November 1, 2002

Responding to Moria and It's History
Rune of Mirkwood

In researching a little about Moria and it's Gate in the movie, I found out the following in its history:

It began with Durin I (also known as "The Deathless", though he was not immortal. Durin was the eldest of the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves and founder of the “Durin Folk” – a clan of Longbeards. All of the Dwarves that appear in Tolkien’s works are this “folk”, like Gimli.

Durin was at first, laid to sleep underneath the mountiains by Aule, The Smith Maker of the Valya, who created the Dwarves and also, created Middle-Earth. He would not awaken his "race" until the Elves awoke first.

When Durin awoke, he journeyed into the wilds, until he came upon a great lake known as Mirrormere. Looking into the water, he saw mysterious stars reflecting in the water, and he took this as “a sign”. He there founded the great city, tunneled into the mountains, known as Khazad-dun – later, it become known as Moria.