Middle-earth Journeys

When I first read LOTR (when I was ten years old!), I really disliked this chapter--couldn't wait for our friends to get out of Moria! But I've read that some critics think it is the best writing in LOTR, and I must admit it has grown on me through the years. As we have said many times before, what an imagination Tolkien had! Who could have thought up a place like Moria?

This chapter really gripped me when I first read it. I thought it was terrifying. Who likes to be deep in the earth in the dark, trailed by some unknown creature and unable to make any noise for fear of awakening heaven knows what? It's claustrophobic, full of dark passageways, and very easy to get lost and never find your way out again. Brilliant! And just when we learn something of Gandalf's true powers he 'dies' and leaves the Fellowship rudderless.

I love all the suggestions of a great Dwarf culture lost, that there is so much more to the place that is gone forever. It could be any old passage through the mountains but Tolkien turns it into something far greater, far sadder.

The confrontation with the Balrog was the one moment that stuck with me most after I finished the book.

Merry wrote:But I've read that some critics think it is the best writing in LOTR,

Well perhaps they were saying this because to hold a readers attention in the darkness has got to count for something right? We have sound and an occasional glimpse of a wall or a bottom-less holes lit by Gandalf's staff. That's it really..and thoughts of course. It's Frodo's thoughts that are the narrative.

Iolanthe wrote:I love all the suggestions of a great Dwarf culture lost, that there is so much more to the place that is gone forever. It could be any old passage through the mountains but Tolkien turns it into something far greater, far sadder.

Yes, the ancient past we have not read before this chapter. Even in Lothlorien we don't see the 'lost past' and the passage of time so plainly revealed. I like the chapter because of both the reasons you both have brought up in your posts.

Where you as concerned about Bill the Pony as Sam was?

For me, this chapter marks the point at which Gimli begins to "open up" as a character. We are entering the domain of his forefathers, the heart of his civilization, and the home of his cousin Balin, who we learn to our great distress at the end of the chapter has died with the rest of his colony. In this Moria chapter, Gimli takes a leadership role alongside Gandalf, exhibits his deep, glowing pride in the culture and accomplishments of his ancestors, and displays grief, nobility, and vulnerability at the tomb of Balin. In the next chapter, we get to witness his hardiness and courage as a warrior, his faithfulness to the Fellowship and the Ringbearer during a time of great danger, and his eagerness to share the beauty and magnificence and history of Kheled-zaram with Frodo and Sam. And then in Lothlorien, Gimli begins his journey towards rapproachment with the elves, his adoration of Galadriel, and the birth of his abiding friendship with Legolas.

Moria is a BIG turning point for Gimli.

Being the big softie that I am, yes I was equally as effected by Bill as was Sam. The professor's knack for details, even that of a character such as a horse leaves one with lasting impressions. Gandalf's benediction was indeed welcomed.
The point of a long ago past is well taken, and I think that to have entered into the mines of Moria through Durin's gate is a very apt choice. The motif is utter darkness with footfalls and foul creatures at every step. Celebrimbor was he that fashioned not only the runes to the portal to Moria, but also the rings of power. After many eons have past the want of Mithril and of Power binded them all to darkness. Our nine walkers have to pass through both natural and corrupted forms of nature to see their quest finished.
Does one also notice how JRR uses themes and motifs much like that of a music score? Notice how he treads Gollum in between all the chapters and uses the history of the past to color the present.

Lindariel good point regarding Gimli and his opening to reveal himself as a viable character. He is anxious to venture in the dark though not from fear but from the drive to find what has happened in this familiar but strange place.

bruce wrote:The point of a long ago past is well taken, and I think that to have entered into the mines of Moria through Durin's gate is a very apt choice. The motif is utter darkness with footfalls and foul creatures at every step. Celebrimbor was he that fashioned not only the runes to the portal to Moria, but also the rings of power. After many eons have past the want of Mithril and of Power binded them all to darkness. Our nine walkers have to pass through both natural and corrupted forms of nature to see their quest finished.

Well said Bruce. There is that circle of things from the past becoming an integral part of the world's future.