Arcane Topic Warning: Part the Fifth

[Kuruharan]

Perhaps by way of downpayment the Dwarves have been accepting caravans of goods from the Elves for the 20 years it took to produce, and can now expect 50 years more of such shipments. These are Elves, remember, what is 70 years to them??

A reasonable theory and I think a number of things could have worked this way.

However, I'm not sure mithril was one of them. Remember, the Longbeards were the source of mithril. They were not in contact with the Elves of Beleriand. The Broadbeams and Firebeards were in the position of having to import mithril themselves, which would have cost them dear. I guess it comes down to I don't think that the Elves would have had the goods or the ability to pay enough of them to have trade in mithril occur in large volumes.

Another thing I wonder about is the sort of trade that went on between the Lonely Mountain, Laketown, Dale, and the Woodland Realm. It is kind of interesting that we are given a more specific list of commodities: toys, metalwork, architectural skill, food, wine, etc...