Posted: April 16, 2000 at 00:43:52: by Jim Gregors
: The ill-will between Elves and Dwarves was largely one-sided. The Dwarves appear to have harbored some sort of racial grudge against the Elves because the Sindar hunted the Petty-Dwarves. Elves in general tried to get along with the Dwarves and most did not harbor any bad feelings toward them.: The business with Gimli in Lorien and with Gandalf and Gloin in Imladris has been taken out of context so many times it's gotten to the point of near-parody. Many people just seem to want emnity between Elves and Dwarves, even though it's not there. : Tolkien said in one letter that these races were usually hostile to one another -- but he never substantiated that in his stories. Most of his accounts of Elf-dwarf relations show their friendships and alliances, which sometimes lasted for thousands of years. There was only ever one (documented) war between Elves and Dwarves, and that was a localized event, which one group of Dwarves openly opposed. Yet the ill will generated by this localized event (between the Sindar and Dwarves of Belegost?) lasted over 6000 years, which would go a long way toward explaining the behavior of both Thranduil and Celeborn during their dealings with the Folk of Durin (although Durin's Folk were in no way involved in the theft of the Nauglamir). OTOH, the relationship of the Dwarves of Nogrod (in the FA) and the Dwarves of Khazad-dum (in the SA) with the Noldor (and even the Sindar - especially Eol) seems to have been rather exemplary - both kindreds seem to have benefited greatly from their relationship.
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