[Finwe]

There weren't specifically any official wars between the Elves and the Dwarves, but a harsh enmity did exist between those two races. It all has to do with certain events that took place in the First Age and the way that each race saw each other.

Firstly, the Elf vs. Dwarf situation dates back far into the First Age. The way it all started was, in Beleriand (a now-destroyed peninsula-type that was attached to Lindon), there was a King named Thingol, who ruled the Kingdom of Doriath. His wife was Melian (a Maia) and his daughter was Luthien (yes, THE Luthien). Luthien, being the wonderfully intelligent Elf that she was, fell in love with a ragged, Aragorn-type Man named Beren. Thingol, like all fathers, thought Beren definitely wasn't good enough for his daughter, and said that unless Beren got him a Silmaril from the Crown of Morgoth, he wouldn't let him marry Luthien.

What is a Silmaril, you ask? And who is Morgoth? I'm getting to that. Morgoth (a.k.a. Melkor) was one of the Valar, but he rebelled and got kicked out. Ever since then, he generally wanted to cause death, anguish, pain, destruction, etc. etc. to all the Valar and the Elves (who he was jealous of). In Aman, a certain bright, beautiful Elf had been born, by the name of Fëanor. He was the son of King Finwë, the High King of the Noldor. Fëanor became the best and the brightest of the Elves, and a very good craftsman, to boot. He created three holy jewels, the Silmarils, and filled them with radiance from the Two Trees of Aman. To make a long story short, Morgoth got very jealous, and along with the help of Ungoliant (the mother of all spiders, literally) destroyed the Two Trees, killed Finwë, stole the Silmarils, and hightailed it over to Beleriand, more specifically, to his fortress in Utumno (in the far north of Beleriand). Fëanor, and his seven sons, got highly ticked off, swore a great Oath to follow Morgoth to the end of the world in order to avenge Finwë and retrieve the Silmarils. They persuaded most of the Noldor to follow them, and crossed over into Beleriand. That particularly joyous occasion is called the Rebellion of the Noldor by all the historians (I wonder why!).

Anyway, Beren, Luthien, and an extremely intelligent dog named Huan (who had belonged to Oromë the Vala at some point) made it all the way to Thangorodrim (in Utumno) and stole the Silmaril from Morgoth. Beren, being the intelligent guy that he was, managed to get his hand (with the Silmaril) bitten off by Carcharoth, the watchwolf of Morgoth. Carcharoth went crazy, and while rampaging through the land, made his way into Doriath. Meanwhile, Beren and Luthien made it back to Doriath, and the Hunt for the Silmaril was organized. Thingol, Beren, Beleg, and other Marchwardens of Doriath went along. They managed to kill Carcharoth and retrieve the Silmaril, but Beren (along with Huan) managed to get himself killed. Luthien died soon after out of grief. The two made it all the way to the Halls of Mandos, where the Dead wait, and persuaded Mandos to let them go back again. This time around, Luthien would be mortal (She was an Elf in her "past life" and thus, immortal) and the two agreed to that deal. Beren and Luthien came back, and settled in Dor Gyrth i Chuinar ("Land of the Dead that Live") on the outskirts of Doriath.

That was how Thingol managed to get his hands on the Silmaril. Now, the Silmaril had certain special powers, that caused its owner to hunger for it with a very possessive greed (quite like the One Ring). He decided that he wanted the Silmaril put onto a necklace. He engaged the services of a certain group of Dwarves, and things went well, for a while. After the Dwarves were done, they brought the necklace to Thingol (who stupidly waited for them in his treasury) and that was when things started to go downhill. The Silmaril had stirred up feelings of greed in the Dwarves, and they were very arrogant and haughty in demanding their payment from Thingol. Thingol, on the other hand, upon whom the Silmaril had also done its little "job," decided that the Dwarves were being too arrogant for his taste and rudely refused them any payment. Needless to say, hot words were exchanged, and the Dwarves offed Thingol right there in his treasury. They grabbed the Silmaril, caused a great deal of destruction in Doriath, and made their way out. As they were crossing a certain stream (later to be named Rathloriel) Thingol's son-in-law Beren, along with a group of Green-elves and Ents (according to some stories) ambushed them, and got the Silmaril back. The treasure was drowned in the river, giving its name "Treasure-Bed" (I think). Ever since that day, the Elves hated the Dwarves (for killing their King) and the Dwarves hated the Elves (for cheating them out of their payment).

Secondly, the Elves also hate the Dwarves because they believe that the Dwarves take from the Earth without giving anything back. The main function of the Elves as a race was to guard, protect, and cherish their surroundings. Whatever they did, they made sure to interfere with Nature as little as possible. The Dwarves, on the other hand, loved mining, digging, etc., procedures that the Elves considered invasive and abusive to the Earth. The Dwarves say that they only take what the Earth offers them, and that they don't put undue stress on the Earth, but the Elves believe otherwise.

(I believe that lengthy explanation should suffice. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img])

[ November 03, 2003: Message edited by: Finwe ]