Dwarfs vs. Dwarves - the eternal question.

[Dolash]

I don't know how to do one on them thar fancy poll things, but nevertheless, the question stands - is it spelt Dwarfs, or Dwarves?

We've all seen it spelt either way, but I can't for the life of me say which way is the "right way". In fact, I can smell a few grudges coming on from this difference of opinion between different... er... Dwarf individuals, depending on how they choose to spell it.

Anyone care to explain which is the 'correct' spelling?

[Soulreaper]

In correct regular english it is spelled dwarves.

However, In the warhammer universe it's dwarfs.
Don't ask me why they changed it for warhammer.. they just did. :P

[Flegler]

Standard English is dwarfs, though that refers to short people and not the fantasy creatures.

Tolkien called the gold-loving cave dwellers in his works dwarves, and most fantasy writers use dwarves, because the race has never deviated much from Tolkien's archetype.

In the Warhammer world though, it's dwarfs. It just is.

[StuntySticker]

That pretty much sums it up. I prefer dwarves.

Sissy elf-spawn.

[Balthemor]

How about i make a suggestion and get rid of the question forever how about you call us dwarvfes?

[Infrantic]

Games Workshop says: DWARFS!
Call them, write them, visit them..
Dwarfs in Warhammer will always be dwarFs

[dutch_gamer]

I call them Dwarfs because GW does so. I don't care if someone might think it is against the English language or whatever. There are many words in the English language that go against certain conventions anyway. To me, the word I will use depends on what they are called by the makers of the IP. So this time I will gladly use the name Dwarfs instead of Dwarves. It does irk me sometimes when people insist to use Dwarves or even worse, Orks (this is not 40k).

[GreyWarlord]

And Warhammer Dwarfs are just the best.

[Ralzar]

You should have made the poll soemthing like:

Dwarfs - because that's how it's spelled.

Dwarves - I like Tolkien! What game is this again?

[Snorri]

Dwarfs are dwarfs are dwarfs.
Dwarves are sorry excuses of dwarfs, like Gimli. What an embarrassment.

DWARFS are true dwarfs, squat and mighty, and warhammer have them down to a fine art.

Its “Dwarfs” !!!!

Sissy elf spawns…
;)

[Dolash]

Considering Gimli was more or less the -kicking predecessor of Dwarves/Dwarfs as we know them today, I don't think it's fair to knock him - he was killing orcs before Warhammer was ever imagined. But that's a different argument.

As it stands, it appears that Dwarfs is beating Dwarves, as Dwarfs is how Games Workshop writes it. Nevertheless, Dwarves has gotten a fair share of votes too, so I gues either one is useable. I'm kind of disappointed we didn't get any vocal defenders of 'Dwarves', since it could have been the start of a funny little grudge ("We don't associate with 'Dwarfs', Dalim, just our fellow 'Dwarves'!").

[Snorri]

Aye but in the film Gimli was nothing but an element of comedy.
They mocked him bitterly and let the camera hog other characters in combat :p Ignoring the dwarf unless he was there to give the audience a little laughter.

I'd classify him as a gnome, not a dwarf or a dwarve.
In the book its a wee bit different though :p

[Balthemor]

Um damn I thaught it went into edit when i clicked the back botton

Please ignore this post or if you can delete it!

[Balthemor]

Well i'm a known user of "Dwarves" and "dwarfs" but in my honest opinion we should use them both "Dwarves" is for more than one and "dwarf" is just singular I honestly don't care if in LOTR gimli was a fat leprachaun (I know i spelt it wrong) that sang with a girls voice all the time. To me dwarves sounds and feels better than dwarfs

[Phil]

Unfortunately, Gimli was nothing but comedic relief in the movies. In the books however it was a completely different story. He was a killing machine.

In Warhammer it's Dwarfs and in anything else it's Dwarves. So according to whatever you're playing use the matching term.

[Chanticleer]

Only salad-eating, pointy-eared pansies spell it Dwarves.

[Balthemor]

Only salad-eating, pointy-eared pansies spell it Dwarves.

Grrrr You do realise that i use dwarves YOU CANKERBLOSSOM!

(Thanks to shakespears MSND for that)

[Smachaz]

Grrrr You do realise that i use dwarves YOU CANKERBLOSSOM!

Then i wouldn't brag about it if i where you.

[Balthemor]

Why is everyone so intent on using dwarfs? Does not dwarves sound better? I know in the movie gimli was a sissy but all movies are like that. It matters now how it is spelt it matters how it is represented.

