Gandalf and the mines of Moria

[moth]

Why dosn't Gandalf want to go into the mines of Moria in LOTR? If you know please feel free to post!

[Iarwain]

well, two things to say.

A. He did want to go in.

B. If he didn't, he would have had good reason, there being a balrog in there and all.

[moth]

If he had wanted to go in, wouldent he have done that first instead of tring to go over the mountain?

[Iarwain]

Aragorn didn't want to go in, so he convinced Gandalf to try the Redhorn Gate first.

[moth]

well in that case why didnt Aragon want to go in?

[Tar-Palantir]

Yeah, what Iarwain said. But they switched Aragorn and Gandalf in the movie to confuse everybody.

Aragorn did not want to go in (besides the obvious perils) because he was worried about Gandalf. Aragorn told Gandalf something like "It is not the Ring or the company I am worried about, it is you. If you pass the doors of Moria beware." Something like that, premenition?

[ March 11, 2003: Message edited by: Tar-Palantir ]

[Iarwain]

Sort of simple. He was afraid, just like all the other members of the company other than Gimli and Gandalf. Who would really like to travel through days of darkness haunted by orcs and chasms and a mighty balrog? I'd say that's reason enough. smilies/smile.gif

Iarwain

[eldomeldo]

I think Gandalf knew that something had happened in Moria, as there had been no news from Moria for a long time, I think that Aragorn also suspected something was wrong.

[Iarwain]

This thread's been slepping for a while, I thought it was dead!

Welcome to the Barrowdown's Eldomeldo. I hope you enjoy your death and have a great posting experience.

I'm wondering why you think that Gandalf would have any strict fears against Moria that would suggest some newly gathered information. He never expresses a fear in the books.

Iarwain

[Meoshi]

As for Aragorn, he had passed through the ruins of Moria before, perhaps the only human ever to do so. Doubtless while he was in there, he sensed that some great, evil power was lurking in the depths.

[Kuruharan]

Minor Note: Nobody knew that there was a Balrog in Moria. They knew that there might be something known as Durin's Bane there, but nobody knew that it was a Balrog.

It filled everybody with awe and fear because of the splendor of its history and the totality of its fall.

[Meoshi]

Yes, but the fact that they didn't know what Durin's Bane was made the fear of Moria even worse. I mean, which is scarier, a Balrog, or some unknown thing that was capable of destroying the Dwarves' empire?

[Kuruharan]

True. However, whatever "thing" it was might have been any number of "things." One of those nameless "things" down under the earth. It might have been dead by then for all anybody knew. Two thousand years (give or take) is a long time.

[Keeper of Dol Guldur]

When did Aragorn visit Moria?

[Iarwain]

He hadn't really visited, he was just inside for a very brief period. It was Gandalf who had gotten the full tour.

[Scott]

I was wondering that too. Thanks for clearing it up.
Which brings me to my next question.
Why didn't anyone try to contact Balin earlier to see what was going down? I know that Dwarves are notoriously secretive and all, but even Gimli hadn't heard from him for a good time. Surely some dwarf, a distant relative maybe, would have gone to pop in to say, "Hey, what's up? How's it hangin'?"

[Legolas]

I don't think any dwarf would be inclined to take a Sunday stroll across Mirkwood in a time of such peril.

[Dain]

But they did, at least for a while, to send messages from Moria to Erebor. So why didn't they send a party to check on them in the twenty years of silence? Or maybe they did and never heard from them again... In the book, did Gimli really expect to see Balin alive?

The films have me so messed up! I was sure Gandalf didn't want to go in, and I hadn't realized Aragorn had been there before, either. I'll have to read it again. And I just finished RotK! smilies/smile.gif

[ March 25, 2003: Message edited by: Dain ]

[Turin]

Uhhhhhhh hello?

Aragorn has been into the mines before and knows how dangerous they are.