How Long Do Dwarves Live in LotR? (& 5 Oldest)
While they don’t have the same lifespan as the Elves, Dwarves are known to be able to live for a very long time in The Lord of the Rings, as we saw in The Hobbit when the Dwarves of Erebor had to spend decades away from the Lonely Mountain but didn’t even age a lot during the time they attempted to take their home back. In that regard, we know that Dwarves tend to live for a very long time, albeit they are not immortal beings. But how long do Dwarves live in The Lord of the Rings?
Dwarves, although not immortal, have very long lifespans that can reach an average of 250 years, give or take. However, it isn’t impossible for them to be able to live for more than 300 centuries. That’s because the oldest Dwarf in The Lord of the Rings was able to reach 340 years old at the time of his death.
The Dwarves are some of the most interesting creatures in The Lord of The Rings due to their vulgar and somewhat brash nature. Nevertheless, they are hardworking people that tend to live long and busy lives while they are mining in their mountains and building their underground networks. So, with that said, let’s look at long Dwarves get to live in The Lord of The Rings.
How Long Do Dwarves Live In The Lord Of The Rings?
In The Lord of the Rings, the one thing we know is that there are a lot of different creatures that tend to have different lifespans because they have different physiologies. Of course, we know for a fact that Elves are immortal creatures that can only die if they get killed or if they fall ill. Meanwhile, Men have the same lifespans as regular human beings except for the Dúnedain, who tend to live twice as long as regular Men.
Nevertheless, there are some creatures that tend to be in between the Elves and the Men as far as their lifespans are concerned. Of course, we are talking about the often-forgotten Dwarves, who aren’t as popular or as legendary as the Elves and were never as abundant and as widespread as the Men. But, of course, Dwarves actually live longer lives than most of the other creatures in Middle-Earth. So, how long do Dwarves live in The Lord of the Rings?
Dwarves are able to live for a very long time, as they are probably second only to the Elves in terms of their lifespans. However, they don’t get to live thousands of years, as only the Elves are capable of doing so. Still, Dwarves are able to live for centuries, as they can live for up to 250 years, give or take.
Nevertheless, there was a Dwarf that lived longer than any other Dwarf in history and rivaled the lifespan of the Elves themselves. But because he was some sort of a deity among the Dwarves, it is difficult to consider his age as the maximum lifespan of the Dwarves, considering that no Dwarf in history was able to reach half of his lifespan. Of course, we are talking about Durin the Deathless, who was one of the Fathers of the Dwarves. In all other cases, Dwarves tend to live long lives but don’t reach half a millennium.
That means that Dwarves, even though they aren’t immortal like the Elves, still live for a very long time, as they have lifespans that are about three times longer than Men and more than twice that of Hobbits. And most of the time, the Dwarves spend their lives hiding in their mountains and underground cities.
Of course, the Dwarves tend to mine and drink all day long, and it does seem like being able to spend more than two centuries underground or in the mountain can be quite boring. Nevertheless, we know for a fact that they are hardy, resourceful, and resilient creatures that are not the most polite people in The Lord of the Rings but live long enough to be able to make friends from all over Middle-Earth, even though we do know that the Dwarves aren’t exactly chummy with the Elves.
Who Are The Oldest Dwarves In The Lord Of The Rings?
Even though the Dwarves tend to live very long lives, the thing we do know is that there aren’t a lot of Dwarves that Tolkien elaborated on in terms of their age. As such, we are only going to talk about the Dwarves that we are quite certain were given definite ages in Tolkien’s writings.
5. King Thrór
King Thrór was the King of the Lonely Mountain during the time when Smaug took it as his own. As such, he was the last person to truly rule the Lonely Mountain because all of the other Dwarves that ruled as king never ruled Erebor due to the presence of the fire drake there. Of course, we are talking about his sons Thráin and Thorin.
In The Hobbit trilogy, King Thrór died during the events of the battle against Azog to reclaim Moria. However, the Pale Orc killed and beheaded the king, to the shock of both Thráin and Thorin. It was Thrór’s death that presumably drove Thráin made, and that’s why Thorin was the one that the Dwarves recognized as their king. King Thrór died at the age of 248.
4. Dáin Ironfoot
Dáin Ironfoot was the Lord of the Iron Hills and was related to Thorin. In The Hobbit, Dáin showed up in the Battle of Five Armies as he represented the Iron Hill Dwarves as their leader. Of course, Dáin was a respected leader among Dwarves because of his superb fighting abilities, as he was one of the most renowned warriors in all of Middle-Earth.
Of course, we all know that Thorin perished during the Battle of Five Armies. It was Thorin’s death that made Dáin the new king as he ruled the Lonely Mountain. Dáin was killed in the War of the Ring, as even the Dwarves were pushing back the Easterlings. He was slain at the gates of Erebor at the age of 252.
3. Glóin
Glóin was famous for being one of the companions of Thorin Oakenshield in the attempt to take back the Lonely Mountain from Smaug. We did see him during the events of The Hobbit as one of the warriors that Thorin relied on, even though his screen time wasn’t all that abundant. Nevertheless, he was able to survive the Battle of Five Armies and went on to live in Erebor after the Dwarves took their home back.
During the Council of Elrond, Glóin was actually present with his son, the ever-popular Gimli, as he represented the Dwarves in the discussions regarding what they needed to do with the One Ring. Of course, he also participated in the War of the Ring in Erebor when the Easterlings invaded. Glóin, like his son, lived through the defeat of Sauron but he died during the early parts of the Fourth Age as he went on to live 253 fruitful years.
2. Dwalin
Dwalin is Balin’s brother and was one of the Dwarves that accompanied Thorin Oakenshield in his quest to defeat Smaug and retake the Lonely Mountain from the Dragon. He became a veteran of many battles as it was believed that he also took part in the Battle of Dale against the Easterlings.
However, the thing we do know is that Dwalin was one of the few Dwarves that were able to survive the events of the War of the Ring and live well into the Fourth Age after Sauron’s defeat. He died in the 91st year of the Fourth Age at the age of 340, making him the oldest normal Dwarf in the history of Dwarves.
1. Durin the Deathless
Durin the Deathless is a legendary Dwarf that was one of the Fathers of the Dwarves, and that means that he was one of the first Dwarves to have ever existed. He was not born but was actually created and awoken by Aulë, one of the Valar. But Aulë and the rest of the Valar were not allowed to create life, and that’s why Eru Ilúvatar, who is the supreme creator god of the Tolkien universe, allowed Durin and the other Dwarves to sleep, only to wake up after the Elves were created because Ilúvatar always planned on making the Elves the first creations. As such, Durin is actually older than the Elves in terms of when he was created.
It was through Durin that the Dwarves were able to thrive as he was their first king. While he did indeed die during the end of the First Age, he was called “Deathless” because of the fact that he seemed immortal, even though he was not. Nevertheless, he existed for thousands of years and went on to live for about 2,400 years old, making him the oldest Dwarf in history due to his deity-like status among the Dwarves.
