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dwarf

Durinn

The second of the dwarves in Völuspá, after Mótsognir; the dwarves were made in the earth 'as Durin said'. Tolkien borrowed the name.

Durinn is the second dwarf. In Völuspá, after the gods decide to make the race of dwarves, "There was Motsognir the mightiest made / Of all the dwarfs, and Durin next". The stanza ends with the dwarves being shaped "in the earth, as Durin said" Völuspá 10. Snorri quotes the stanza and repeats the order: "Módsognir was the first, and Durinn the second" Gylfaginning 14.

That phrase, "as Durin said", is all that marks him out. It may mean that the dwarves were made at his direction, or that he named them, or that Völuspá's list follows his account. The text gives no further help.

The name is now best known from Tolkien, who took it, along with most of his dwarves' names and the name Gandalf, from the dwarf lists of Völuspá Völuspá 11 Völuspá 12 Völuspá 13. In the Edda Durinn has no story, no descendants and no kingdom.

In the sources

Quoted from the hosted translations; each line is checked against the text when the site is built. Select a reference to read it in context.

There was Motsognir the mightiest made Of all the dwarfs, and Durin next; Many a likeness of men they made, The dwarfs in the earth, as Durin said.
Völuspá 10 Durinn is second of the dwarves, and the making of the others follows his word.
They made many in man's likeness, Dwarves in the earth, as Durinn said.
Gylfaginning 14 Snorri quotes the same stanza in a different translation.

Where the sources disagree or fall silent

  • The phrase 'as Durin said' may mean that Durinn directed the making of the dwarves, or simply that he listed or knew them; its meaning is unclear.

In modern culture

Not from the medieval sources.

J. R. R. Tolkien took the name Durin, with many others (Thorin, Fili, Kili, Bombur, Gandalf), from the Völuspá dwarf list; in The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings Durin is the ancestor of the dwarves of Moria.

Related

Mótsognir The first and mightiest of the dwarves in Völuspá, made when the gods decided to shape the race of dwarves; Snorri calls him Módsognir. Dwarves dvergar The underground smiths of Norse myth, made from the giant Ymir's flesh or blood; they forge the gods' greatest treasures, brew the mead of poetry, and fear the daylight. Dvalinn A dwarf named often but never given a story: a leader of the dwarves in Völuspá, the carver of runes for the dwarves in Hávamál, father of some of the Norns, and the name of one of Yggdrasil's stags. Norðri, Suðri, Austri and Vestri Norðri, Suðri, Austri, Vestri Four dwarves named for the cardinal directions; Snorri says the gods set one under each corner of the sky, which is made from Ymir's skull.