Shower thought: if someone read the riddle on the Hollin Gate aloud in Elvish (Sindarin?) would the gate open, since the Elvish word for friend is in the riddle?

I’m sure they would! (Poor confused travelers, lol.) The Hollin Gate / West Gate was never really meant to be locked – it was build during very friendly times between Moria and Eregion, and Gandalf says: These doors have no key. In the days of Durin they were not secret. They usually stood open and…

Heyy I saw your post on elves and dwarves having wars during the “dark years” and I was wondering if you could expand on that a little? There might be a ficcy plot=bunny in there for me! 8)

[Here’s the original post, for context] Okay, so my basic argument is that I believe the relationship between the elves of Lorien/Mirkwood and the dwarves of Moria was reasonably violent during the early/middle part of the Second Age (approximately between 750 and 1700, I’d think.) The reasons I think this (aka the minuscule details I’m…

You know that big hall-like place in the mines of Moria? Where the Fellowship walks(ok runs a bit) while there’s hundreds of orcs surrounding them? What’s so fantastic about it? And before that when Gandalf says that he can risk a little more light?! There are nothing but high columns? Was there anything else there when the dwarves lived there??

That scene takes place in the twenty-first hall of Moria (or so Gandalf says.) In the book it’s described in a flash of light: Great shadows sprang up and fled, and for a second they saw a vast roof far above their heads upheld by many mighty pillars hewn of stone. Before them and on…

An excerpt from the chapter “The Bridge of Khazad-dum” in Fellowship of the Ring, here we see the fellowship discover the Book of Mazarbul, fight orcs, and begin their escape from Moria. This excerpt was recorded as part of my Tolkien Reading Day 2015 celebrations. You can download the file as a .mp3 here (length: 11:12),…

Celebrimbor and the Feanorians

Curufin disowned Celebrimbor? Honestly, it seems like it was the other way around. When Celegorm and Curufin fell out of favor in Nargothrond and were exiled, Tolkien says: Then they took horse and rode away like fire,to find if they might their kindred in the east. But none would go with them, not even those…

Seven Stars in Middle Earth

Seven stars is a symbol that shows up all the time in Middle Earth, and is important to all three of the major races. Gondor’s flag has seven stars above the White Tree, Durin saw seven stars form a crown over his reflection in the Mirrormere, and the most important constellation in elvish culture is…

Elves and Dwarves: The Dark Days

Disclaimer: This post starts off informative and research-based, but then suddenly veers into Headcanon Land, so the second half is more based on my own opinion than anything. First of all, the only recorded battle between elves and dwarves was, as you said, the fighting that broke out after the Nauglamir was taken and Thingol…

Where Was Mithril Found?

Ah, mithril. Middle Earth’s rarest – and therefore priciest – metal. Here’s what Gandalf has to say on the matter while the fellowship was in Moria: Here alone in the world was found Moria-silver, or true-silver as some have called it: mithril is the Elvish name. Now, I suppose he could be wrong (but Tolkien doesn’t usually…

Ruins of Middle Earth in the Fourth Age

So many ruins. Like, so many. Below you’ll see a map of the major ruins mentioned in Tolkien’s stories – I wasn’t sure if you were only interested in ruins in/near Dunland, so I just went for broke, lol: Elvish Ruins (Green) Amon Lanc (aka Dol Guldur): When Oropher and his group of Sindarin friends…