High King Modimus Anvilmar rules the divided dwarf clans

Full History

The dwarves had established a mountain kingdom centered on Ironforge after emerging from their older earthen heritage. For a time, the Bronzebeards, Wildhammers, and Dark Irons shared this political world despite differences in custom, interests, and ambition. Modimus Anvilmar was the high king under whom that uneasy unity persisted. His reign offered the clans a common authority even where affection and trust between them were weak.

The settlement contained the seeds of future conflict. Clan loyalties remained strong, and rival leaders had reasons to dispute the distribution of power. The fact that one king presided over the factions did not turn them into a single homogeneous people. Their distinct identities were already important before they became competing kingdoms and military forces.

After Anvilmar's rule ended, those divisions developed into open war. The Bronzebeards retained Ironforge, the Wildhammers made Grim Batol their stronghold, and the Dark Irons under Thaurissan pursued their own dominion. Modgud's attack on Grim Batol, the curse that followed, and Thaurissan's summoning of Ragnaros transformed a political rupture into a catastrophe felt across the surrounding land.

Remembering Anvilmar's reign helps explain why the War of the Three Hammers was a civil conflict rather than a struggle between unrelated peoples. The clans fought over a shared inheritance, and the wreckage of their unity shaped both their later homelands and their relations at the beginning of World of Warcraft.