Seven Fathers of the Dwarves

Aulë would not wait for the Children of Ilúvatar to arrive, so he made seven of his own out of the substance of the earth and taught them a language he had devised for them. Ilúvatar found out. What Aulë had made could not think except as he thought for it, and when he raised his hammer to unmake the seven, Ilúvatar stopped his hand and gave them lives of their own instead. They were laid to sleep afterwards in scattered places under Middle-earth, to wait until the Elves had come first as Ilúvatar intended. Durin, eldest of them, was laid alone at Mount Gundabad. Two more were set near Mount Dolmed in the Blue Mountains, and the last four in the ranges of the far east.