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Sura
Registered User
Jan 30 2013, 6:37pm
Post #1 of 15
(3768 views)
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Any truth behind the rumour?
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Hello, this is my first post, so please bear with me.
I have come here seeking knowledge because I can't remember this ever in my own reading but hoped someone might shed some light on the subject. I have seen several debates claiming that Thranduil was an oathbreaker/treaty breaker when he did not come to the dwarves' aid in the attack by Smaug. Is there anywhere in either letters, notes, or the books themselves where any sort of treaty or pact was made between the dwarves and elves prior to the events in the Hobbitt?
Thank you.
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Sura
Registered User
Jan 30 2013, 7:35pm
Post #3 of 15
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Thank you very much for the information. It's been quite a few years since I read The Hobbit (minus the extra t my keyboard enjoys adding) and I could not remember any such thing.
(This post was edited by Sura on Jan 30 2013, 7:35pm)
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Tolkien Forever
Gondor
Jan 30 2013, 8:36pm
Post #4 of 15
(2699 views)
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PJ fantasy.
Does not exist in REAL Middle-earth.
Period.
Like much of PJ's Versions. 
The Ultimate Tolkien Trivia Quiz: http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=so-you-want-to-be-tolkien-geek
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CuriousG
Half-elven
Jan 30 2013, 9:02pm
Post #5 of 15
(2666 views)
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What would an Elf charge have accomplished, anyway?
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Other than barbecued Elf. Dwarves had been most effective in resisting dragons in past battles because they wore war masks (in Beleriand at least) that dampened the effect of the flames. My feeling is that if the Dwarves couldn't defeat Smaug at Erebor, the Elves couldn't either.
Besides, book-wise, Smaug attacked suddenly, and the Elf-kingdom wasn't next door. I don't see how the Elves could have shown up to see the initial assault in the first place.
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CuriousG
Half-elven
Jan 30 2013, 9:02pm
Post #6 of 15
(2608 views)
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PS. Welcome to the Reading Room, Sura./
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Morthoron
Gondor
Feb 3 2013, 2:58am
Post #7 of 15
(2875 views)
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PJ's poorly written fan-fiction...
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And having Thranduil riding a stag was one step too close to making him a Gary-Stu. I was surprised there was no violet-eyed elfess with a pink pony.
Please visit my blog...The Dark Elf File...a slighty skewed journal of music and literary comment, fan-fiction and interminable essays.
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macfalk
Valinor
Feb 5 2013, 10:35am
Post #9 of 15
(2517 views)
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The greatest adventure is what lies ahead.
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macfalk
Valinor
Feb 5 2013, 10:36am
Post #10 of 15
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Why is Thranduil riding a stag/moose whatever
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More over the top than having ponies, dogs and sheep serving dinner and making the tables for the dwarves?
The greatest adventure is what lies ahead.
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squire
Half-elven
Feb 5 2013, 9:10pm
Post #12 of 15
(2645 views)
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I see his point about the last-minute addition of the Petty-Dwarves to the legends of the Naugrim, as being Tolkien's attempt to square the circle of legendary Dwarf-Elf hostility coexisting with millennia of Dwarf-Elf cooperation. But I don't think it really improves things - it messes them up. The Petty-Dwarves concept annoyingly overlaps with that of the "tame savages" Druedain, who were also redeveloped for the First Age legends following the writing of The Lord of the Rings, and in no very useful fashion either. I feel that way about a lot of Tolkien's output in the last decade of so of his writings about Middle-earth. He suspected as much, too, I think.
I have never had any problem keeping the Elf-King in The Hobbit separate from Thingol in my head, even though I'm aware that the former was certainly originally modeled on the latter. The latter-day attempts at achieving total consistency among all his legends seems to have crippled Tolkien, and it hasn't done us fans much good either in my opinion. The stories belong together, obviously, but loosely, as it were. There's really no need for it all to be rejiggered until it meets the requirements of a Master Plan that was only devised after the facts of the writings.
squire online:
RR Discussions: The Valaquenta, A Shortcut to Mushrooms, and Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit
Lights! Action! Discuss on the Movie board!: 'A Journey in the Dark'. and 'Designing The Two Towers'.
Footeramas: The 3rd (and NOW the 4th too!) TORn Reading Room LotR Discussion; and "Tolkien would have LOVED it!"
squiretalk introduces the J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: A Reader's Diary
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Nira
Lorien
Feb 5 2013, 10:17pm
Post #13 of 15
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"Why, to think of it, we're in the same tale still! It's going on. Don't the great tales never end?" -Samwise
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imin
Valinor
Feb 6 2013, 1:54am
Post #14 of 15
(2643 views)
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What is wrong with the petty dwarves
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that makes them annoying for you and messes things up?
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ElendilTheShort
Gondor
Feb 7 2013, 10:11am
Post #15 of 15
(3271 views)
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The timing and nature of Thranduils arrival
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made no sense, at best it could be explained as a a coincidental visit, but why such an armed host of warriors?
The elf/dwarf conflict can largely be explained by the murder of Thingol and the taking of the Silmaril. He was one of three racial forefathers, not simply a ruler of a kingdom at a given point in history. He would be especially reverential as the father of Luthien who whose life, deeds and legacy were one of the principal matters of histories according to Tolkien. Further cause of racial conflict is likely due to the nature of the dwarves creation. Yavanna told Aule there would be strife between her creations and his and by extension as the Elves are so attuned to all aspects of Arda in accordance with the Music of creation and the dwarves are excluded from this then strife naturally arises.
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