The Dwarves of Durin’s line would always
long to return to their lost hall of Moria. For over a thousand years after the Balrog’s
awakening, this was merely a thought, a hope , until Balin led a Dwarven expedition into
Moria to reclaim their ancient kingdom. An expedition that would end in tragedy. What did Balin’s company face, did they
have any success at the start, and what series of events led to their untimely demise. Hello friend s its Karl here, and in today’s
episode we’ll be following Balin’s journey into the dark halls of Khazad-Dum. Following the events of the Battle of the
Five Armies, the Dwarves prospered in their newly reclaimed kingdom of Erebor, which had
been freed from the clutches of the dragon, Smaug. Yet as the years went by, they started to
feel that they could achieve more, greater wealth and prosperity, and some spoke of returning
to Khazad-Dum, for they felt that they finally had enough men and strength to reclaim it. Perhaps the Dwarves felt that this was the
ideal time and opportunity, since most of the Orcs of the Misty Mountains had been slain
in the Battle of the Five Armies. And so, in the year 2989 of the Third, Balin
decided to launch an expedition and establish a Dwarven colony in Moria, even though Dain
Ironfoot, the King of Erebor, counselled him against it. Apart from the promise of riches and prosperity,
Balin also hoped to find one of the Dwarven Rings of Power, that of Thror, for he was
slain in Moria by a group of Orcs. However this hope was misplaced, for this
ring had actually been passed down to his son Thrain, who lost it when he was tortured
by the Necromancer in Dol Guldur. Now many of the dwarves of Erebor joined Balin
on this expedition including Ori and Oin, and they planned to enter Khazad-Dum through
the Great Gate of Moria, located on the Eastern side of the Misty Mountains. Though their numbers had dwindled, Orcs were
still present in Moria, and the Dwarves would have to face them before they could reclaim
their kingdom. And so these two forces would battle each
other at the Great Gate and outside in the Dimrill Vale, and at least part of their battle
if not all of it took place during the daytime which might have given the Dwarves an advantage,
since the Orcs were weakened by sunlight. The Dwarves were emerge victorious from this
battle, though they suffered some losses, and one dwarf in particular is mentioned,
named Floi who was killed by an Orc arrow. However before his death he committed a valorous
dead, for he slew a great Orc chieftain, and his body was buried outside of the Great Gates,
close to the Lake known as the Mirrormere. With the promise of victory at hand, the dwarves
pushed into Moria driving the Orcs out of the Great Gate and the Guardsroom, and they
claimed the First Hall. They would keep moving westward, until they
reached the 21st Hall, where they chose to settle, for it had good aeration and it could
easily be watched. And so, after establishing a settlement, Balin
became the Lord of Khazad-Dum, and his throne was set up in the Chamber of Mazarbul, close
to the 21st hall. The start of Balin’s Kingdom was very prosperous,
for the dwarves found gold and Mithril. They also uncovered some ancient Dwarven relics,
such as Durin’s Axe, which might belonged to one of their kings named Durin, perhaps
even Durin the First. Another relic was a silver helm which I believe
refers to Mithril as it’s sometimes called Truesilver, and it makes sense that a helmet
would be made of Mithril rather than silver. Both of these relics were claimed by Balin
as his own, and as they explored their kingdom the Dwarves would find other equipment made
of Mithril, such as a well forged helmet and a coat that were said to be made of the purest
Mithril. News of their success would reach their brethren
in the Iron Hills, for the dwarves of Moria sent out messengers, informing them of their
fortunes and of the great works that were taking place in Khazad-Dum. Having established a base of operations, the
Dwarven expedition would start spreading out further into their ancient halls, moving towards
the West to the Hollin Gate, and Oin was sent out to look for the upper armouries of the
Third Deep. The history and fortunes of the Dwarven expedition
were recorded in the book of Mazarbul, and various dwarves wrote inside it. The fifth and final year of the Dwarven colony
was recorded by Ori and it was the start of the Dwarven Misfortune. For one day Balin left his kingdom to look
in the Mirror mere, but he was not alone… for an Orc was hiding behind a stone and it
shot him, and killed him with an arrow. The Dwarves would avenge their fallen lord,
and they slew the Orc, though the tide had already started to turn against them, for
