The Rings of Power: Where does the enmity between the elves and dwarves in “The Lord of the Rings” come from?

• 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?

The Lord of the Rings – The Rings of Power: Watch Now❯

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.

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. In the Second Age, the Elf and the Dwarfs were closely related.

The Lord of the Rings: The Friendship of the Elves with the Dwarves of Khazad-dums

In particular, the dwarves of Khazad-dum and the elves of the kingdom of Eregion seem to get along well. The kingdom was geographically very close to Khazad-dum, so it was a good idea to trade and support each other. Elrond, sent from the realm of Lindon, was also friendly to the dwarves.

But appearances are deceptive. Even if Elrond and Prince Durin IV are friends, the atmosphere between the elves and dwarves is rather tense. A friendship between the two peoples is therefore an exception. As a functional community, people come to terms with each other and benefit from each other, but that is still a long way from real friendship.

The elven kingdom of Eregion was crushed by Sauron in the Second Age of Middle-earth, increasing the tension between the elves and the dwarves. But how did their enmity arise in the first place?

The Lord of the Rings: Where does the enmity between Elves and Dwarves come from?

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.

Henceforth the dwarves were treated by the elves as a lesser life form 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.