9/25/2023 0 Comments Dark and deep, ever deeper, ever darker. the dwarves, in their greed, awoke shadow and flame.Haldir was referring specifically to Lothlorien, which certainly isolated itself from Dwarves and Men and even from other Elves, to an extent. My only reasoning is he meant the Elves of Lothlórien had no dealings with the dwarves, whereas the Elves of Mirkwood (led by Thranduil in The Hobbit) did. But that's not the same as "having dealings" with the Dwarves, and it's especially not the same as opening their home up to a Dwarf willingly. In The Hobbit they even end up being allies in the Battle of the Five Armies. Obviously they know the Dwarves still exist, and when the elves to happen to venture out into the world, they probably encounter them on occasion. However, since the Dark Days, the Elves, and particularly the elves of Lorien, have had no further "dealings" with the Dwarves. Presumably, that required Dwarves to frequently visit the Elven economic and political centers, like Lothlorien, so seeing a Dwarf wandering around Celeborn's home on occasion wouldn't be that odd. Prior to the Dark Days, the Elves and Dwarves (while not exactly friendly) had an economic relationship, primarily trading Dwarven metal for food they couldn't grow themselves. Most likely, Tolkien meant it in a more specific case, of "had business dealings" with the Dwarves. These days when you read that line, you probably interpret that as "had to deal with the Dwarves", or "interacted with the Dwarves", or something else. Part of the issue, I think, is that the subtle meaning of the word "dealings" has changed over the century-ish since Tolkien wrote the novel.
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