The Rings of Power: The wars of the Elves and Dwarves in the First Age are not forgotten – Durin’s Joke

• Elves and dwarves are known to be enemies in the Tolkien Legendarium.
• However, in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Elrond and Durin IV share a friendship.
• But where does the enmity between the two peoples come from in the first place?

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In the second episode of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” we see for the first time a true friendship between elves and dwarves. For example, Elrond (Robert Aramayo) visits Prince Durin IV (Owain Arthur) in the dwarf city of Khazad-dum to ask him a favor. But beyond that, elves and dwarves seem to be enemies in the series and also in the “Lord of the Rings” films.

Durin’s little joke from episode 5 illustrates the difficult past of the peoples

The enmity of the two oldest peoples of Middle-earth has so far only been seen between the lines in “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”. In Episode 5, Durin reveals a sad story at Gil-Galad’s table, symbolic of the long conflicts between the two races in the First Age.

The table at which Durin IV sits as an envoy from Khazad-dum along with Elrond and other Elves is said to be a rare stone used by the dwarves for their tombstones and memorials. Durin is also hinting to the High King that the elves unlawfully stole it from the dwarves.

Durin later admits to Elrond that he only made up the story so that he could get his wife Disa a new table. Nevertheless, from Gil-Galad’s reaction and his willingness to leave the table and apologize to Durin, we can infer the long feuds between the dwarves and elves.

Durin, of course, knows of the enmities and transgressions of both races in bygone days of the First Age. He uses this to “hit” Gil-Galad for his arrogance and wring the pretty stone table from him. Gil-Galad, on the other hand, also knows that it would theoretically have been entirely possible for the table to be an ancient relic of the dwarves.

In their anger at the dwarves for killing King Thingol, the elves of Beleriand might well have stolen valuable dwarven artifacts. This must have happened to some items, just not the piece of granite they are all sitting on.

Even when the time of open hostility between the elves and dwarves is over, the two races still often meet with resentment or even hatred. But just as often with affection and loyalty. The relationship is always ambivalent and swings in both directions. Durin himself is the best example of this.

He is not too bad about literally ripping off what he considers an arrogant Elven ruler, but he is also willing to help his loyal friend Elrond whenever possible and even to support him against his own father Durin III. This attitude of the two races, who do not forget but forgive old sacrileges, will be decisive in the coming conflict in Eriador. For in order to defeat Sauron, the elves and dwarves will have to work and fight together as closely as they have in a long time.

This is revealed by the Tolkien Legendarium about the quarrel between dwarves and elves

In fact, Elves and Dwarves mistrusted each other in Tolkien’s Legendarium as well. Only Elrond shows his hospitality to the dwarves in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. But this is no coincidence.

The enmity of elves and dwarves broke out as early as the First Age. It can actually be traced back to the creator god Eru Illúvatar. While he created the elves, one of the Valar secretly created the dwarves. Illúvatar condoned it, but prophesied a certain enmity.

From then on, the dwarves were treated as a lesser life form by the elves and the final enmity broke out when an elven king, Thingol, commissioned the dwarves to process jewels into a necklace. However, the dwarves liked the necklace so much that they decided it should be given to the dwarves themselves.

Thingol saw this as a betrayal and kept the necklace for himself. The dwarves broke in, took the necklace and slew Thingol. However, the dwarves were caught escaping and killed. Since then, dwarves have considered elves to be insidious and elves have mistrusted dwarves.

The first season of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” has been running on Amazon Prime Video since September 2, 2022. Season 2 of the “Lord of the Rings” series was confirmed even before the start of the series.