In the film The Hobbit, after the dragon Smaug is dead, Thranduil comes with some elves to Erebor and wants his heirlooms, the white gems of Lasgalen, back.
Why do the dwarves have these in the first place?
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2I assumed the dragon stole them... – KutuluMike Jan 08 '16 at 16:40
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The white gems were given to the dwarves so that the dwarven jewelers could set them into a necklace.
In the extended edition of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey the prologue is a little longer than in the theatrical edition (Bilbo's voiceover in italic, my comments between parentheses):
All would pay homage to him, even the great elven king, Thranduil.
(note the dwarf with the small box, on the left side of the image)
As the great wealth of the dwarves grew, their store of goodwill ran thin.
No one knows exactly what began the rift. The elves say the dwarves stole their treasure. The dwarves tell another tale. They say the elf king refused to give them their rightful pay.
(the box is shut, Thranduil and Thror exchange some angry looks, then the elves leave)
It is sad, Frodo, how old alliances can be broken, how friendships between people can be lost … and for what?
So, just as told in the book, there was a deal between the elves and the dwarves concerning the fashioning of some jewellery; the deal was not honoured by one side or the other (from Thorin's surprised look at Thror, I'm inclined to believe the elves' version), and as a result the gems were kept by the dwarves.
The difference from the book is that, instead of some generic "gold and silver", the deal is about a specific and well-recognizable piece of jewellery (with a characteristic musical theme playing every time the gems are mentioned), so that it's easier for the viewer to remember them.
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If I understand the movie version of events correctly, Thranduil gave his wife's gems to the dwarves so that they could fashion it into a grand necklace for his wife (or perhaps repair the existing necklace?). The dwarves decided to keep the jewels because of their beauty, and instead offered Thranduil the box of diamonds as recompense. Thranduil refused and left. – Omegacron Oct 03 '19 at 19:30
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@Omegacron I'm not fully convinced ... If the box contains the gems of Lasgalen, then the images of the scene are compatible with both the elves' version of the story ("the dwarves kept our gems and refused to give them back") and the dwarves' one ("the elves didn't pay us [enough] for our work so we kept the gems"). But if the box contains the dwarves' counter-offer ("rather than being paid for our workmanship, we pay you for the gems instead") they cannot just claim that the elf king refused to give them their rightful pay. – lfurini Jun 20 '20 at 12:01
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1The Hobbit (the book) had no such subplot. However, this is clearly inspired by the tale of the Nauglamír in The Silmarillion. In brief: the Nauglamír was a necklace of Dwarven make, and Thingol commissioned some Dwarves from Nogrod to set the Silmaril in his possession in the Nauglamír. Lust for the Silmaril caused the Dwarves to try to claim the finished product as their own work, and Thingol sent them back with no pay. (1/2) – chepner Jun 20 '20 at 18:49
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1In The Hobbit, this was one of many allusions to his other work, and served as the explanation for the later grudge between the two races. The film makers, having no rights to material from The Silmarillion, substituted a very similar scenario between Thror and Thranduil to explain the grudge. (2/2) – chepner Jun 20 '20 at 18:52
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@chepner That's exactly what I thought. And then I wondered if PJ had stepped outside the scope of what he had rights to from the Tolkien estate. – Spencer Jun 20 '20 at 19:59