The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Dates
Race
Division
Culture
Family
The royal line of Durin's Folk2
Meaning
Apparently 'dawdler'3

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About this entry:

  • Updated 31 March 2001
  • Updates planned: 5

Dwalin

The younger brother of Balin

Fundin
Balin
Dwalin

Thorin's Company

A Dwarf descended from the royal line of Durin's Folk, the son of Fundin and brother to Balin, whom he accompanied on the Quest of Erebor.


Notes

1

It is unusual for a Dwarf to live longer than about 250 years, so at 340, Dwalin seems to have lived almost a century longer than almost any other his kind. This hints at an error, but Christopher Tolkien notes (in The History of Middle-earth volume XII) that Dwalin's date of death, given as as '3112' in years of the Third Age, remained consistent over several drafts. However, there is a very indefinite suggestion in an early document that his age at death should have been 251, in which case he would have died in the second year of the Fourth Age.

2

To be precise, Dwalin was the great-grandson of Borin, one of the refounders of the Dwarf-kingdom of Erebor, and Borin was the younger son of King Náin II.

3

At least, in the Norse poem Völuspá, the source of many of Tolkien's Dwarf-names, this seems to be the meaning.

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 31 March 2001
  • Updates planned: 5

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