The Dwarves against Elves matchup is fairly balanced, and the feud between the two has existed since the First Age of Middle-earth, while the
Battle for Middle Earth II is set in the very late Third Age.
Introduction
The conflict between the two races started from the creation of Dwarves, before Ages were measured. Dwarves were made by the Vala Aulë (one of the gods), and they were like-minded to him; they were great smiths, and cared for things of the earth, metals and stone, delving and building, not for nature and trees as the Elves would. His wife Yavanna, the goddess of nature, cared deeply for the trees and all living things, and had Guardians for the trees made, as she feared the Dwarves would care not for them and destroy them, so the Ents were created, the Shepherds of the Trees.
The most famous conflict between the two races occurred over the Nauglamír, the Necklace of the Dwarves, made for Finrod Felagund, Elven King of Nargothrond. It was golden necklace with many gems upon it, said to be the most famous and beautiful of all their works from the Elder Days (First Age). Nargothrond was eventually sacked by the dragon Glaurung and orcs, sent by Morgoth. (The evil god, Sauron's boss at the time). The Nauglamír was later found in the wreckage and given to the Elf King Thingol, ruler of the forest realm of Doriath. He decided to remake it, and to set at its center a Silmaril, a jewel of legendary quality, only 3 were made (The light of a Silmaril is captured in the Phial of Galadrial that Frodo and Sam use to fend off Shelob.). He called the great smiths from Dwarves of Nogrod to the capital, Menegroth, a.k.a. the Thousand Caves, to remake it. Once they set eyes on the work of their ancestors they wanted it for their own. They worked on it for a long time, purposing to take it for themselves, and Thingol often went into the smithies they were using in Menegroth to watch. When they finished, he was alone with the Dwarves, and he demanded for it to be given to him, and they refused, arguing that Finrod who it was meant for was dead, so it belonged to them, the makers. He angrily ordered them out of his kingdom, with no payment for their work. The Dwarves who were filled with greed for the Nauglamír with the Silmaril upon it, angrily killed him there. Then the Dwarves fled with the Nauglamír, but many were killed, the Elves regained it, and only two Dwarves escaped, returning to Nogrod.
When the Dwarves of Nogrod heard of the death of their greatest craftsmen they were enraged, and made a great army bent on vengeance. They returned to Doriath, the army marching to Menegroth. The Elves were so dismayed at its size that they fled into the Thousand Caves, and there the Dwarves fought the Elves of Doriath. Both races lost many warriors but in the end, the Dwarves were victorious and Menegroth was ruined. However, some Elves escaped with the Nauglamír, and brought word of the great battle to the nearby Elves of Ossiriand, who quickly gathered their forces and ambushed the treasure-laden Dwarves. Burdened and unprepared, many died, and the rest fled toward Mount Dolmed, a pass on the way to their home of Nogrod. There they were assailed by Ents and forced into the Blue Mountains, ending this chapter of the battle between the Dwarves and the Elves.
This tale is adapted from the book
The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkein, edited by Christopher Tolkein
