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ulë is the lord over all the substances of which Arda is made. The land of Arda was fashioned by Aulë, and the gems that lie within it are of his making. He is a master smith and craftsman, and he loves any work of skill, no matter how small. The Noldor learned the most of him, and he was always their friend.
It is also said that Aulë created the race of Dwarves because he was too impatient to wait for the Children of Ilúvatar to awaken. He had much desire to teach his skills, and he had no one to teach. He made them small in stature but strong in might, for the power of Melkor was still over Middle-earth, and he wanted them to be able to withstand that evil. He made them in secret, and he created first the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves in a hall under a mountain in Middle-earth. Try as he might, he could not hide his work from Ilúvatar the All-knowing. When Aulë's work was done, and he was ready to teach the Dwarves all that he knew, Ilúvatar spoke to him: "'Why hast thou done this? Why dost thou attempt a thing which thou knowest is beyond thy power and thy authority? For thou hast from me as a gift thy own being only, and no more; and therefore the creatures of thy hand and mind can live only by that being, moving them when thou thinkest to move them, and if thy thought be elsewhere, standing idle. Is that thy desire?'" 3 
Aulë answered that he did not desire such lordship, but only wanted to teach someone his knowledge so they may know the beauty of Eä. Aulë was shamed and he offered his children up to Ilúvatar, and he then offered to destroy them as a mockery of the Children of his father. He picked up a hammer to smite the Dwarves, and he wept in pain, and Ilúvatar took pity on Aulë, and the Dwarves shrank away from the hammer and begged for mercy. Then Ilúvatar told him to lay down his hammer, for he had given life to the Dwarves, for if he had not, the Dwarves would have stood as stone and taken the hammer without thinking otherwise. Aulë thanked Ilúvatar and was glad, but Ilúvatar said that he would not suffer to have the Dwarves existing before the Firstborn children of his design, so Aulë put them to sleep until such a time when the Elves would awaken and take dominion over Arda.