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Comparative Ages of Dwarves and Men
This is an attempt at calculating equivalent ages for Dwarves and Men in
Tolkien's works, based primarily on information given in The Lord of
the Rings and The Peoples of Middle-earth (HoME-12). The relevant
facts are:
- Dwarves reached maturity at about age 40.
- Humans are assumed to reach maturity at about age 20.
- The average lifespan of Dwarves was about 250 years.
- The average lifespan for Men (non-Númenorean) of Middle-earth was
about 70 years.
From this I developed the following formulae for age conversion, where
D is the Dwarf age and H the human age:
Juvenile: D = H * 2
Adult: D = ((H - 20) * ((250 - 40) / (70 - 20))) + 40
= (H * 4.2) - 44
The following table shows approximate equivalent ages between Men and
Dwarves. It should be noted, however, that Dwarves age very differently
from Men. After reaching maturity at about age 40, Dwarves show almost
no change due to aging until about 10 years before death; the entire
transition into old age occurs during that last decade. So, while there
is a significant change in a Man from age 30 to age 60, a Dwarf would
change very little between the equivalent ages of 82 and 208, and would
not begin to show age-related decline until, on average, age 240
(equivalent to about 68 for a Man.) The lifespan of most Dwarves who
died of natural causes clustered closely around the 250-year mark. There
were exceptions, however; Dwalin is recorded as having lived 340 years.
Man Dwarf
5 10
10 20
15 30
20 40 (maturity)
25 61
30 82
35 103
40 124
45 145
50 166
55 187
60 208
65 229
70 250 (average lifespan)
75 271
80 292
85 313
90 334
95 355
100 376
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