Dwarfs (Discworld) - Biology and Psychology

Biology and Psychology

Dwarfs are shorter than normal humans, nearly always bearded (with the exception of Count Casanunda and Mad in XXXX), and live to about 300. Despite this, the dividing line between dwarfs and humans seems somewhat blurred, and Pratchett has hinted that humans and dwarfs can interbreed; for example, Nanny Ogg's thick skull is put down to dwarfish ancestry. It may be moot, as Dwarfs see their dwarfishness as a matter of culture rather than genetics or height. Hence, Captain Carrot Ironfoundersson is accepted as a dwarf, despite being a 6+1⁄₂-foot-tall (2.0 m) human.

As Tolkien implied of his dwarves, Discworld dwarfs of both sexes have beards. However, while Tolkien stated that female dwarves are rare, and disguise themselves as male when they must travel, female Discworld dwarfs are common, but are traditionally indistinguishable from males at all times. Dwarfs prefer not to spend much time on the subject; the dwarfish language has a gender neutral pronoun, usually rendered as "he" when speaking human languages. Dwarfish courtship is an incredibly tactful affair, primarily concerned with finding out which gender the other dwarf is (this may have been retconned by the time of the novel, 'Thud', where it is stated that Samuel Vimes, a human, has picked up a knack for judging the gender of dwarfs, making it likely that they are able to tell amongst themselves). Despite the awkwardness that comes of this, it is traditionally considered rude to discuss female dwarfs in conversation.

Most dwarfs are intensely literal-minded, even by Discworld standards, and have absolutely no sense of metaphor or allusion. This is primarily a practical survival trait; as quoted in Guards! Guards!, "Rocks are hard, the darkness is dark. Start messing around with descriptions like that and you're in big trouble." The exceptions, such as the great playwright Hwel or the romantic Casanunda, tend to channel this focus into other habits. Despite their mistrust of outright metaphor, the dwarfs do have a deep love of word association, as long as such associations are direct. For instance, their word for "smelter" is also their word for a police investigator, since the two are said to be performing the same task, separating out the dross to uncover the pure truth beneath. The senior advisor to the Low King is called an "ideas taster," and in their language, if someone "sees the light", he has been blinded by the morals of surface society.

Their scientific or species name (in Latatian) is Hortus decorus (i.e. "lawn ornament").