The Arkenstone
the Heart of the Mountain; the great jewel of the Dwarves of Erebor
Names
The Arkenstone — the Heart of the Mountain — the great jewel of the Lonely Mountain, held in the oldest tradition of the Dwarves: massed and moulded by the ancient delving, called by the Dwarves the Arkenstone of Thráin.
Description
The Arkenstone was a great white jewel, glowing of its own pale fire in the dark, wrought by no hand but shaped from the deep veins of Erebor: it was the chief treasure of the King under the Mountain, “the light of the Dwarves’ far memories”, a gem whose “living light” shone like the moon among the hoard of the dragon-gold. It was the treasure they most loved, the crown-jewel of the ancient kingdom.
History
When the great worm Smaug sacked the Mountain, he took the Arkenstone away and laid it in his hoard among the gold of Thrór’s hall, where it was lost for ages. In the quest of Thorin and his company to the Lonely Mountain, it was found again — for the Heart of the Mountain, “the most magnificent possession of the Dwarves”, was the prize Thorin most desired, and the hope of the Quest of Erebor was bound to its recovery, the restoration of the kingdom under the Mountain.