[ SECRET POST #2583 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2583 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 043 secrets from Secret Submission Post #369.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 1 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

He doesn't actually want to go to war over the treasure.

He didn't just march with a huge army for shits and giggles. He definitely full-on planned to take by force, don't try to tell me that. And the "gifts" were treasure so idk, I don't think that holds water.

Though I agree with the last part.

[(Anonymous)]

To clarify:

What I meant about not wanting to go to war was this line from The Hobbit:

"But the Elvenking said, "Long will I tarry, ere I begin this war for gold. The dwarves cannot press us, unless we will, or do something that we cannot mark. Let us hope still for something that will bring reconciliation. Our advantage in numbers will be enough, if in the end it must come to unhappy blows."

It sounds to me like someone who doesn't want to go to war. He sounds like a very wise king here. And, there are other readings into his actions of bringing an army. If he's going to take the treasure, he might need that many people to haul the treasure back since it's so huge, and he'll need a strong guard to keep away unsavory types. He might also have just wanted to keep the peace, knowing that such a treasure will attract everyone and that's likely to breed conflict. Bringing such a show of force will ensure his right to tell everyone to cool it when they all start fighting over the treasure.

Remember, at that time, both Elves and Men thought the Thorin's Company was dead and the treasure was up for grabs -- that there was no one else to claim it. They were surprised when they sent scouts to the mountain and found the Dwarves alive. Bard then put forward a well-reasoned claim for part of the treasure but Thranduil didn't. He doesn't make any demand for himself and actually stays out of the negotiation. He must've understood that the Dwarves being alive changed things and he no longer has a claim to the treasure. It seems like he just remained to give Bard backup and to keep things peaceful (at least that's my take).

With regards to what I said about him not getting any treasure, I mean that when Dain doles out the treasure at the end, he doesn't give any to Thranduil and there's no mention that Thranduil asked for any. He only gets treasure at all because others gift it to him, something he could not have expected or depended on (unless he and Bard had some agreement, which is not mentioned). So, even though he brought his whole army out, he didn't value the treasure so much that he needed it at the end. My basic point is that he likes shiny things but not so much that he's going to start a war over it or that he demanded some for helping defend Erebor. He doesn't jump all over the pearls Bilbo gives him. He even wanted to know why he had earned such a gift. He seems rather cool-headed and doesn't act like a dick.

[(Anonymous)]

You know, it's true. I actually remembered a lot of stuff wrong, I checked the passages that I thought would help my case and they're actually not supportive at all.

Nowhere it says that he prepares for war. It is mentioned that the crows gather round Thranduil's army in expectation of war and the raven repeats that fact again, so I'm a bit confused if that's simply supposed to be prophetic (but if the birds expected the war because they knew the dwarves were alive the elves would've known too, right?) or just as a general "shit's goin down".

And I was absolutely sure that Thranduil had made his claim when he helped the people of Esgaroth, but he actually just made them agree to trade with him... it's odd! Wonder if the movie skewed my perception or if it was the dwarves' insistence on everything being about the treasure when they were made prisoners earlier in the book.

[(Anonymous)]

nayrt

I don't know how long you've been around Tolkien fandom and how much you are into fan fiction, but back when the first movies came out, it was very popular for people to blow Thranduil's love of jewels out of proportion (also his animosity with the dwarves) in order to cause angst for Legolas.

[(Anonymous)]

sa- Wasn't in the fandom at all ever, so that can't be it :/