Summary

• J. R. R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion described how the Elves and Dwarves went to war with each other in the First Age.
• The Dwarves of Nogrod refused to part with a necklace that the Elven King of Doriath had commissioned from them.
• This led to an argument that culminated in the murder of Thingol, sparking a war.

The Elves and Dwarves of Middle-earth had a tumultuous relationship. J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit novels and Peter Jackson's film adaptations showed the discord between their cultures. This often came in the form of minor interactions, such as the insults that Legolas and Gimli traded, but other times, it exploded into larger-scale conflict. For example, the Elves of the Woodland Realm and the Dwarves of Erebor nearly fought each other in the Battle of the Five Armies from The Hobbit. However, when the armies of Orcs and Wargs marched on Erebor, the Elves and Dwarves set aside their differences to fight a common enemy.

Though this ended without unnecessary bloodshed, that was not always the case in Middle-earth's history. During the First Age, the Elves and Dwarves had a quarrel that led to a far more violent ending. In The Silmarillion, Tolkien described a series of battles between the Elves of Doriath and the Dwarves of Nogrod. Though he did not officially classify this conflict as a war, it had devastating repercussions for both parties. It led to the death of a king, the loss of a great treasure trove, and the destruction of an entire kingdom. As with so many conflicts in the world of The Lord of the Rings, it all began with a piece of magical jewelry.

Greed Turned the Elves and Dwarves Against Each Other

The conflict began with Elu Thingol, the great-great-grandfather of Elrond from The Lord of the Rings. He was the King of Doriath, an Elven realm in the land of Beleriand. He lived in the underground city of Menegroth, known as the Thousand Caves in the Common Speech. His daughter, Lúthien, was in love with a mortal man named Beren. Thingol did not approve of this, as he wanted his daughter to marry a fellow Elf, so he sent Beren on a seemingly impossible mission to earn his respect: stealing one of the Silmarils from the Dark Lord Morgoth. Against all odds, Beren managed to do so, although he lost a hand in the process. He delivered it to Thingol, who reluctantly gave Beren his blessing to marry Lúthien.

It seemed that everything had worked out, but the Silmaril would go on to cause many more problems. Thingol wanted to place the Silmaril within a golden necklace called Nauglamír so that he could wear it. The Dwarves of Nogrod were renowned jewelers and metalworkers, and they had originally created Nauglamír for another Elven king, Finrod. After making its way to a dragon's hoard, the necklace eventually passed to Thingol. He hired the Dwarves of Nogrod to combine the necklace with the Silmaril. The Dwarves were happy to do so, but once they were done, they did not want to part with it. They claimed that it was because they were the rightful owners of Nauglamír, but in truth, it was simply because they were so enamored by the beauty of their creation that they wanted to keep it for themselves.

The Dwarves Lied to Cover Their Violence

• Nogrod meant "Underground Dwelling of Dwarves" in the Elvish language of Sindarin, while Belegost meant "Great Fortress."
• In The Silmarillion, Tolkien translated Thingol's name as "Grey-cloak."
• Thingol's wife was Melian, one of the Maiar.

This infuriated Thingol, and he insulted the Dwarves. In the section "Of the Ruin of Doriath" from The Silmarillion, he shouted, "How do ye of uncouth race dare to demand aught of me, Elu Thingol, Lord of Beleriand, whose life began by the waters of Cuiviénen years uncounted ere the fathers of the stunted people awoke?" The Dwarves of Middle-earth were a proud people, so this affront -- combined with their desire for Nauglamír -- prompted them to murder Thingol. The other Elves of Doriath immediately attacked the Dwarves and took back Nauglamír. Most of the Dwarves died, but two of Thingol's murderers escaped. They returned home and lied about what had happened; they claimed that the Elves tried to kill them so that Thingol would not need to pay them for their services.

Unsurprisingly, their fellow Dwarves of Nogrod wanted revenge. They asked the Dwarves of Belegost to aid them, but their northern neighbors were more level-headed and did not want to risk war with the Elves. They tried to dissuade the Dwarves of Nogrod but to no avail. In the year 503 of the First Age -- thousands of years before The Lord of the Rings -- the Dwarves of Nogrod marched to Doriath and assaulted Menegroth. This was the Battle of the Thousand Caves, which Tolkien described as "a thing most grievous among the sorrowful deeds of the Elder Days." Both sides took heavy casualties, but in the end, the Dwarves were victorious. They reclaimed Nauglamír, and while they were there, they stole much of the Elves' other treasure. They began the journey back towards Nogrod, but their ill-gotten gains slowed them down.

Help for the Elves Came From an Unexpected Source

• Some Dwarves from the clan of Durin's Folk settled in the Blue Mountains after Smaug forced them to leave Erebor.
• The dragon who possessed Nauglamír before Thingol was Glaurung, the first of all dragons in Tolkien's legendarium.
• Nauglamír contained many gems in addition to the Silmaril.

Beren and Lúthien were not in Menegroth during the battle; after their marriage and temporary death, they resided in Tol Galen, a river island near the Blue Mountains. A messenger from Doriath went to Tol Galen to tell Beren and Lúthien what had happened to Thingol. Hoping to avenge his father-in-law, Beren gathered the Green Elves of Tol Galen. Since the Dwarves of Nogrod were not moving quickly, Beren and the Elves were able to cut them off at the pass. Near the river Gelion, they ambushed the Dwarves, beginning the Battle of Sarn Athrad. Tolkien wrote, "Suddenly all the woods were filled with the sound of elven-horns, and shafts sped upon [the Dwarves] from every side. There very many of the Dwarves were slain in the first onset; but some escaping from the ambush held together." These escapees tried to flee eastward to the Blue Mountains, but the Ents, who had their own long-standing rivarly with Dwarves, stopped them. They forced the Dwarves of Nogrod into "the shadowy woods of Ered Lindon," from which they never returned.

The Dwarves' unnamed leader cursed the treasure with his dying breath, so Beren only took Nauglamír and dumped the rest into the river. That was the end of the war, but it set the stage for further tragedy. Beren gave the necklace to Lúthien, who wore it for the rest of her life and passed it down to her son, Dior. Unfortunately, the presence of Nauglamír continued to make Menegroth a target. Just three years later, the sons of Fëanor attacked Doriath in an attempt to claim the Silmaril. This was the Second Kinslaying, named after another of the bloodiest conflicts in Elven history, and it destroyed the entire kingdom. Dior's young daughter, Elwing, escaped with the Silmaril, but it would continue to attract pain and destruction for nearly another century. The Battle of the Thousand Caves and the Battle of Sarn Athrad made up one of the shorter conflicts in Tolkien's legendarium, but the ramifications of this unofficial war rippled throughout Middle-earth's history, all the way to the time of The Lord of the Rings.