It was also known as Moria or the Dwarrowdelf. When it was destroyed by a Balrog and infested with orcs and goblins early in the Third Age and left abandoned, the loss was felt across the continent, comparable to when the Kingdom of Numenor fell.

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Rings of Power,the show based on the lore of Middle-earth during the Second Age, features the Dwarf city of Khazad-dûm as one of its settings and some of the main characters are the royal family during the reign of Durin III. The precious ore mithril was newly discovered during this time, and it’s commonly known that this ore was only found in the mines under Moria. However, there was more to Khazad-dûm and its royal residents than precious metals and gifted craftspeople.

5 Durin’s Folk

The phrase “Durin’s folk” is often misused to refer to all Dwarves, but the term actually refers to a clan of Dwarves that first inhabited Khazad-dûm and are direct descendants of Durin the Deathless. They’re also known as the Longbeards, and the Dwarves from Tolkien’s lore all hail from this clan. Thorin Oakenshield, Gloin, and his son Gimli were all Longbeards.

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Reincarnation, especially in a family line, is a strong belief among the Dwarves. The kings that took this name in later years were considered to be Durin the Deathless reborn, and there were six that followed. The last of Durin’s Folk was Durin VII, who took back Khazad-dûm once and for all early in the Fourth Age.

4 The Mirrormere

The location of Durin’s Stone, the place where the famous ancestor of Durin the Deathless first rose as the leader of his people, is next to a lake called Kheled-zâram, or the Mirrormere. There’s a sequence in the book that’s missing from the film adaptations about how excited Gimli was to be near this location, which is sacred to the Dwarves.

Durin chose the eastern cliffs above the lake to be the first beginning of what would eventually become Khazad-dûm. As he wandered, he named the nearby mountains, the valley, and the spring that flowed into it. One of these mountains he called the Redhorn, which was known in later years as Caradhras, and it was the most southerly point at which the mountains could be crossed, and even then the pass was dangerous.

3 Founded During The Years Of The Trees

When Durin looked on the Mirrormere, he thought he saw stars, even though it was daylight. What he was describing was the light of the Two Trees shining on Middle-earth and the reflection of the colorful stones within the lake and the mountains reflected on its surface. The mountain clouds also shone with this light, which seemed like a crown of stars on his head, and at this moment he realized his destiny to become King Durin I.

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By the time the Elves started to establish their kingdoms in Middle-earth, Khazad-dûm had already been well-established and thriving for hundreds of years. The Dwarves were devoted to their creator Aule, who was dedicated to smithing, jewel crafting, and masonry, and paid little heed to the whiles of Morgoth or Sauron.

2 The West Gate

A collaborative effort that symbolizes both Elf and Dwarf talents at the height of their power and skill, the West Gate connected the Elven kingdom of Eregion on the west side of the Misty Mountains with Lothlorien on the eastern side. It was built by Narvi, one of the most gifted masons of Khazad-dûm. The inscription was done by his equally talented friend Celembribor.

When Galadriel traveled east from Eregion to found Lothlorien, she passed through these gates to go through Moria and leave from the Great Gates which opened up to the Dimril Dale. This was roughly the same route that the Fellowship took when they traveled through Moria in the film adaptation.

1 Durin’s Tower

Durin’s Tower was one of three marvels of Dwarven engineering that dated back to the time of Durin the Deathless, the other two being the Bridge of Khazad-dûm and the Endless Stair. Only the stair is left out of the film adaptations, and the tower itself is never named but makes a brief appearance in The Two Towers.

The Endless Stair was one unbroken spiral staircase that went from the lowest depths of Moria to its highest point on the very peak of Mount Silvertine, also known as Zirakzigil, one of the first peaks that Durin named after his awakening. After Moria had been abandoned for hundreds of years, some believed both the tower and the stairs to be only a myth.

The final battle between Gandalf and the Balrog took place in Durin’s Tower. The tower was destroyed, and portions of the staircase were also shattered or blocked by rubble.

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