The Foundation of the Delving

In the elder days, before the rising of the Sun and Moon, the eldest of the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves, Durin the Deathless, awoke beneath the peaks of the Misty Mountains. It is told that he wandered far until he looked into the cool, dark waters of Kheled-zâram, where he saw a crown of stars reflected about his head like a halo of gems. There, within the roots of the mountains, he founded Khazad-dûm, the Dwarrowdelf, which would become the greatest of all the mansions of the Naugrim in Middle-earth. Through long ages, the line of Durin delved deeper into the earth, carving halls of stone and pillars of living rock that surpassed the works of any other folk, and they prospered in their secrecy, trading with the Elves of Eregion and the Men of the North.

The Era of Wealth and the Shadow of Greed

For many thousands of years, the wealth of Khazad-dûm grew, for it was the sole source of the precious metal known as *mithril*, a substance lighter than silk yet harder than tempered steel, found only in the deep veins beneath Caradhras. The Dwarves grew mighty and their craft became legendary throughout the world. Yet, as their power waxed, so did the shadows of the world lengthen. In the middle years of the Third Age, the greed of the Dwarves, stirred by the desire for ever-greater stores of mithril, drove them to delve too deep and too greedily. Thus, they awakened a terror of the ancient world, a demon of shadow and flame, a Balrog of Morgoth that had lain dormant since the ruin of Beleriand. In the year 1980 of the Third Age, the creature slew King Durin VI and his son Náin I, and the folk of Durin were driven from their ancestral home, which thereafter became known in the tongues of Men and Elves as Moria, the Black Pit.

The Ruin and the Silence

Following the flight of the Dwarves, Moria fell into a long, brooding silence, save for the presence of the Balrog and the foul Orcs who flocked to the darkness of the deeps. Many attempts were made by the exiled kings to reclaim their heritage. Most notable was the ill-fated expedition of Balin, son of Fundin, who led a company to re-establish a colony in the halls of his fathers. They held the Great Gates for a time, but their hope was fleeting; Balin was slain by an Orc-archer in the Dimrill Dale, and his company was hunted down and slaughtered to the last. Their history was recorded in the Book of Mazarbul, which would later be discovered by the Fellowship of the Ring.

The Final Cleansing

The significance of Khazad-dûm in the final defeat of the Enemy cannot be overstated, for it was through its dark and echoing halls that the Fellowship journeyed, pursued by the malice of the Shadow. It was there, upon the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, that the Wizard Gandalf stood against the Balrog, breaking the bridge and casting the demon down, though he himself was pulled into the abyss. Their battle ascended to the very summit of Zirakzigil, where the Balrog was finally vanquished. Though the halls remained desolate, the death of the creature marked the end of the long night of Moria. It is written in the prophecies of the Dwarves that when the world is remade, the line of Durin shall return once more to the halls of the Dwarrowdelf to reclaim the treasures of their fathers and restore the glory of the ancient deeps.