The Troubled History of Elvo-Dwarvish Relations Quiz

Answer: Aule

Aule, like his fellow Valar, was so excited about the coming of the Elves - "to have learners to whom he could teach his lore and his crafts" - that he couldn't wait and created some beings of his own. Because the form the Elves were to take was unclear to him, he made the Dwarves "even as they are now". Although they seem happy as they are, is it possible that the Dwarves' jaundiced attitude toward the Elves springs at least partly from bitterness at their own lack of height, unearthly beauty, and wonderful singing voices?

In any case, Iluvatar, master of the Valar, would not permit any other people to appear in Middle-Earth before his own creations and the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves were "laid to rest in far-sundered places" to sleep until their better-looking counterparts had gotten to make their own appearance. Elvo-Dwarvish relations were off to a bad start.

Answer: Nogrod

Yes, though the friendship of the Eldar and the Dwarves was "ever cool", they had "much profit" from one another. Although in later years the most heartfelt friendships with Elves would be seen among Durin's people, in the First Age Durin's realm in Moria was too far away for those particular Dwarves to have any contact with Elves.

Instead, the Eldar's first contact with their less-attractive counterparts came from trade with the Blue Mountain Dwarves. Their cities were Gabilgathol, meaning "Mickleburg" and called "Belegost" by the elves; and Tumunzahar, meaning "Hollowbold" and called "Nogrod" by the Elves. If things had turned out differently, perhaps this could have been the seed of a genuinely warm Elvo-Dwarvish relationship...but it was not to be.

Answer: The Stunted People

Insult to injury! Whether the Dwarves were offended at being termed the "Stunted People" is not recorded. What we do know is that the Elves did not deign to use the Dwarves' own word for themselves - "Khazad" - probably because they found the Dwarvish language "cumbrous and unlovely".

They did, on the other hand, find Dwarvish handicrafts very attractive and were willing to pay for them. It is often said that "friendships" based on mutual exploitation of one another's resources can be just as solid and long-lasting as those based on mutual respect and trust. The sad history of Beleriand-Blue Mountain relations tells a different story.

Answer: Caranthir

After the failure of the first Noldorin assault on Morgoth, Caranthir took his people to live by Lake Helevorn, under the shadow of the Blue Mountains. Even among the sons of Feanor, Caranthir, affectionately known as "Caranthir the Dark", stood out as a difficult person to get along with. Unsurprisingly, he took a haughty tone toward the Dwarves, whom he found "unlovely". The Dwarves, somehow picking up on this, responded with equal coolness.

Nevertheless, both peoples hated Morgoth and, once again, both were happy to profit from each other, with the Dwarves learning "many secrets of craft" that the Noldor had brought back with them from Valinor, and Caranthir using his geographical position to get the pick of Dwarven trade goods.

Answer: Pearls

The Dwarves "hated the sound of the sea and feared to look upon it". As a direct result of this phobia, they failed to make any inroads into the pearl business. In fact, before Thingol began offering pearls as payment, the Dwarves "had not before seen their like". The Elves, on the other hand, couldn't get enough of the sea and Thingol was given pearls by Cirdan, whose people harvested them from the shallow seas around the Isle of Balar. The Dwarves of Belegost received a particularly fine specimen as big as a dove's egg, known as Nimphelos.

Sindar-Blue Mountain relations looked promising but, sadly, this is a tale without a happy ending...

Answer: Their leader was killed

The Elves attacked Morgoth in two great hosts, the western, led by Fingon, and the eastern, led by Maedhros, which included Dwarves from Belegost. They distinguished themselves in the fight against one of the most fascinating of all Tolkien's characters, the dragon Glaurung. With their Dwarvish ability to withstand fire, they managed to surround Glaurung and wound him with their axes. The enraged dragon, in his turn, struck down Azaghal, their leader. "Then the Dwarves raised up the body of Azaghal and bore it away; and with slow steps they walked behind singing a dirge in deep voices, as it were a funeral pomp in their country, and gave no heed more to their foes; and none dared to stay them."

