Dwarf-kind

A broad term to describe all the peoples of the Dwarves, descended from the seven Fathers of the Dwarves originally created by the Vala Aulë in the time before even the Elves had awoken into the world. Each of the Fathers gave rise to a clan, of which the best known is the Longbeard clan, descendants of Durin the Deathless, who made Khazad-dûm beneath the Misty Mountains.

During the First Age, two other clans dwelt side-by-side in cities in the Blue Mountains, the Firebeards and the Broadbeams, and their cities, Nogrod and Belegost, gave rise to a further branch of Dwarf-kind. Certain Dwarves of these cities were exiled for reasons unknown, and took to living a secretive, hidden life in the wilds of Beleriand. These were the beings known as Nibin-Nogrim, the Petty-dwarves, who remained as sturdy and resilient as the other Dwarves, but dwindled in size over the long years of their exile.