Q: Could the Arkenstone be the Silmaril of Maedhros?
ANSWER: I see the question now and again. It’s an interesting question because there do appear to be similarities between the Arkenstone and a Silmaril. And in Peter Jackson’s “Hobbit” movies the Arkenstone is assigned a very special prominence within Dwarven culture (Thorin needs to possess the stone before the other Dwarf realms will support his quest to reclaim Erebor). The Arkenstone of the book is not that special, but it is nonetheless the most precious piece of Erebor’s treasure to Thorin, and he is buried with the stone in his keeping.
I feel, though, that despite all the arguments that could be made for the stone making its way through the magma under the world’s crust to the Lonely Mountain across thousands of years (this is, after all, a fantasy history) that J.R.R. Tolkien would never have wanted the Arkenstone to be identified with one of the Silmarils (specifically the one that Maedhros took with him when he leapt into a fiery chasm in ruined Beleriand). To mingle these two traditions would lay the foundation for conflict between Elves and Dwarves that would be unresolvable. Thingol’s kingdom had already been destroyed by Dwarves because of a Silmaril, but that Silmaril was at the time bound up with a curse by the Valar — a curse they laid to rest when they forgave the Noldor and allowed them to return to Aman (although not to Valinor itself).
For the Arkenstone to be a treasure of the Dwarves, solely bound up with their own history and traditions, works better in my mind because it allows the Elves to respect the devotion that the Dwarves show to the stone and its holders. There can be no question of the book Elves waging war against the Dwarves of Erebor over the Arkenstone, and that is a very important point when one considers that all the free peoples must come together within a few decades after Thorin’s death in order to defeat Sauron forever. I hope that Peter Jackson doesn’t cloud this issue with a film tradition that makes the Arkenstone one of the Silmarils. That would cheapen the storyline considerably and lead to yet more dissatisfaction among Tolkien fans with the movies.
Yes, the movies are adaptations and we expect liberties to be taken, but there is absolutely no reason for the film history to turn the Arkenstone into a Silmaril — unless Peter and his co-writers intend to respond to criticisms of the heightened hostility between their Elves and Dwarves compared with the Elves and Dwarves of the books (the movie races are far more hostile to each other than the races in the books). The inexplicable hostility and racism between Peter Jackson’s Elves and Dwarves might be explained by the Dwarves holding a Silmaril — but then I would have a hard time reconciling that kind of revelation with the “Lord of the Rings” movies, which sort of follow the book history.
The Vulcans have a saying: “Even Peter Jackson should NOT screw with Silmaril history.”
I’ll leave it at that.
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Hi there,
last time I had a close look at the Vulcan saying it said:
““Even Peter Jackson should NOT screw with Silmaril history.”
Or maybe I am simply way too impressed by the Romulans 😉
Best wishes,
Marcel
LOL! Oops.
I fixed the quote. Thank you. 🙂
You can ALWAYS count on Vulcan wisdom and perspicacity! 😉
Be very careful – there’s still one more movie to come, and we know what Jackson is capable of by now. (And more distressingly, the Silmarils are fair game for him because they’re mentioned in the Appendices.)
Even so, it’s interesting (but not relevant because they’re definitely NOT the same thing) that in HoME4 Tolkien uses the OE word “Eorclanstanas” when referring to the Silmarils.
Far more likely is that the concept and name “Arkenstone” arose from this usage than anything else, but of course there is no other connection.
Well, in Tolkien´s drawing “Conversation With Smaug”, the Arkenstone at the top of the treasure isn´t the same jewel as the Silmarils he draw for the heraldic of the Silmarils. Also, a Silmaril is small enough to be worn at the forehead (see Earendil), and it seems unlikely that it would be possible to do this with the Arkenstone, which is described as a small globe that Bilbo wasn´t able to close his hand around. Lastly, a Silmaril was a perfectly gem, whereas the Arkenstone, after being found, was lapidated by the dwarves – what wouldn´t be necessary if it was a Silmaril.