Dwarves vs Elves

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Groin Redbeard

What do we know of Azaghal? Not very much I'm afraid, the only thing that we can judge him by is by his final moments and that is not anything to go on. If we judged Thingol in his final moments we would indeed think him a fool, or at least I would.

You missed my point entirely, I am not judging Azaghal in regards to his brave last stand; however, I do question the Dwarves under his command who cared more for taking his body off the field and retiring from battle than finishing the fight (and avenging their Lord, which has a precedent elsewhere in Dwarvish history).

As far as Thingol, he was rude and brash and behaved like any absolute monarch (which is not usually a good thing), but the Dwarves had already decided to steal the Silmaril and Thingol divined their purpose. Killing a king was long considered reprehensible even among kingdoms who were at war with each other (Tolkien, seemingly an avid monarchist, would most likely be appalled by such an act of lese-majesty). A truly sly King would have seemed to acquiesce; but as soon as he was able, call his guards and slaughter each and every Dwarf without mercy. It doesn't really matter, it would have led to war in any case.