[Snorri]

In the book Gimli was alright and much more respectable... in the movie he was just comic relief. :(

But I actually prefer the "Dwarf" and "Dwarfs" spelling... just seems right to me.
Dwar-f

I won’t lie though, I use to use "dwarf" for a single dwarf and "dwarves" for multiple dwarfs. But then I decided I should just pick one spelling and stick with it.

And since then, "dwarfs" has kinda grown on me and I prefer it. :)
Nothing against dwarves-users though!

And because I spell it dwarfs I also decided to spell elfs as elfs as opposed to elves.
In that case though, elves sounds better when pronounced aloud.
But I reasoned that it didn’t matter what I called the elfs anyway.
Hanky Wavers.

[GreyWarlord]

*nods approval*
Tree-hugging willow-waisted anvil-droppers.

PS - I use dwarfs, cecause the 'f' sound is much harder and more Khazalid than the 'v' sound that conjures up images of Tolkienesque elf-dwarf dancing and fellowship scenes. When an elf hears ut pronounced 'dwarfs', they know that the only fellowship they'll be getting is being next to greenskin and skaven gore on the dwarf's axe/hammer.

[Vail]

Aye but in the film Gimli was nothing but an element of comedy.
They mocked him bitterly and let the camera hog other characters in combat :p Ignoring the dwarf unless he was there to give the audience a little laughter.

I'd classify him as a gnome, not a dwarf or a dwarve.
In the book its a wee bit different though :p

This was a product of the movies not the books

Dwarves were Ironshod grudge holding axe weilding badasses in the books. The whole book "the hobbit" is about dwarves getting "theirs"

I prefer this spelling, but respect the dwarfs given the envirnoment and history.

[Bolg]

This has been discussed here before and both were found to be correct, but "dwarfs" is the older and more accurate of the two spelling versions.

[Kazgut]

No no silly boys the real name for the short midgets with beards is in fact stuntie (Tolkien and the rest obviously had it wrong) the plural is stunties!

[doomy]

I fully agree with da greenskin above me :rolleyes:

[Balthemor]

No no silly boys the real name for the short midgets with beards is in fact stuntie (Tolkien and the rest obviously had it wrong) the plural is stunties!

Ok ok i prepared a speech on this point and here it is

I beleive that

*stops reading and smashes orks head open with hammer*

In all fairness stuntie is not in the dictonaire so is not a proper word

*Pokes man/girl elf in eye*

How you like us dwarves now huh?

[Kazgut]

I am not an ork but an orc and you are guys are dwarfs not dwarves so your attack never happened.

*Kazgut smashes Balthemor's jaw*

[Ralzar]

Why is everyone so intent on using dwarfs? Does not dwarves sound better? I know in the movie gimli was a sissy but all movies are like that. It matters now how it is spelt it matters how it is represented.

We use Dwarfs, because that's how it's spelled in Warhammer.

It's like asking if you spell it "Druchii" or "Drow" ;)

[GreyWarlord]

Well done Ralzar, I agree with you totally. And if anyone knows how to depict dwarfs, it is Warhammer. WH Dwarfs are simply the coolest.

[Snorri]

No one has evetr created dwarfs to a higher standard than Warhammer has. :D

*Kazgut smashes Balthemor's jaw*
*Snorri tackles the orc to the ground and punches him sensless. Snorri then proceeds to shove the orc into a very large barrel and roll him down a mountain face.*

[elthareon]

dorfs is the correct way to say it and dorflings and stunties, and foot rest, oh yeah how could i forget about doormatt.

[Willstar]

After checking my warhammer army book, it still says Dwarfs. I guess I'll have to keep that in mind from now on, whilst typing up posts/stories/silly insults and the like.;)

[Balthemor]

dorfs is the correct way to say it and dorflings and stunties, and foot rest, oh yeah how could i forget about doormatt.

Oh no oh no! A orc has dressed up as an elf!!!!!!!!!!!

Run dwarves We're all going to die!!!!!!!!!!!

[Willstar]

Oh no oh no! A orc has dressed up as an elf!!!!!!!!!!!

Run dwarves We're all going to die!!!!!!!!!!!


For someone who has a dwarf avatar, you're very close to getting squashed by fellow dwarfs.

[Kyb0]

For someone who has a dwarf avatar, you're very close to getting squashed by fellow dwarfs.

Don't hold a grudge against other dwarfs/dwarves :D we must stand united against our common enemies, the green skinned sons-of-green-skinned-mothers !

Btw I don't mind if anyone spells it whichever way, just keep on hitting others and not me and you're ok :D



P.S. What color is the blood of greenskins, green or red ? Maybe black even :) or would that be chaos troops ?

