Aragorn's first visit to Moria

[Alcuin]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

Seems he could have at least filled in the Fellowship on what he knew, if that was the case. Gandalf made it clear he didn't know the state of things in Moria; he even thought it possible Balin and his group would be there. One would think the knowledge that Orcs were present in Moria was rather important. The Company would have been more careful; even Pippin might have been able to check his "hobbit walking-party" mentality at the Gate.

That depends upon when Aragorn went to Moria.

According to the Tale of Years, Aragorn was in Lórien in 2980. Then he met Arwen there, and their engagement began (they “plighted their troth”). Balin did not enter Moria for another 9 years. If Aragorn entered Moria around 2980 to scout the situation there, and Balin entered sometime afterwards, Gandalf would have had the better information.

Nor does it seem likely that Aragorn entered Lórien again before he came there with the Company of the Ring. Celeborn hints that this was the situation. Haldir indicated that the Elves were aware that there were again Orcs in Moria, or at least encroaching from the direction. Maybe the Elves did not know they were coming from Moria, but only from the Misty Mountains. (It seems obvious to me, but then, I’m not a couple of thousand years old: maybe I’m being “too hasty,” as Treebeard would put it.)

A better question might be why Elrond was unaware of the presence of Orcs, since he had been recently in communication with Galadriel and Celeborn through Elladan and Elrohir, who traveled to Lórien and returned following the Council of Elrond. Perhaps we should consider that the presence of Orcs in Moria was taken as a given – if Balin and his colony from Erebor were not there to keep them at bay in some section or another of the Mines, a possibility Gandalf suggested. His only mention of Orcs in connection with Moria was that ([FotR], “Journey in the Dark”)

If there are Orcs there, it may prove ill for us, that is true. But most of the Orcs of the Misty Mountains were scattered or destroyed in the Battle of the Five Armies. The Eagles report that Orcs are gathering again from afar; but there is a hope that Moria is still free.

That could imply that Aragorn and Gandalf had discussed whether there were Orcs in Moria. They did have a running debate about the wisdom of passing through Moria beforehand, part of which Frodo witnessed.

But maybe Aragorn wasn’t looking for Orcs in Moria at all: maybe he was just “an adventurer”, though that would strike me as very “un-Aragorn”. Mere darkness would not have daunted Aragorn. If he didn’t meet Orcs in Moria, do you suppose he got an early glimpse of Durin’s Bane? I vote for Orcs.

[Pitchwife]

Originally Posted by Alcuin

But maybe Aragorn wasn’t looking for Orcs in Moria at all: maybe he was just “an adventurer”, though that would strike me as very “un-Aragorn”. Mere darkness would not have daunted Aragorn. If he didn’t meet Orcs in Moria, do you suppose he got an early glimpse of Durin’s Bane? I vote for Orcs.

I don't mean to slight Aragorn's valour, but I highly doubt that he'd have lived to tell the tale if he'd faced Durin's Bane, and if he had, it would have been unconscionable not to be more explicit in his warnings to Gandalf. On the other hand, I'm not sure that the mere presence of Orcs would have made such a lasting impression on him as to justify the ominous tone in which he speaks of his earlier visit to Moria. So it's rather a mystery to me what exactly he met there that made his memory of Moria so "very evil". Maybe some 'nameless thing' that had become bored with gnawing the roots of the world and ventured up to the lower levels?

[Troelsfo]

Aragorn's reference to having visited Moria earlier is one of the remnants of the story of Trotter — the Hobbit ranger (and at some point Bilbo himself) that Tolkien originally intended the Hobbits to meet in Bree.

Trotter had been kept captive by ‘Black Riders’ in Moria, which is also the history behind Aragorn's painful memory in Bree as they talk about the Black Riders, Aragorn having announced that ‘They are terrible!’:

‘The hobbits looked at him, and saw with surprise that his face was drawn as if with pain, and his hands clenched the arms of his chair. The room was very quiet and still, and the light seemed to have grown dim. For a while he sat with unseeing eyes as if walking in distant memory or listening to sounds in the Night far away.

‘There!’ he cried after a moment, drawing his hand across his brow. ‘Perhaps I know more about these pursuers than you do. You fear them, but you do not fear them enough, yet. Tomorrow you will have to escape, if you can. Strider can take you by paths that arc seldom trodden. Will you have him?’
The Lord of the Rings, book I chapter 10 ‘Strider’

The history of the writing of the first book of LotR is curious — the first chapters were re-written several times, and the Company of the Ring had reached Moria before Tolkien started anew, making Trotter a Man instead of a Hobbit. All of this jumbled history has still left traces of back-history in the published book such as Aragorn's memory of pain in Bree and his reference to entering Moria previously.

We can, of course, begin to make some guesses based on the earlier history. Trotter, the Hobbit, was caught by Sauron's emissaries. In the first version he was, IIRC, caught in or near Mordor, and there tortured, but later the place of his capture and torture changed to Moria. This was while he was tracking Gollum, and it would, perhaps, not be illogical to presume that Aragorn had also entered Moria while tracking Gollum — it would certainly not be unreasonable to search for news of Gollum in Moria, and so that might have warranted Aragorn's sojourn. However, I don't think we can simply allow Aragorn to adopt all of Trotter's story, since I am sure that Aragorn was not caught and tortured in Moria, and most certainly not by Nazgûl.

[Alcuin]

Originally Posted by Troelsfo

Aragorn's reference to having visited Moria earlier is one of the remnants of the story of Trotter — the Hobbit ranger...

Trotter had been kept captive by ‘Black Riders’ in Moria, which is also the history behind Aragorn's painful memory in Bree as they talk about the Black Riders...

...All of this jumbled history has still left traces of back-history in the published book such as Aragorn's memory of pain in Bree and his reference to entering Moria previously.

Your assessment of the text and Aragorn’s aversion to entering Moria is right on the mark, IMO.

Originally Posted by Troelsfo

...I don't think we can simply allow Aragorn to adopt all of Trotter's story, since I am sure that Aragorn was not caught and tortured in Moria, and most certainly not by Nazgûl.

Hence this thread.