A Brief History of Moria... Anyone?

[Mattius]

Dwarves are great and I love them so much, I want a beard just like those guys (and gals) but before I jump in and grow a big cool bush of loveliness I would like to know if anyone could give me a brief history of Khazard Dum, ie the wars, who held the power when and where, all I know was that the 1st Durin built it, and Dain reclaimed it ages later or something like that but Im just stupid so any information would be nice thank you!

[Lindril Arvilya]

This is my point form version of what I've gotten from the book "Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopedia".
~ 1697 Second Age. War of Sauron and the Elves in progress. Dwarves of Khazad-dum seal the doors. From then on it was named Moria, "dark chasm", because its histories and people was not known to the outside world.
~ Dwarves of the Misty Mountains delve happily until 1980 Third Age. While going after a rich mithril vein they released a Balrog which had slept there since the end of the First Age.
~ Dwarves battled for a year against the Balrog. After the loss of two of the Dwarven kings, the Dwarves deserted Moria.
~ Moria becomes the dwellingplace of the Balrog, the Orcs, and other servants of Sauron. The beauty of the halls is mutilated and ruined.
~ 2989- 2994 Third Age. Group of Dwarves attempt to re-establish the Kingdom of Moria. They are trapped between the Orcs at the East Gate and the Kraken (the Watcher in the Water) at the West Gate.
~ 3019 Third Age. Balrog is slain by Gandalf the Wizard. However, it appears that even without the Balrog, the halls of Moria remained empty for a long time (perhaps forever) afterwards.

There you go, enjoy.

[Mattius]

cheers!

[Afrodal Fenyar]

Didn't the next Durin(was it the Eight?) return to Moria in the Fourth Age?

[Inderjit Sanghera]

It was Durin the 7th, the final incarnation of Durin, and he was said to be a descendant (grand-child?) of Dain. With his death, it is probable that the dwarves would wain, and eventually would become extinct.

[Agarwaen]

there's a Fourth Age?
lol well I mean of course there is; but I didn't know Tolkien wrote anything about it...?

[alkquareiel02]

I think Tolkien wanted to write about the fourth age because in the HoME books he started two new stories not even a chapter long one was called The New Shadow and the other one was about the Numenoreans coming back to ME although that one i think was before the fourth age.He wrote those shortly before he died.

[Inderjit Sanghera]

The story, in HOME 12, is callled tal-Elmar, and is set in the second age, and is about a village of dark-skinned men, which is on the coasts of M-E, possibly somewhere in the South, close to Gondor or Harad. It is a great story, but sadly unfinished and is about the coming of the Numenoreans to M-E. The second, is set in the fourth age and is called 'A New Shadow' and is about a plot to usurp to throne of Eldarion, though Tolkien quickly abandoned it, as it would only work as a thriller.

[Dimaldaeon]

Ive heard that for the film the walls of the Chamber of Marzabul are cover in runes depicting the history of Khazad-dum. So someone at weta has a history of Moria AND a Khuzdul translation. Lucky B******

[Angry Hill Troll]

Here's a curious factoid I hadn't appreciated until recently: Reading LOTR one get the impression that the Balrog was already in residence in Khazad-Dum before the Dwarves. Turns out this isn't so, since reference is made in the Silmarillion to the great fortress of the dwarves in the Misty Mountains, from which the dwarvish cities in the Blue Mountains during the First Age were settled. Of course, the Balrog (we assume) didn't flee to the vicinity of Khazad-dum until the War of Wrath at the very end of the First Age. So how and why did the Balrog end up in the immediate vicinity of the only dwarvish habitation for hundreds of miles, without anyone noticing? Maybe he was fond of Mithril too, or he made some kind of deal with Sauron?

[Agarwaen]

oh wow! for some reason, that was a point that hadn't even occurred to me. but of course Khazad-dum was around WAY before the Balrog would have fled there in the War of Wrath. wow weird.
Gandalf talks about a lot of tunnels and caverns and such way underneath Moria that weren't actually of the Dwarves' making...maybe it came in through there somehow. *shrug*

[Lindril Arvilya]

Ive heard that for the film the walls of the Chamber of Marzabul are cover in runes depicting the history of Khazad-dum.
Yep... I got to see it at the Fellowship of the Ring exhibit last October. smilies/biggrin.gif