Elves and dwarves are infamously unfriendly toward each other in The Lord of the Rings - so why are they getting along famously in Amazon's The Rings of Power? The Lord of the Rings is packed with ill-tempered rivalries - Gondor and Rohan, Samwise Gamgee and Gollum, Aragorn and iron helmets - but none endure quite like the bad blood between elves and dwarves. Although Gimli and Legolas become lifelong friends eventually, they enter Frodo's Fellowship brimming with the bad feeling of their respective peoples. As both sides throw around prejudiced stereotypes, Legolas and Gimli's mini-feud encapsulates a wider dislike between elves and dwarves in The Lord of the Rings.
In trailer footage for Amazon's The Rings of Power TV series, the racial dynamic looks quite different. Robert Aramayo's Elrond is shown taking a guided tour through Khazad-dûm, meeting Durin IV for some unknown purpose. Elrond seems to have been sent by High King Gil-Galad, possibly with obtaining mithril in mind. Whatever Elrond wants, elves and dwarves happily trusting each other feels contradictory to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Why are elves and dwarves friends in The Rings of Power? And what changes between now and Frodo's era?
The history between elves and dwarves in Middle-earth is long and complex, but The Rings of Power's Elrond receiving a warm welcome in Moria aligns with J.R.R. Tolkien's mythology. Beef between races actually extends back to the First Age, so the feud is already alive when The Rings of Power's Second Age timeline begins. And although relations between races were cool/non-existent in general, the dwarf-hate came mostly from Teleri Sindar elves (of which Legolas was a descendant). The realm of Eregion proved a rare exception to this rule during the Second Age. Populated largely by Noldor, Eregion forged a healthy relationship with the nearby dwarves of Khazad-dûm, trading and cooperating freely, but after Eregion's destruction, the races grew steadily distant through The Lord of the Rings' Third Age. Since The Rings of Power's dwarves are mostly Second Age Moria-dwellers, however, they'll have a much more friendly attitude toward elves.
Why Did Elves & Dwarves Hate Each Other In The Lord Of The Rings
Middle-earth's elvish and dwarven populations got along more or less fine until one particular incident. During J.R.R. Tolkien's First Age, the High King of the Teleri elves, Thingol, hired his dwarven friends to construct a beautiful necklace fit to house a sacred Silmaril. Such cooperation was common in these times, and elves would regularly pay dwarves for their services in construction and smithery. Alas, the dwarves' love of jewels overcame them, and having crafted Thingol's necklace (now named Nauglamír), they decided this work of art made by dwarvish hands belonged in dwarvish hands. Thingol responded with insults, and a bloody battle erupted. The dwarves killed Thingol and stole the Nauglamír, but were assailed on their return journey and lost the treasure to Beren. The few dwarf survivors told stories of this day to their people, casting blame upon treacherous elves. For their part, the elves became forever distrustful of dwarves.
Thingol's death marked the end of elf-dwarf relations in Middle-earth, but the true roots of this rivalry extend as far back as the dwarves' creation. Whereas elves and men were brought into being by Eru Ilúvatar, the god of Tolkien's mythology, the dwarves were secretly created by the Vala known as Aulë. In his mercy, Eru permitted the dwarves to exist, but insisted they remain asleep until after the elves had awoken. Eru also told Aulë, "often strife shall arise between thine and mine," confirming elves and dwarves were destined to clash due to the differing nature of their creations. Sure enough, elves treated dwarves as lesser beings from the beginning, and although the Nauglamír ignited that animosity into something greater, another trigger would've taken its place had Thingol chosen to craft the necklace himself rather than outsourcing.