Posted by Aiwendil:
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Well, we don't know the details of the argument; it's possible that Thingol felt justified in scanting the promised reward. Thingol is, and remains in the later writings, a proud and sometimes short-sighted character. I could well imagine him finding some justification for refusing payment to the Dwarves - perhaps he suspects their treachery and means to punish their insolence, or something like that.
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Actually we do know some details of the argument out of piece of canon.
The Hobbit; chapter 8:
Flies and Spiders:
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It [Thranduils hall] was also a dungeon of his prisoners. 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.
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This is, in my view, a killer for the Sil '77 version. If the only vault the Elves accused the dwarves for was to steal the treasure, how could the dwarves murder Thingol in his own cave? And if the Dwarves only accused the Elf-king of refusal of payment, how can we than believe that the dwarven-smith that murdered Thingol in his hall survieved that dead?
All this fits much better to the story of the Q30, were the dwarves ploted to gain the treasure and seemed to make a sharp discussion with Thingol about it and than were driven away without payment.
We are given also part the argumentation of the dwarves /
Q33/:
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But the Dwarves coming were stricken at once with the lust and disire of the treasure, and they plotted treachery. They said one to another: 'Is not this wealth as much the right of the Dwarves as of the elvish king, and was it not wrested evilly from Mīm?' Yet also they lusted for the Silmaril.
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In that account of the story it seemed that Thingol scanted the reward without any good reason, but that must not be the case in our version since it does not longer fit to the charachter as developed in the other texts.
Respectfully
Findegil