P.S.S. Just noticed the board spell checking underlines dwarves as wrong hehe :) so I'll stick with using dwarfs :D

[Okri]

How could there even be any doubt about what we're called? 'Tis Dwarfs, at least in the tongues of man.

And Orc blood tends to be, from my experience, black.

[Krulltak]

How could there even be any doubt about what we're called? 'Tis Dwarfs, at least in the tongues of man.

And Orc blood tends to be, from my experience, black.


Orc blood is a very dark red, and yes, almost black, and also unusually sticky.

When it comes to Warhammer, it's definatly dwarfs.

[Willstar]

Don't hold a grudge against other dwarfs/dwarves.


Are you insinuating that I am a dwarf? :p Though they are my very first TT army and I have a vast range of them, they will probably not be amongst my characters. So there, I just still have a well worn and even more well read dwarf army book. I need to keep the damn thing together with duc tape. Heh.

[Snorri]

We are dwarfs or dawi, dwarves is just plain insulting.

[Julius]

Why would anyone in their right mind spell it Dwarves?

[Krulltak]

Why would anyone in their right mind spell it Dwarves?

Because me' lad, they either be a thick-headed Grobi or one of our weak blooded cousins from tha' Warcraft world...

[Snorri]

...or that is how they were taught.
Or they have played/read many other fantasy worlds in which it was spelt "dwarves" and so they have gotten use to it...
...or they just like the sound better.

Don't get me wrong, in warhammer; its spelt dwarfs you sissy elfspawn! ;)

[Baron Khaine]

On the topic of Orcs blood I know for Orks in 40k that they originally wanted to use green blood to keep in line with the whole they are plants thing. But after early paint tests, it was thought that green blood would not show up as well as Red or Black Blood, good decision IMO.

[Krulltak]

On the topic of Orcs blood I know for Orks in 40k that they originally wanted to use green blood to keep in line with the whole they are plants thing. But after early paint tests, it was thought that green blood would not show up as well as Red or Black Blood, good decision IMO.


Not like it mattered though, since the only blood ever spilt on a battlefield where one side has orks is the blood "o' dem stinkin tin can humiez!"

[Snorri]

Aye, I always played Orks in DoW... never played the tabletop. 40k doesnt interest me as much... sci-fi has never been as interesting to me as toe-to-toe brutal bloody melee combat!

But DoW is a grand game ;) WAAAAGGGHH!!!

I always thought that orc blood was incredibly dark red (almost black) and very very sticky.

[Julius]

On the topic of Orcs blood I know for Orks in 40k that they originally wanted to use green blood to keep in line with the whole they are plants thing. But after early paint tests, it was thought that green blood would not show up as well as Red or Black Blood, good decision IMO.

Yeah. Even though Orcs are lorewise greenblooded, it won't look as good as RED blood.

[versuvius]

i have just read the poll and it is dwarfs...jrr tolkein invented the notion of dwaves when he was working on a peice of work involving ancient saxon grammar and dwar'v'es made more sense to him than the origional dwarfs

[Chanticleer]

i have just read the poll and it is dwarfs...jrr tolkein invented the notion of dwaves when he was working on a peice of work involving ancient saxon grammar and dwar'v'es made more sense to him than the origional dwarfs

Actually according to him, the correct plural was Dwerrow but he acknowledged that he'd have a hard time getting peoples' heads around that so he opted for the less correct but easier Dwarves.

[versuvius]

hmmm i think i misread it then...or got it mixed up wi summat else. oh well live and learn...need some ale...

[Smachaz]

http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=Dwarves&word2=Dwarfs

The internet has made its decision.

[Rabbitman]

In all respects, when in the WH world and therfore the WAR game, the race is Dwarfs, that is its name and therefore it should be called such. On the other hand, I am one of those force of habit creatures who spends less time concentrating on individual words such as the aforementioned when writing. When I'm typing posts or writing stories I do the actual typing part on auto-pilot, and I always write Dwarf and Dwarves. If you've got a problem with it, we'll settle it on the battlefield, if you don't already have the Dwarves habit, please use the correct Dwarfs spelling.

[versuvius]

agressive little bugger arnt you lol

[Rabbitman]

You don't know the half of it my little Deranged companion. I'm just sitting in the calm before the storm.

PS: It's undoubtedly Dwarfs!!! (But I'll keep saying Dwarves anyway.)

[versuvius]

TAKE COVER! oh crap why do i have to be stood in an open wasteland with a dwarf brewing a tornado

[zennon]

definatly dwarfs!

[versuvius]

get a bloody avatar...

[Smachaz]

I don't know if you people have Firefox, but when you write Dwarves it marks it as an error.

[versuvius]

i have firefox

[Instant_Karma]

Dwarves, because it sounds nice to say Dwarves instead of Dwarfs...

