dwarves are described by Tolkien as shorter and stockier than Men and Elves. They have a higher tolerance for heat and cold and can live as long as 250 years on average. Only a third of Dwarves are female, which is one reason they don't breed quite as bountifully as other races. In fact, there's a curious attribute to female Dwarves. According to Tolkien, female Dwarves not only dress, look and sound just like their male counterparts, but they also sport beards.

Dwarves are skilled metalworkers, smiths and stoneworkers and relied mostly on those crafts throughout most of history. The importance of trade is made clear when we realize that they were not adept at growing their own food, especially in the caves of Moria. Instead, they focused their energies on crafting the very best armor and weapons in exchange for food from Men and Elves. They were the first to forge chain mail and they built many of the great ancient kingdoms for the Elf king Thingol.