Durin's Bane: The Balrog That Was Found in Moria

Durin's Bane[edit]
The Balrog that was found in Moria
It survived the defeat of Morgoth in the War of Wrath and escaped to hide beneath the Misty
Mountains.[43] For more than five millennia, the Balrog remained in its deep hiding place at the roots
of Caradhras,[44] one of the Mountains of Moria, until in the Third Age, the mithril-miners of the Dwarf-
kingdom of Khazad-dûm disturbed it (or released it from its prison) in T.A. 1980. The Balrog promptly
killed Durin VI, the King of Khazad-dûm, whereafter it was called Durin's Bane by the Dwarves.[43][45]
The Dwarves attempted to fight the Balrog, but its power was far too great. In their efforts to hold
Khazad-dûm against it, many Dwarves were killed: Durin's successor King Náin only a year after his
father. The survivors were forced to flee. This disaster also reached the Silvan Elves of Lórien, many
of whom also fled the "Nameless Terror"[43] (it was not recognized as a Balrog at the time). From this
time Khazad-dûm was generally known by the name Moria (Sindarin for the "Black Pit"[46] or "Black
Chasm"[47]).
For another 500 years, Moria was left to the Balrog; though according to Unfinished Tales, Orcs
crept in almost immediately after the Dwarves were driven out, leading to Nimrodel's
flight.[48] Around T.A. 2480, Sauron began to put his plans for war into effect, and he
sent Orcs and Trolls to the Misty Mountains to bar all of the passes:[45] Some of these creatures
came to Moria, and the Balrog allowed them to remain.
During the reign of Thráin II, the Dwarves attempted to retake Moria in the War of the Dwarves and
Orcs, culminating in the Battle of Azanulbizar before the eastern gate of Moria, in T.A. 2799. This
was a victory for the Dwarves, but the presence of the Balrog prevented them from reoccupying
Moria. Dáin Ironfoot, having slain the Orc Azog near the gate, perceived the terror of the Balrog
within[43] and warned Thráin that Moria was unachievable until some force could change the world
and remove the Balrog. The Dwarves thus departed and resumed their exile. In T.A. 2989, despite
Dáin's warning, Balin made another attempt to retake Moria.[45] Though his party was initially
successful in starting a colony, they were massacred a few years later.
In 'January' T.A. 3019, the Fellowship of the Ring travelled through Moria on the quest to Mount
Doom. They were attacked in the Chamber of Mazarbul by Orcs.[10] The Fellowship fled through a
side door, but when the wizard Gandalf the Grey tried to place a "shutting spell" on the door to block
the pursuit behind them, the Balrog entered the chamber on the other side and cast a "terrible"
counterspell. Gandalf spoke a word of Command to stay the door, but the door shattered and the
chamber collapsed. Gandalf was severely weakened by this encounter. The company fled with him,
but the Orcs and the Balrog, taking a different route, caught up with them at the Bridge of Khazad-
dûm. The Elf Legolas instantly recognized the Balrog and Gandalf tried to hold the bridge against it.
As Gandalf faced the Balrog, he proclaimed, "You cannot pass, flame of Udûn!", and broke the
bridge beneath the Balrog. As it fell, the Balrog wrapped its whip about Gandalf's knees, dragging
him to the brink. As the Fellowship looked on in horror, Gandalf cried "Fly, you fools!" and plunged
into the darkness below.
After a long fall, the two crashed into a deep subterranean lake, which extinguished the flames of the
Balrog's body; however it remained "a thing of slime, stronger than a strangling snake". They fought
in the water, with the Balrog clutching at Gandalf to strangle him, and Gandalf hewing the Balrog
with his sword, until finally the Balrog fled into the primordial tunnels of Moria's underworld. Gandalf
pursued the creature for eight days, until they climbed to the peak of Zirakzigil, where the Balrog was
forced to turn and fight once again, its body erupting into new flame. Here they fought for two days
and nights. In the end, the Balrog was defeated and cast down, breaking the mountainside where it
fell "in ruin".[24] Gandalf himself died shortly afterwards, but he was later sent back to Middle-earth
with even greater powers, as Gandalf the White, "until his task was finished"

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Durin's Bane[edit]

The Balrog that was found in Moria

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