We don't often see gods depicted as dwarves. Rather, most of them are physically depicted as strong and tall.
I have found the Egyptian God Bes, but is there another dwarf god known to him?
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1Vamana is said to be the Sanskrit word for dwarf and it is used for an avatar of Vishnu. There is also Ptah-Pateque which is Ptah-as-a-dwarf. But perhaps these cases (including Bes) are just "representations as dwarf" of deities known also in other form.– sand1Commented Mar 3, 2018 at 22:38
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Native American tribes had dwarf heroes. native-languages.org/legends-dwarves.htm One of them had a god. native-languages.org/morelegends/world-man.htm But I don't know if all the tribes shared the same gods or if some gods were localized to one.– Andrew JohnsonCommented Mar 4, 2018 at 22:10
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Not a god, but Fafnir.– Nuloen The SeekerCommented Mar 5, 2018 at 10:24
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1 Answer
In The Lives of Dwarfs: Their Journey from Public Curiosity toward Social Liberation, Betty Adelson identifies Sukuna-biko, an ally of Okuninushi in Shinto mythology, as an example of a dwarf god:
In a Japanese tale, the Great-Land-Master, an excellent and just ruler, is standing on the shore when a dwarf god named Suku-na-biko, "The Small Renown Man," comes in from the sea on a raft, wearing a mantle of feathers and dressed in moth's wings. The dwarf tells the Great-Land-Master that he is the son of the Divine-Producing goddess and expert at the healing arts. A close friendship develops and the two collaborate at cultivating medicinal plants and curing disease. Despite being unable to walk on his tiny legs, Suku-na-biko knows everyone and goes everywhere. Ultimately, he climbs on a millet stalk, which bounces back and sends him to Tokyo, the Land of Eternity. Even today his name is often invoked for medical assistance, and he is called upon to lead people to curative springs.
