I would think the fact that Balin and crew felt they could re-establish a dwarf presence in Moria indicates that Durin's Bane was drifting into legend for the dwarfs. Surely, if Balin suspected what he would have had to confront (forget the orcs and goblins), the idea of setting up a commuity would be laughable.
Even Gandalf seemed hopeful that Balin and company may still be alive, though that hope must have been awful thin.
H.C.
__________________
"Stir not the bitterness in the cup that I mixed myself. Have I not tasted it now many nights upon my tongue, foreboding that worse yet lay in the dregs."
-Denethor
|