an Orc Army came up towards them from the Silverlode river, and a fierce battle took
place outside of the Great Gates of Moria. The dwarves were overwhelmed, and they retrieved
Balin’s body and retreated back into their kingdom barring the Great Gates behind them,
though they doubted that the Gates could hold off the Orcs for long. And their fears would come to pass, for the
Orcs broke through the great gates and they claimed the First Hall, the bridge of Khazad
Dum and the Second Hall. These Orcs were met with some resistance for
the Dwarves tried to hold them off once again, and three dwarves named Frar, Loni, and Nali
died bravely, while the others retreated further into their kingdom to the chambers of Mazarbul,
where they buried Balin. Their situation had started to look dire,
and the dwarves began to lose hope. Since the Great Gates were held by Orcs, their
only hope of escape was the West Gate of Moria and Oin would lead a party of dwarves towards
this gate... Yet once again, fate would be cruel to them,
for the pool of water outside of the Hollin gate had risen, reaching the wall, and the
watcher attacked the dwarves and took Oin. Only four of Oin’s company would survive
this encounter, returning to the chamber of Mazarbul and so the dwarves were trapped in
their kingdom, for the watcher blocked the western gate while the Orcs controlled the
eastern one. Seeing that their end was approaching, the
dwarves accepted their fate, and they chose to make their final stand in the chamber of
Mazarbul. Their great Kingdom would become their tomb,
their final resting place. As they waited, they could hear the sound
of drums in the distance, and I can only imagine what they felt as these drum sounds echoes
around them, a sign of the doom that was approaching them, for the Orcs were coming. By now, there weren’t many dwarves left
alive, and the Orcs surrounded both the western and eastern doors of the Chambers of Mazarbul. Besides these doors, the dwarves would choose
to make their final stand, and 30 years later, the fellowship would come across many bones
and weapons scattered across the floor, as a testament to the final moments of the Dwarven
colony. It seems that the dwarves stored many of their
treasures and riches in the chamber of Mazarbul, for throughout the room there were many holes
cut into the walls, which held large iron-bound chests of wood. All of these chests had been broken and plundered
by the Orcs, and the book of Mazarbul was found next to one such chest, and it had been
slashed, stabbed, burnt and stained with blood. Yet parts of it were still legible, and Gimli
kept it to return it to King Dain, and so the memory of these dwarves would live on. Though this expedition had ultimately failed,
it is said that dwarves would once again reclaim Moria in the Fourth Age under their King Durin
the seventh. If you’d like to learn more about Moria’s
history, I’ll leave a link to my video above. I’d also like to hear your thoughts on the
Dwarven expedition, do you think it was rash of them to try and reclaim Moria so early,
and what do you think happened to all the treasures and relics that they had found. I personally believe that this expedition
was destined to fail, for even if the Orcs hadn’t attacked them, we can’t forget
that the Balrog was still alive in Moria, and eventually the Dwarves would have run
into it, and they would lose their home to this creature once again. Regarding their treasures and relics, I feel
that the Orcs would have plundered most of it, and the Mithril would have been sent off
to Sauron. However in the case of Durin’s Axe, which
was probably one of the most precious relics for the dwarves, I think it’s quite likely
that it was buried with Balin in his tomb and so it was safe from falling into the Orcs’
hands. Since part of the chamber of Mazarbul was
destroyed by the Balrog, and buried under a pile of rubble, perhaps the axe would be
retrieved be the dwarves once they reclaimed their Kingdom. As always, just to be clear, this is simply
my own speculation and I’d like to hear your thoughts on this. Finally since I’m expecting quite a few
comments on this, I got the information for this video from some pages that Tolkien had
drawn, which are meant to be pages from the book of Mazarbul. They offer more information than the passages
found in the Fellowship of the Ring, and they’re really interesting to look at. If you’d like to check them out, I’ll
leave a link to them in the video description. Anyway friends, this wraps up today’s video,
and I hope you enjoyed it! If you’re interesting check out our Facebook,
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