Dwarves
Dwarves make up most of the population of Svartalfheim. They live mainly on the series of large-island land masses that are located in Svartalfheim’s northern hemisphere. Dwarves are generally short in stature ranging from a metre and a quarter to a metre and three quarters tall. Both sexes tend to be heavily muscled to combat the higher gravity and their complexion is often heavily wrinkled for the same reason.
In dwarven society males and females have equal status. Both sexes may belong to any of the three social groups that form dwarf society. These are the Masters (Stjórnandi), Makers (Framleiðandi) and Commoners (Algengari). The Masters perform the duties of parliament and governance and their ranks are drawn from both the Makers and Commoners and elevation to the Master group is by merit and accolade. The head of the council of masters is given the title ‘King’ although the status of king is non-hereditary and is gained only through a complex system of judgements made against the tenets of dwarf philosophy.
The social philosophy of the dwarves is based on creativity. It is akin to a primitive religion in itself. Those who create are accorded merit by society and their peers. No social merit is gained by employing or forcing others to do work even if that task involves creation.
No credit is supposed to be derived from pedigree or wealth although there is a sort of aristocracy based on wealth and family. Many of the aristocrats are descended from the original dwarf settlers and have inherited wealth gained over many generations. This does not entitle them to hold office or power but neither does it prevent them from doing so. A member of the aristocracy can be creative, talented or have magic (see below) and hence be both aristocrat and gain recognition for their talents as an individual.
Creativity can come from any field of endeavour, it can come from the creation of beauty or utility; a fine poem or a new method of forging steel is lauded equally in dwarf society. Creativity is judged in huge numbers of competitive events and showcases held throughout the year and in every island these are known by the generic name Kraftmoot and range in size from a few dozen people in a small village to tens of thousands in the main dwarf cities. The larger and more prestigious events are treated as spectator sports by the general populace and there are even groups who actively support the more frequent and successful entrants. Different classes of creativity may be entered into these events; original creations, creations inspired by others, creations which re-purpose items into new forms and uses. Judgement of merit is made by one’s peers who may be any age and at any level of society. It is extremely bad form to be seen to be trying to influence the judging but that doesn’t stop the supporters and there is a severe punishment for cheating in any manner in these events. Passing another’s work off as your own without disclosure is considered cheating; for instance buying an object and entering it into a competition as one’s own work is cheating, however, buying an object and making into something else whilst declaring that it is made from an existing object is not.
Of course there are members of any society that can’t or won’t be able to enter the events. Creativity relies on the knowledge of a subject and the ability and willingness to learn. Many are unwilling to put any effort in to achieve this. Whilst there is merit in creating there is no stigma attached to not creating; indeed dwarf society would not be able to function if all that its members did was to create. The mundane tasks of gathering food, hunting, cleaning and other societal ‘glue’ are valued by all dwarves. People who perform these tasks are known as commoners and their status is judged by relative wealth (as is common in most societies). The twin status paths are supposed to be separate but there are inevitable clashes which cause friction.
There is a section of dwarf society that can perform magic. In the story of book five, a society has evolved that separates magic users forcibly from their parents when they are children and bring them up in the Temple. Many dwarven parents watch for any sign of magic in their children and often, if they suspect that the child has even a smidgeon of magic, they will try to hide the child from the authorities. However magic is not easy to hide from those deliberately seeking it, and parents found to be concealing magic are harshly punished and the child is removed by force. At the time of the story, the Temple has become responsible for the control of all magic and secular law on Svartalfheim and this has grown so that they form both the de-facto police, civil service and religious hierarchy.
Once a child has progressed to adulthood its untrained magical talents will usually have atrophied to the point where they are no longer useful to the Temple. Those that retain their talents tend to shun society or become outlaws. Both these groups, if caught, face punishment which is usually execution.