Khazad-dûm

Before it was a tomb, Khazad-dum was the wonder of the world. Founded by Durin the Deathless after he saw a crown of stars reflected in the Mirrormere, the greatest of all Dwarf-kingdoms rose beneath the Misty Mountains. Its golden age came through the closest friendship Elves and Dwarves ever knew, sealed in the Doors of Durin built by Narvi and Celebrimbor. Its glory rested on mithril, the priceless true-silver found nowhere else on earth. But the same metal that made the kingdom rich drove the Dwarves to delve too greedily and too deep, waking a Balrog of the Elder Days, Durin's Bane. Khazad-dum became Moria, the Black Pit. A thousand years of failed reclamation followed, from Azanulbizar to Balin's doomed colony and the Book of Mazarbul. Yet Tolkien framed it as a cycle: Durin reborn, Gandalf's death and return, and a Fourth Age restoration that promised the halls would shine again.

Published

25 September 2026

Runtime

26 min 54 sec