Stupid Orc Dropings.

And yes, I have Firefox.

[STARSBarry]

the last bunch of humans who called us Dwarves ended up a head shorter

[versuvius]

the last anything that said dwarves went home missing kneecaps

[Snorri]

But you just said it... :p

[Okri]

What? People still discussing this? I thought it would be obvious to all that it is Dwarfs, not dwarves.

Anyhoo, it doesn't matter that much to me what you say here, but if I ever hear you say dwarves in the game, at least on the RP-servers I'm hoping for, you'll wake up with one massive head-ache... if you do wake up at all.

[versuvius]

i didnt say dwarves as in referring ot what people call us not calling us dwarves...or am i just drunk and mentally maimed....same thing screw it HE HE HE HE ....beer gold beer RUUUUUUUUUM RUUUUUUUM RUUUUUUUUUUUUM GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD BEER GOLD...hey has any one seen the beer song by wierd al...i can send by msn if any one needs the fecker!

[Instant_Karma]

The last Dwarf that threatened to make me shorter because I said Dwarves, ended up walking back to his Hold a few feet shorter and being mistaken for a Grobi...the rest is history.

[versuvius]

so will you saying dwarves in a dwarf tavern/forum

[Smachaz]

versuvius...engineering must be in your blood, because i have serious doubts about your thinking powers :p

[versuvius]

top of head removed...then put back on and then its permanently stewing in its own toxins...gives you a good picture dont it

[kratth]

i didnt say dwarves as in referring ot what people call us not calling us dwarves...or am i just drunk and mentally maimed....same thing screw it HE HE HE HE ....beer gold beer RUUUUUUUUUM RUUUUUUUM RUUUUUUUUUUUUM GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD BEER GOLD...hey has any one seen the beer song by wierd al...i can send by msn if any one needs the fecker!


The beer song is greatness incarnate.
Always thought dorf was leetspeak too.

[Guivert]

Always thought dorf was leetspeak too.

Maybe I'm wrong here, but I'm pretty sure the origin of 'dorf' comes from the Tim Conway character, made most famous in the short film, 'Dorf on Golf'.

Conway plays a very short, some might say dwarfen, Scandinavian sports expert. I've only ever used 'dorf' thinking that it was a reference to that character. I'm not sure if everyone else does.

[kratth]

i only ever used it thinking it was just a silly way of saying dwarf.
(never seen or heard of that film u speak of.)

[Decadence]

<starry embers fall to the ground as he removes his pipe>
Laddy, I be tellin ye the dust fallen truth.. it be whatever those bright-'eaded elflings be callin us.
All the young-ens 'ere be tellin ye tall tales, ye best listen ta this longbeard, lest ye be wantin ta
'ead the wrong path.
<turns attention back to his pipe> <puff> <puff>

[kratth]

hey now, don't be thinking i hate dwarfs.
there love all things dealing with beer and explosives is why i love them so, it's why im rolling an engineer come release.

[versuvius]

aye...engineer is theh way teh goo

[Snorri]

<starry embers fall to the ground as he removes his pipe>
Laddy, I be tellin ye the dust fallen truth.. it be whatever those bright-'eaded elflings be callin us.
All the young-ens 'ere be tellin ye tall tales, ye best listen ta this longbeard, lest ye be wantin ta
'ead the wrong path.
<turns attention back to his pipe> <puff> <puff>

I'm not sure why - but I enjoyed reading that. :p

[versuvius]

cause it was spoken like a true scenile old grey beard

[Snorri]

cause it was spoken like a true scenile old grey beard

Aye, very true.
I raise my tankard to you Decadence!

[versuvius]

AYE! bring on the drinking ale not the mouthwash kind we have for breakfast

[Decadence]

Aye, very true.
I raise my tankard to you Decadence!


<..making sure to leave just enough room, as not to be wedded to an eager axe>
<he appears.. shrouded by an immense granite pillar, next to where Snorri stood>

<whispers>
shhh.. delightful one, I'm but a ghost to your sapient eyes.
<discreetly points at the dawi, in the middle of the tavern furiously drinking and talking>

<hauntingly he turns and displays a most oddly sincere smile towards Snorri>
<suddenly, Versuvius, with 10 tankards of ale makes a wayward path towards the looming ornate pillar>
<hastely a mysterious enchantment is invoked, and as abruptly as he appeared, Decadence vanishes>

[versuvius]

to which versuvius drinks the 10 ales within a few seconds and walks off to buy more for the old decadence which he forgot vanished

[versuvius]

im consistant with the dwarf unless im doing fast typing and i dont really think about what im typing...doesnt happen often