You might think that memories such as these, of a shared struggle against a common foe, would be enough to cement the friendship in perpetuity. But consider the WWII Allies and their erstwhile Soviet partners and think again!

Answer: Dwarves murdered an Elvenking

"In ancient days they had had wars with some of the dwarves, whom they accused of stealing their treasure. It is only fair to say that the dwarves gave a different account, and said that they only took what was their due, for the elf-king had bargained with them to shape his raw gold and silver, and had afterwards refused to give them their pay." So saith "The Hobbit". The Elves in question were the Sindar and the Dwarves in question their old friends from the city of Nogrod.

As well as having them shape his gold and silver, Thingol, the king of the Sindar, had the Dwarves of Nogrod set his Silmaril into the Nauglamir, the necklace they themselves had made for Finrod Felagund. When the work was done, the Dwarvish craftsmen declared that the necklace should, in fact, be returned to them. Thingol perceived that what they really wanted was the Silmaril. But instead of being understanding about this momentary lapse and calmly trying to talk them out of it, Thingol moved straight to the time-honored Elvish haughtiness, demanded to know how people of such "uncouth race" dared make demands of him, refused to pay them at all, and ordered them out of his palace.

The offended Dwarves responded by killing him. And taking the Silmaril. And coming back later with all their friends and sacking his palace. All of which could have been avoided with a little bit of tact.

Answer: Eregion housed many Dwarvish refugees after the fall of Khazad-Dum to the Balrog

Galadriel did indeed spend some time in Eregion during her wanderings at the beginning of the Second Age. Possibly, Galadriel's noted pro-Dwarf tendencies were already present at this time and partly explain the good relationship between Eregion and Khazad-Dum. On the other hand, her happy memories of the Dwarf-friendly atmosphere in Eregion may themselves have caused her to develop those tendencies.

In any event, she and her husband Celeborn eventually left Eregion and founded Lothlorien, leaving Eregion under the undisputed rulership of Celebrimbor. As the estranged son of Curufin, he was indeed the grandson of Feanor, and inherited the family knack for handicrafts. Thus, he welcomed Sauron (who was, to be fair to Celebrimbor's intelligence, using a different name at the time) and eagerly accepted the Dark Lord's advice on how to make magic rings.

The falling-out between Celebrimbor and Sauron resulted in the utter devastation of Eregion, an event which took place over a thousand years before the fall of Khazad-Dum. There was, therefore, no Eregion left to accept Dwarvish refugees in the aftermath of that terrible event.

Answer: Thranduil

The interview between Thorin and Thranduil in Chapter 8 of "The Hobbit" is an example of how smoothly disputes can be worked out when two reasonable, open-minded people put their heads together and try to come to an understanding.

Answer: "If any of your people poke their foul beards in here again, they will fare the same."

"A plague on Dwarves" was from Legolas himself, displeased that Gimli, for some reason, objected to being singled out for blindfolding solely on the basis of his race. Next, Gimli met Celeborn who, despite knowing that Gandalf and Aragorn were the leaders of the fellowship, blamed Gimli and Gimli alone for the "stirring-up" of the Balrog and openly wished he had never let Gimli into his territory. Later, Gimli endured the heightism of Eomer (as you see, it's not just Elves who act this way), who casually threw in a reference to Gimli's stature as he threatened to kill him.

The "foul beards" comment, however, was not spoken to Gimli, but to Nar, the companion of Thror, by Azog the orc-lord of Moria, who had just taken Thror's life. It's not the same thing really - no one would expect an orc to behave like a decent person.

Despite the insults, Gimli continued to reach out to the Elvish community and his friendships with the Elves are the brightest star in the firmament of Elvo-Dwarvish relations - symbolized by Gimli's admission, the only Dwarf to be so-honored, to Valinor. Let us hope that the presence of a Dwarf in the Undying Lands began a new chapter in the sorry history of Elf-Dwarf diplomacy. Let us hope that Gimli is behaving himself over there. Let us hope that people such as Ingwe and Finarfin kept any thoughts about "uncouth races" to themselves when they met him. And finally, let us hope that he now gets to hang out with Galadriel whenever he wants.

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