You know, there are still occasional sitings of dwarves and kobolds in the mountains of Central and Eastern Europe--and no, I don't buy any of it, except possibly as oxygen deprivation due to over-exercise.
But they still come in. People speak about seeing individuals or groups of small, dwarven figures, armed with pickaxes and linked by ropes, moving directly into rocky areas without entrances; literally walking into the stone face of a mountainside.
One interesting modern twist on the dwarf was in Pratt & De Camp's great Land of Unreason, written about 60 years ago. They created a dwarven culture that was proto-fascist, and based on elements of Hanseatic burgher society. (The Hansa was the first great multi-national. It was comprised of the wealthiest merchants of twelve northern European cities, and bought and sold countries, demanded monopolies, etc. It operated back in the 14th century.)
[ 12-18-2001: Message edited by: fable ]
