Lost Tale of a Lost Dwarven Tribe and Thranduil?

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

I was just reading the Hobbit and I came upon a very interesting part. At the end of Chapter 8: Flies and Spiders, we are introduced to the Silvan Elves who captured Thorin. We learn about their king (later named as Thranduil, father of Legolas, in LotR) and apart from that we learn about his only weakness which was that he liked beautiful (especially silver) treasures, we also read an interesting tale about why he didn't like the dwarves. If you are interested, read with me:

So to the cave they dragged Thorin-not too gently, for they did not love dwarves, and thought he was an enemy. In ancient days they had had wars with some of the dwarves, whom they accused of stealing their treasure. It is only fair to say that the dwarves gave a different account, and said that they only took what was their due, for the elf-king had bargained with them to shape his raw gold and silver, and had afterwards refused to give them their pay. If the elf-king had a weakness it was for treasure, especially for silver and white gems; and though his hoard was rich, he was ever eager for more, since he had not yet as great a treasure as other elf-lords of old. His people neither mined nor worked metals or jewels, nor did they bother much with trade or with tilling the earth. All this was well known to every dwarf, though Thorin's family had had nothing to do with the old quarrel I have spoken of. Consequently Thorin was angry at their treatment of him, when they took their spell off him and he came to his senses; and also he was determined that no word of gold or jewels should be dragged out of him.

"In ancient days they had had wars with some of the dwarves, whom they accused of stealing their treasure," it is said. Possibly as you might as well, the first thing I thought of were the Silmarils, that well-known history of Thingol being killed by the dwarves of Nogrod and the trouble afterwards. It seems that this is the story we are told here. Except for...
...except for that we have just the name "elf-king" here for the participant, and it looks very much like that only one, not two kings are mentioned in this tale. And this would be "our" king = Thranduil. Just look at the text where the words "(the!) elf-king" are used. If you put the word "Thingol" somewhere in the text, it wouldn't make sense (well, unless it was actually Thingol who captured Thorin&co.!!! ). This actually implies the idea that we are not re-told the tale of Thingol, but that we are told another, maybe similar, tale of Thranduil and some dwarven tribe (history repeating itself? It wouldn't be for the first time! Beren&Lúthien, Aragorn&Arwen, for example...). Maybe he had had some pacts with those enigmatic dwarves from the Grey Mountains (not Durin's folk, mind you!).
So, has anyone any ideas or evidencies which might bring more light to this matter? Have we just discovered an untold tale? Join the quest for truth!
How could the Nazgul take Minas Morgul? Do Balrogs have wings? Do the Barrow-wights ever wash their legs? (okay, I'm leaving this one out, might get a lil bit touchy!) WAS THRANDUIL THINGOL???

But seriously!

[The Might]

This could be.
We know Thranduil left Lindon sometime before the year 1000 of the Second Age, so he might have already been alive during the First, and might have also come in contact with Dwarves of the Blue Mountains.
This is the best explanation I can find, since it is made clear that Durin's folk was not involved, so if it involved Thranduil this took place before he left Lindon.

Still, it could also be that Tolkien made a not so appropriate choice of words.

[Kuruharan]

I have to admit that the wording there is rather curious.

Maybe he had had some pacts with those enigmatic dwarves from the Grey Mountains (not Durin's folk, mind you!).

The only dwarves we know about in the Grey Mountains were Durin's Folk. I don't think there is any traction there.

Hmmm...this one requires more pondering.

[Břicho]

I think that Tolkien was probably thinking of Thingol and that story when he wrote it, never realizing that nearly seventy years later, we'd be puzzling about it on a website, never realizing that the Silmarillion and the HObbit would both be published and be part of the same "history."

Inside the world of Middle-earth itself I would explain it in one of two ways: 1. There IS a "lost"(or never-written) story regarding Thranduil and some non-Durin-type Dwarves.

2. The original "writer" of the Hobbit(Bilbo--or as I call him, Ol' Bilb-- himself) was thinking af Thingol and got his stories muddled up(he may have heard the story of Thingol and the Dwarves from Thranduil and just gotten confused) because at the time of writing he wasn't such a scholar of the First Age as he later became.

I suppose I like the first explanation better--that at some point Thranduil did have some conflict with non-Long-beard Dwarves of the Grey Mountains, and this tiny reference is all we hear about it: it could have been one of the many minor things that happened in the Third Age(or even the Second, I suppose) that aren't included in the "translator's" abridged offering of the Tale of Years.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Břicho

I think that Tolkien was probably thinking of Thingol and that story when he wrote it, never realizing that nearly seventy years later

Shhh! Of course I know, but this is not what a hardcore Tolkien fan accepts

Originally Posted by Břicho

Inside the world of Middle-earth itself I would explain it in one of two ways:

NOW this is what I call constructive thinking After all, "what's written is given" - Bilbo has written this book and we have to find out why he wrote what he wrote. All your points on that are quite logical, I think. The thing is, can we find something which might narrow down our list of possibilities? Some evidence from another source, about the Dwarves, about Thranduil, about the job he had them to do, or evidence that Thranduil could have never made contact with any Dwarves in the Grey Mountains?
Do you think Bilbo was really yet "uneducated" when writing the Red Book? He made revisions of it, from time to time, I'm quite sure (take just the title, he changed it about five times). And he was long enough in Rivendell to correct the things he was not able to understand first. An example of something similar in another topic: he, for example, rewrote the original poem of a mariner to the form we hear in Rivendell, where he made clear all the details and that it was about Eärendil.

Originally Posted by Kuruharan

The only dwarves we know about in the Grey Mountains were Durin's Folk. I don't think there is any traction there.

Well, there was this mysterious tribe who had troubles with Scatha and Fram sent them the necklace of dragon teeth or what it was. We do not see if they were of Durin's folk, or do we? (calling experts... Kuruharan??? )

[Kuruharan]

Well, there was this mysterious tribe who had troubles with Scatha and Fram sent them the necklace of dragon teeth or what it was. We do not see if they were of Durin's folk, or do we?

Process of elimination tells us they had to be Durin's Folk. The Misty and Grey Mountains were far out of the range of any other type.