I think it's important for Eol's character to preserve him as somebody who experienced peace and content in Beleriand before the Sun/Morgoth/Noldor came and ruined it all. The crater lake also needs some time to form (although maybe Eol causes it to fill with water somehow, maybe diverting a stream into the crater, to hide the ore from others? Would he have a way to get at the ore underneath?
Dwarves wouldn't go diving in water to get at ore. Grey-elves with little metalworking technology would be more interested in the lake itself than whatever was under it.
And there's no reason it has to be the first or only meteor. The Elves awakened a long time before.
Dwarves wouldn't go diving in water to get at ore. Grey-elves with little metalworking technology would be more interested in the lake itself than whatever was under it.
And there's no reason it has to be the first or only meteor. The Elves awakened a long time before.