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For other uses, see Durin (Norse mythology)

Durin is the name of seven Kings of Dwarves in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. They were held by the Dwarves to be the reincarnations of the first one, Durin the Deathless, resembling him in appearance and said to have preserved memories of their 'earlier lives'.^[1]

Tolkien took the name "Durin", like most of the dwarf names in his work, from Norse mythology. This he later explained by the translation fiction: since Westron was translated with English, the language of Dale, used by Dwarves for their "outer" names, was translated with Old Norse.

Durin I or Durin the Deathless was the eldest of the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves, first created by Aulë the Vala in the First Age. He was called "the Deathless" because he lived to a far greater age than any other dwarf, and was revered by all Dwarves as the eldest of their race.

The tradition among the Dwarves is that Durin was set to sleep alone beneath Mount Gundabad in the north of the Misty Mountains, which remained a sacred place to them ever after. Upon his awakening at some time after the creation of the Elves in Y.T. 1050, he travelled great lengths to the places where the other Fathers of the Dwarves had awoken before eventually arriving at the Mirrormere, a lake in a valley at the feet of the Misty Mountains. There he founded what became the greatest of the Dwarf cities: Khazad-dûm, the Dwarrowdelf, later called Moria. Durin's people were known as the Longbeards or more commonly as the Durin's folk.

Little is recorded about his reign, although there are indications that the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm had an agreement with early Men from the Vales of Anduin, who provided them food in return for Dwarven weapons. This cooperation developed into co-ordinated attacks against the Orcs, with the dwarf heavy infantry complemented by mounted archers from the vales.

He ruled in the mid Second Age and was the first bearer of one of the Seven Rings, although this was not known to outsiders until the end of the Third Age. He had been given his ring by Celebrimbor himself, and not by Sauron, though Sauron was involved in the making. Durin III allied his forces with Eregion during the War of the Elves and Sauron, but they were unable to save that realm from destruction, which resulted in a long period of isolation and the beginning of a gradual depopulation in Khazad-dûm.

He lived in Khazad-dûm in late Second or early Third Age, and with the aid of the Ring prospered. He led the dwarves of Durin's Folk in the Battle of Dagorlad.

He lived in Khazad-dûm in the early Third Age, and with the aid of the Ring prospered.

Durin VI was King of the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm in the mid Third Age, when their ever-deeper mining for mithril under the city aroused a Balrog from its hiding place in the depths. The creature killed Durin in T.A. 1980, and became known as Durin's Bane. Durin VI was the first reincarnation of Durin the Deathless to be slain. He was succeeded by his son, Náin I, who was killed by the Balrog in the following year, after which the ancient city was abandoned by its people.

Durin VII or Durin the Last was the direct descendant of king Thorin III Stonehelm (according to some sources, his son),^[2] ruler of Erebor and the Iron Hills in the early Fourth Age. His birth was apparently prophesied at the Battle of Five Armies^{[citation needed]} (although no record exists of the actual prophecy itself). He led Durin's Folk back to recolonize Khazad-dûm "several years" after the beginning of the Fourth Age, where they remained "until the world grew old and the Dwarves failed and the days of Durin's race were ended".^[2]