KHAZAD-DUM
Moria… You fear to go into those mines. The dwarves delved too greedily and too deep. You know what they awoke in the darkness of Khazad-dum… shadow and flame. “
-Saruman
Khazad-dûm, also commonly known as Moria or the Dwarrowdelf, was an underground kingdom beneath the Misty Mountains. It was known for being the ancient realm of the Dwarves of Durin’s Folk. It was the greatest kingdom ever built by the Dwarves.
ENCOUNTER OF THE FELLOWSHIP
When the Hobbits Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin; the Men Aragorn and Boromir; the Dwarf Gimli; the Elf Legolas; and the Wizard Gandalf set out from Rivendell on the Quest of the Ring, they were forced to make their way through Moria after the failed attempt of climbing Caradhras (Redhorn) where they were pursued by Wargs. They entered through the western-gate near a lake with dark waters from which a tentacular monster emerged and attempted to kill Frodo. When inside, the Fellowship passed through many tunnels and great halls until finally reaching a chamber and a book, explaining the last accounts of the Longbeards.[8]
They were then taken by surprise as Orcs and cave trolls pursued them through Moria to the Bridge of Khazad-dûm where the Balrog rose from the depths. Gandalf bravely confronted the creature and the two briefly dueled on the bridge before plunging together into the abyss below. This saved Gandalf’s friends’ lives as they carried on out of Moria into Dimrill Dale. Gandalf and the Balrog both survived the fall; the wizard then pursued the monster up the Great Stair to the peak of Celebdil, where a final battle took place. In the end, Gandalf defeated the Balrog and cast its corpse down onto the mountain side, before succumbing to the wounds of his battle.
DIGGING UNDER THE MOUNTAINS / GREED / WAKING UP THE EVIL
Dwarven mines set place under the mountain and dwarves who very skilled at both extracting the richness and reshaping them build their kingdoms right where their mine are which mean under the mountains.
This living under the mountain and placing dwarves away and isolated from the world is a good way of conducting the reader with the information of the characteristics and behaviours of the dwarven folk.
Dwarves are described as ignorant and blind to the problems of the other folks and care nothing but their mines and the richness comes out of it.
Who will you look to when we’ve gone? The Dwarves? They toil away in caverns, seeking riches. They care nothing for the troubles of others. “
-Elrond
Digging up the mountain, robbing it from its core and claiming all the beauty once belonged to nature. Mines under the mountain is an element of dwarven greed. It is the visual bodiment of the never ending greed of dwarves for richness.
BALROG
Balrogs, also known as the Valaraukar, were Maiar that were seduced and corrupted by Melkor into his service.[2]
Originally, in unrecorded ancient times, the Balrogs were fiery Maiar that were persuaded by Melkor’s might and splendor to join his cause. Their first dwelling was in Utumno, but after their master’s defeat during the War for Sake of the Elves, the Balrogs and other creatures in Melkor’s service escaped and went to Angband.
EVIL UNDER THE GROUND / RELIGOUS OVERTONES
Tolkien once described The Lord of the Rings to his friend, the English Jesuit Father Robert Murray, as:
a fundamentally religious and Catholic work, unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision.”
Many theological themes underlie the narrative, including the battle of good versus evil, the triumph of humility over pride, and the activity of grace, as seen with Frodo’s pity toward Gollum. In addition the epic includes the themes of death and immortality, mercy and pity, resurrection, salvation, repentance, self-sacrifice, free will, justice, fellowship, authority and healing. Tolkien mentions the Lord’s Prayer, especially the line “And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil” in connection with Frodo’s struggles against the power of the One Ring.[2] Tolkien has also said “Of course God is in The Lord of the Rings. The period was pre-Christian, but it was a monotheistic world” and when questioned who was the One God of Middle-earth, Tolkien replied “The one, of course! The book is about the world that God created – the actual world of this planet.
PUNISHMENT FOR GREED
Dwarves who look down on the problems of other races and the world they live and dwarves who do not respect the boundaries of nature and search for richness so relentlessly is a good representation of how Tolkien feels disgusted over the never-ending greed and ambition of humans. This encounter with the Balrog is how Tolkien finds it fit for punishment for greed. Waking up an ancient evil or waking up the ugly and selfish feelings of humans.
REFERENCES
- One wiki to rule them all, (?), Khazadum, Retrieved from https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Khazad-d%C3%BBm
- Tolkien Getaway, (?), Moria, Retrieved from http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Moria
- Wikipedia, (?), Balrog, Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balrog
Mae govannen mellon! 