by The Pfifltrigg » January 6th, 2007, 12:01 am
It was only Earendil's Silmaril (that is, the one that Beren stole) that made it to Doriath. But if you'll remember, the Arkenstone (like the Silmarils) made an Elf-king stand up at its mere sight. Why he wouldn't have recognized it is easy: the dwarves cut it after they pulled it out of the ground. In either the Books of Lost Tales or the Silmarillion it says that the Silmarilli were unmarrable by craft, but this one had been underground since then (if it's the same stone Maedhros held) for the entire Second Age and a large part of the Third. I do not think it's in the Silmarillion directly, but the LT describes the stones of Feanor as glowing with their own internal light---from the Trees, of course. Gandalf was probably already familiar with the Arkenstone, whether he "recognized" it or not, and would probably have known what it was already. It seems very Gandalf-like to conceal the nature of the stone---if it was not itself a threat, as the ring turned out to be---in order to keep covetous minds ignorant who would otherwise overturn the world to get it. Again. Therefore it was enough that it remained the Arkenstone of Thrain and was buried with Thorin in his tomb under the mountain. Out of sight, out of mind, and most importantly out of reach.
False ideas may be refuted indeed by argument, but by true ideas alone are they expelled. — Apologia Pro Vita Sua: Cardinal Newman
Freedom lost and then regained bites with deeper fangs than freedom never in danger. — Cicero
You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them. — Ray Bradbury