Balin, Moria and the King Under the Mountain

[lindil]

How could Dain have stopped him?

Balin was an extremely wealthy, noble, respected, highly placed and influential Dwarf. Second [on the lonely mountain] only to Dain's son and extremely close kin I would imagine.

By what right's could Dain have stopped him?

Jealousy? Fear of being shown up?

It does say that Dain gave leave for them togo unwillingly, but by what rights could he have kept Oin, Ori and Balin from doing what they pleased outside of his realm?

He may have been Lord of the house of Durin, but surely every one in Erebor were not his slaves.

Indeed he largely owed his ascendnacy to Thorin's company, so he would have appeard extremely grasping and ungracious if he had tried to stop them.

So, Dain actually could have chosen to return to the Iron Hills and left Balin as King Under the Mountain and Dain would still have been King of Durin's Folk. However, since the Iron Hills were rather poor Dain went where the real money was.

Exactly my point Kuruharan!
and congrats on 700 posts.

I do not mean to portray Balin or Dain as at each others throats or with hatred or animosity towards each other, but it seems highly plausible that Balin felt he got the short end of the Erebor stick and saw Moria and [erroneously the last Dwarf Ring] as a way to redress that.

Dain was already going to be king of Durin's folk, why should he not leave Erebor to Balin? I think this was the root of Balin's deparure to Moria.

[ January 30, 2003: Message edited by: lindil ]