I flailed in the theater when Elrond mentioned how the elves of Gondolin (!!) were his kin (yes Elrond that is your great-grandfather Turgon's sword!!), and when Radagast mentioned Ungoliant. It's even better in the book when Tolkien had to filter his references through the children's-story kind of atmosphere he was working in... I wonder what the Valar would think of being referred to as "Faerie"?

Maedhros threw that Silmaril into the a fiery chasm in the earth, or something like that, right? So it sounds like that went down all the way to the molten mantle underground; presumably the Silmaril was moved by lava and thus deposited under the mountain (especially if you buy the theory that the Lonely Mountain was an inactive volcano that also helps). Though if it really was the Silmaril, that just goes to show Bilbo's strength of will if he could give it up just like that...