Necklace of Girion

The Necklace of Girion was a legendary piece of jewelry, a string of five hundred emeralds as green as grass, crafted by the dwarves of the Lonely Mountain. It was made for Girion, the Lord of Dale, who gave it for the arming of his eldest son in a coat of dwarf-linked rings of pure silver, a coat whose like had never been made before, wrought to the power and strength of triple steel. The necklace thus represented the high point of dwarf-smithcraft and the close alliance between the dwarves under the Mountain and the men of Dale in the days before the coming of the dragon.

Loss and Recovery

When Smaug descended on the Mountain and destroyed Dale, the Necklace of Girion, along with all the treasure of Thror, was taken by the dragon and lay for many years in the great hoard beneath the Lonely Mountain. After Smaug's death at the hands of Bard, the heir of Girion, the dwarves under Dain reclaimed the treasure. Dain, who became King under the Mountain, restored the emeralds of Girion to Bard, who in turn gave them to the Elvenking, as these were the jewels he most loved. This act of giving was a key part of the settlement after the Battle of Five Armies, helping to seal the new friendship between the dwarves, the men of Dale and Lake-town, and the Wood-elves.

Symbolic Significance

The necklace's journey—from the workshops of the dwarves, to the treasury of Dale, into the dragon's hoard, and finally into the hands of the Elvenking—traces the arc of the entire story: the destruction of the old alliances, the long desolation, and the eventual restoration of peace and prosperity. Its beauty and value, like that of the Arkenstone, represented the wealth that had caused so much conflict, but unlike the Arkenstone, it became a gift of reconciliation rather than a source of contention. The Necklace of Girion thus stands as a symbol of the new era of cooperation among the free peoples of the North after the dragon's fall.