Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for the first two episodes of The Rings of Power."Speak, friend, and enter," reads the sign at the Doors of Durin in The Fellowship of the Ring. Let's just say that, after The Rings of Power, that line will be read in a completely different way. The second episode in the new Prime Video series, "Adrift," sees a beautiful and rather unusual friendship depicted on screen, the one between the Elf Elrond (Robert Aramayo) and Dwarf Prince Durin (Owain Arthur). Everyone at least a little familiar with The Lord of the Rings lore knows that Elves and Dwarves historically do not get along, so how come those two characters share such a strong bond?
Unfortunately, not much is known about how Elrond and Durin met and became friends, as that seems to be a plot point still to be further developed in future episodes and seasons of The Rings of Power. Author J.R.R. Tolkien has a famous quote about how his tales and "cycles should be linked to a majestic whole, and yet leave scope for other minds and hands, wielding paint and music and drama." Back then, the creator of the Middle-earth Legendarium considered this idea "absurd" and didn't think it was feasible. Well, look how far we've come, sir, as we are doing just that!
But not knowing how exactly it was that Elrond and Durin became friends doesn't mean there is nothing to be said about this relationship. In fact, there is a lot. The very idea of two characters so different getting along is funny by itself, and is a nice callback to the dynamics between Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) in the books and in Peter Jackson's trilogy of films. What we definitely know was how the animosity between Elves and Dwarves started, and how the relationship between the Elven-smith realm of Eregion and the Dwarven kingdom of Khazad-dûm would grow with it.
The Elves are among the first creatures to inhabit Arda, the Legendarium's equivalent to Earth. They were created by Eru Ilúvatar, the equivalent to God, and have been here from the start. The Dwarves, on the other hand, were created by a Valar (the spirits who shaped and rules the world itself) named Aulë. It's his beard that the Dwarves cry to all the time, by the way. So there is already an imbalance as to how they see themselves given who created each of them. That's not everything, unfortunately.
During the First Age, a very powerful and not-so-wise Elf named Fëanor carved three jewels of unspoken beauty and light, the Silmarils. Their tales are briefly mentioned when Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) shows Elrond Fëanor's Hammer in Eregion, but that's a story for another time. What's important is that an Elven king named Thingol desired one of the Silmarils, and commissioned the Dwarves of Belegost a necklace that could hold one the gems. The Dwarves indulged, but they produced such a gorgeous necklace, they decided to keep it, instead of giving it to Thingol. All-out war between them followed, resulting in the death of many Dwarves and Thingol himself.
One could even argue that the Dwarves didn't hold their end of the bargain, but, really, after a whole age there's surely been a lot of water under that bridge. The enmity continued to a point where both sides didn't even care anymore what the problem was, they didn't like each other just because. But the Elves of Lindon and Eregion never seemed to really care for such a petty dispute. If the goal is to fight a common threat to all Middle-earth, there is no reason for gratuitous animosity based on something someone else has done a long time ago in a distant realm. Come on, guys.
That's where The Rings of Power fits. The main characters on the Elvish side are High-King Gil-Galad (Benjamin Walker), Elrond and Celebrimbor, three characters that look a lot to the future instead of the past. Gil-Galad is interested in defeating the threat of Sauron, Elrond is a naturally gifted diplomat and Celebrimbor is a smith who yearns to produce things of beauty and power. When Celebrimbor's next project requires a workforce more skilled than any ever assembled, Elrond not only knows the Dwarves are the right people for the job, he also understands the political benefits of this collaboration: "the best opportunity any Dwarf-prince has had in a generation". Opportunity for what? For working together in an age-defining project and establishing a strong bond of friendship among two estranged peoples.
And the relationship between Elves and Dwarves does blossom. Eventually, Celebrimbor will decide his project should be the forging of the Rings of Power, after being convinced by a foreigner called Annatar, who is really Sauron in his fair Elvish form. This venture is the villain's attempt at ruling Elves, Dwarves and Humans through these rings, into which some of his malice is poured. But on Celebrimbor's part, there was a lot of good will. So much so, he gifted the first of the seven Dwarven rings to Durin III (Peter Mullan), Prince Durin's father and King of Khazad-Dûm. Another great symbol of this friendship are the Doors of Durin, built by Celebrimbor with the Dwarf Narvi, to facilitate trade between Eregion and Khazad-Dûm.
Unfortunately, this story does not end well, as the series will certainly show. After he realizes the Rings of Power didn't hold any effect over the Dwarves and that the Elvish Ringbearers were strong and wise enough not to fall under his influence, Sauron abandons his Annatar persona and decides to attack Eregion with his armies. Both Lindon and Khazad-Dûm come to aid the Elven-smith realm, but are not successful. Celebrimbor is captured and tortured by Sauron, the Dwarves give Elrond and his host of warriors just enough time to retreat into the Valley of Imladris (where he would establish Rivendell) and King Durin III would close the Doors of Durin and seal his Kingdom.
For the Elves, the war against Sauron would mean the end of the realms of Lindon and Eregion. For the Dwarves of Khazad-Dûm, the loss of a powerful ally and shutting themselves off from that part of the world. They would help in the War of the Last Alliance, but decay would fall upon them when they awake the Balrog that has taken residence deep in the roots of the Misty Mountains, well into the Third Age.
Still, the friendship between Elrond and Durin is a welcome plot line in The Rings of Power, and a nice way to fill the gaps left by Tolkien. Despite the epic battles and heroic deeds constantly mentioned in the books and films, The Lord of the Rings is a tale that is based on the simplest things, and friendship is one of the most beautiful of these.