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[Fenrir]

The proper spelling is 'dwarfs' not 'dwarves', and 'dwarfish' not 'dwarvish'. We have Tolkien to thank for that all-too-common mistake.

[Gaulgath]

Right. Tolkien. Fantasy dwarves. Fantasy. Dwarves. The dwarves this game is based on.

[Armok]

Dwarfs - humans whit an defect that makes them stop growing to early resulting in them being smaller than average. looks lite the head of an adult on the body of an 10 year old.

Dwarves - fantasy creatures that live underground, famous for their stubbornes, their beards, and their fondness of booze.

Edit: It's "Dwarven", not "Dwarvish".  

[ November 07, 2007: Message edited by: Armok ]

[Fenrir]

Fantasy dwarfs are not Tolkien's idea. Dwarfs are from Medieval Scandinavian (a.k.a. Viking Age) mythology.

EDIT: It is so "dwarfish"! Look it up at www.m-w.com

[ November 07, 2007: Message edited by: Fenrir ]

[Klokjammer]

A little lesson in Old English:

At one time in the English language the letter F made both the 'ph' and 'v' sounds. That is why "of" is pronounced "ov"

Also with the words like leaf, wolf, and elf, their plurals are leaves, wolves, and elves respectively.

The word Dwarf ends in F, so dwarves would be the appropriate plural, and besides dwarfs sound odd.

[Turgid Bolk]

quote:Originally posted by Fenrir:
<STRONG>Fantasy dwarfs are not Tolkien's idea. Dwarfs are from Medieval Scandinavian (a.k.a. Viking Age) mythology.

EDIT: It is so "dwarfish"! Look it up at www.m-w.com

[ November 07, 2007: Message edited by: Fenrir ]</STRONG>

May I point to you Wikipedia:
"The plural form dwarfs has been traced to the 17th century. The alternative plural dwarves has been recorded in the early 18th century, but was not generally accepted until used by philologist J. R. R. Tolkien in his fantasy novel The Hobbit. Neither spelling represents the regular phonetic development of the Old English plural dweorgas, namely dwarrows [...] The form dwarfs is generally used for real people affected by dwarfism; the form dwarves is used for the mythical people described by Tolkien and others."

That article also uses the adjective "dwarvish" (though doesn't mention it's correctness in relation to dwarfish). You're right about the origins, though, Tolkien certainly did not invent them.

[Fenrir]

I've never fully trusted Wikipedia, since anyone can edit it. So how do you explain www.m-w.com's explanation, which is just as credible, if not more so, than Wikipedia?

[Turgid Bolk]

Funny, that's the very reason I trust Wikipedia.

Anyway, I don't really care how people spell it, I understand what they mean either way. However, that website's entry for "dwarf" contains the following:
"Inflected Form(s):
plural dwarfs  \ˈdwȯrfs\ also dwarves  \ˈdwȯrvz\"

So it appears either will work. It does list the adjective as "dwarfish", but obviously some people (including myself) tend to use "dwarvish" and "dwarven" too. I'll leave it to the academics to pronounce the given usages proper or not.

(Can you tell I'm in favor of descriptive, rather than prescriptive dictionaries?  )

[Capntastic]

Yeah if you wanna get real technical you could go dwarrow, but dwarves works.

Also, DF is not based on Tolkein.  Furthermore, Tolkein didn't invent the idea of dwarves or elves; merely created a perception of them that became popular.

Dunsany's elves are way better  

[Fenrir]

quote:Originally posted by Capntastic:
<STRONG>Yeah if you wanna get real technical you could go dwarrow, but dwarves works.
</STRONG>

...or dwerg and zwerg

 

quote:Originally posted by Capntastic:
<STRONG>
Also, DF is not based on Tolkein.  Furthermore, Tolkein didn't invent the idea of dwarves or elves; merely created a perception of them that became popular.
</STRONG>

That's what I said. Dwarfs are from Germanic and Scandinavian mythology.

[ November 07, 2007: Message edited by: Fenrir ]

[gimli]

quote:Originally posted by Fenrir:
<STRONG>The proper spelling is 'dwarfs' not 'dwarves', and 'dwarfish' not 'dwarvish'. We have Tolkien to thank for that all-too-common mistake.</STRONG>

..and who cares?    :roll:

[ November 07, 2007: Message edited by: gimli ]

[Fenrir]

quote:Originally posted by gimli:
<STRONG>

..and who cares?     :roll:

[ November 07, 2007: Message edited by: gimli ]</STRONG>

Me

[Salmeuk]

"Captain?"
"Yes?"
"I see smoke to the north!"
". . ."
"Captain?"
"Do you know what this means, boy?"
"No, sir."
"War is ahead."
"War, sir?"
"Flame war."

I feel that either way is correct. I don't have a masters degree in english, or even a website backing me up, but I've seen both ways used in all instances. The   spelling of "Dwarves, Dwarfs, Dorfs, Dwarvz, Dwarrow, Dwaerg, Zwerg, etc." should be of little concern, at least in this context. Dwarf fortress is an amazing game, and is a creative outlet for a huge number of people, so spelling should be a minor detail in this amazing game.

Though Dwarves just sounds a helluvalot cooler that Dwarfs.  

[Fenrir]

quote:Originally posted by Salmeuk:
<STRONG>"Captain?"
"Yes?"
"I see smoke to the north!"
". . ."
"Captain?"
"Do you know what this means, boy?"
"No, sir."
"War is ahead."
"War, sir?"
"Flame war."

I feel that either way is correct. I don't have a masters degree in english, or even a website backing me up, but I've seen both ways used in all instances. The   spelling of "Dwarves, Dwarfs, Dorfs, Dwarvz, Dwarrow, Dwaerg, Zwerg, etc." should be of little concern, at least in this context. Dwarf fortress is an amazing game, and is a creative outlet for a huge number of people, so spelling should be a minor detail in this amazing game.

Though Dwarves just sounds a helluvalot cooler that Dwarfs.   </STRONG>

Nobody's flaming anyone, or denying that Dwarf Fortress isn't crazy awsome (if they were, then there'd be a flame war).