Welcome to Sleep Whispers.

I'm Harris, and I created this podcast to help you to de-stress, relax, and sleep.

So go ahead, lean back, put up your feet, and settle into my world of whispers.

I hope this episode distracts and relaxes your overactive brain squirrels.

Dwarfs from mythology to modern popular culture.

This episode is going to focus just on fictional dwarfs, which originated in mythology.

So I won't be covering other related topics like individuals with dwarfism.

What you will hear about in this episode is the origins of dwarf mythology

and dwarf Middle middle earth.

In Germanic mythology, a dwarf is a human-shaped entity that dwells in mountains and in earth

and is variously associated with wisdom, smithing, mining, and crafting.

It is theorized that the Germanic dwarfs, particularly as smiths and gatekeepers,

constituted a reminiscence of the megalithic culture in northern Europe.

Dwarfs are sometimes described as short and ugly, although some scholars have questioned

whether this is a later development stemming from

comical portrayals of the beings.

The etymology of the word dwarf is highly contested.

Scholars have proposed that dwarfs may have originated as nature spirits as being associated with death or as a mixture of these concepts.

Competing etymologies include root words that mean damage, dream, deception, and demonic being.

Time for a quick break.

You already know what sound can do how a single whisper, a gentle tap, or breathy syllable

can quiet the world around you.

...