Q: Are There Other Elf-Dwarf Friendships Besides Legolas and Gimli?
ANSWER: Yes, J.R.R. Tolkien provided two examples of friendship between individual Elves and Dwarves in Middle-earth. Neither example made it into either The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings.
The first such example is more ephemeral than the second. In Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth there is a passage in “Narn i Hin Hurin” that explains the history of the Dragon-helm of Dor-lomin:
The Helm of Hador was given into Thingol’s hands. That helm was made of grey steel adorned with gold, and on it were graven runes of victory. A power was in it that guarded any who wore it from wound or death, for the sword that hewed it was broken, and the dart that smote it sprang aside. It was wrought by Telchar, the smith of Nogrod, whose works were renowned. It had a visor (after the manner of those that the Dwarves used in their forges for the shielding of their eyes), and the face of one that wore it struck fear into the hearts of all beholders, but was itself guarded from dart and fire. Upon its crest was set in defiance a gilded image of the head of Glaurung the dragon; for it had been made soon after he first issued from the gates Morgoth. Often Hador, and Galdor after him, had borne it in war; and the hearts of the host of Hithlum were uplifted when they saw it towering high amid the battle, and they cried: “Of more worth is the Dragon of Dor-lómin than the gold-worm of Angband!”
But in truth this helm had not been made for Men, but for Azaghâl Lord of Belegost, he who was slain by Glaurung in the Year of Lamentation. It was given by Azaghâl to Maedhros, as guerdon for the saving of his life and treasure, when Azaghâl was waylaid by Orcs upon the Dwarf-road in East Beleriand. Maedhros afterwards sent it as a gift to Fingon, with whom he often exchanged tokens of friendship, remembering how Fingon had driven Glaurung back to Angband. But in all Hithlum no head and shoulders were found stout enough to bear the dwarf-helm with ease, save those of Hador and his son Galdor. Fingon therefore gave it to Hador, when he received the lordship of Dor-lómin. By ill-fortune Galdor did not wear it when he defended Eithel Sirion, for the assault was sudden, and he ran barehead to the walls, and an orc-arrow pierced his eye. But Húrin did not wear the Dragon-helm with ease, and in any case he would not use it, for he said: “I would rather look on my foes with my true face.” Nonetheless he accounted the helm among the greatest heirlooms of his house.
Maedhros and Azaghâl were allies and neighbors, but not really friends. Still, that Maedhros was able to save Azaghâl at all while the dwarf-king was abroad with his treasure implies something significant happened. Unfortunately, Tolkien never developed this story further. In fact, Christopher Tolkien redacted this account from The Children of Hurin. You will only find it in Unfinished Tales. Somewhat similar to this story, and slightly more developed, is the account of Eöl — husband of Aredhel of Gondolin/father of Maeglin. Here is the account given in The Silmarillion:
In that wood [Nan Elmoth, located to the northeast of Doriath] in ages past Melian walked in the twilight of Middle-earth when the trees were young, and enchantment lay upon it still. But now the trees of Nan Elmoth were the tallest and darkest in all Beleriand, and there the sun never came; and there Eöl dwelt, who was named the Dark Elf. Of old he was of the kin of Thingol, but he was restless and ill at ease in Doriath, and when the Girdle of Melian was set about the Forest of Region where he dwelt he fled thence to Nan Elmoth. There he lived in deep shadow, loving the night and the twilight under the stars. He shunned the Noldor, holding them to blame for the return of Morgoth, to trouble the quiet of Beleriand; but for the Dwarves he had more liking than any other of the Elvenfolk of old. From him the Dwarves learned much of what passed in the lands of the Eldar.
Now the traffic of the Dwarves down from the Blue Mountains followed two roads across East Beleriand, and the northern way, going towards the Fords of Aros, passed nigh to Nan Elmoth; and there Eöl would meet the Naugrim and hold converse with them. And as their friendship grew he would at times go and dwell as guest in the deep mansions of Nogrod or Belegost There he learned much of metalwork, and came to great skill therein; and he devised a metal as hard as the steel of the Dwarves, but so malleable that he could make it thin and supple; and yet it remained resistant to all blades and darts. He named it galvorn, for it was black and shining like jet, and he was clad in it whenever he went abroad….
The narrative does not name any specific dwarf (Telchar, who is named much earlier in the book, was probably long dead by this time). Hence, it’s hard to say that Eöl was really friends with any individual dwarf, but I think that was Tolkien’s intention. Of course, Tolkien would have changed much about Eöl — ultimately removing him from the Teleri and making him a member of the Tatyar (from whom came the Noldor of Aman); so there is no knowing what Tolkien would have done in fleshing out Eöl’s story.
The only clear example of elf-dwarf friendship, other than that between Legolas and Gimli, is provided in Unfinished Tales, where we learn that Celebrimbor had a close friendship with Narvi, who made the west-gate of Moria. But, again, we are provided with few details of that story. Narvi was almost certainly dead by the time Sauron overran Eregion, so he probably did not contribute much to the wars against Mordor.
Tolkien was at pains to distance the Elves from the Dwarves. They were never supposed to be really warm and friendly to each other, but they did work together for thousands of years, sharing knowledge, trade, and defense against Morgoth and Sauron. The estrangement of the Elves and Dwarves that is characteristic of their relationship in The Lord of the Rings was engineered by Sauron, who also worked to estrange the Elves from Men and Men from Dwarves.
It was the powerful alliances between the Eldar, the Edain/Númenoreans, and the western Dwarf-realms (Nogrod, Belegost, and Khazad-dûm that most threatened Morgoth and Sauron in the First and Second Ages. Hence, during the Third Age Sauron’s strategy focused on driving the three kindreds as far apart as possible. And he almost succeeded. My interpretation of the texts is that Tolkien used Gandalf to overcome Sauron’s strategy. But for Gandalf the Dwarves would not have returned to Erebor and restored their friendship with Thrabuil and Elrond; and had that not happened Gimli would not have joined the Fellowship.
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It is reasonable to assume that there were more dwarf-elf friendships through the ages, especially between the neighbouring communities. Many Sindar elves must have learned much from the dwarves and being in close contact the personal feelings of trust and friendship sprouted. After all dwarves had often stayed in the special quarters at Menegroth (for prolonged time I assume so those of elves who had more in common, the interests in crafts could form stronger bonds between individuals.