Balrog Breaking and Entering

[Inziladun]

The Balrog that was the bane of the Dwarves in Moria, and was eventually detroyed by Gandalf, had suprised the Dwarves when they apparently delved deeper than they ought while looking for mithril.

Thus they roused from sleep a thing of terror that, flying from Thangorodrim, had lain hidden at the foundations of the earth since the coming of the Host of the West: a Balrog of Morgoth.

Appendix A

The Balrog fled from the host of the Valar and hid in Moria, or under it. However, Moria was hardly a desolate, uninhabited place when the Balrog decided upon it as a refuge. When the Dwarves came into Beleriand and made dwellings at Nogrod and Belegost, they already had cities to the east of the Blue Mountains.

Greatest of all the mansions of the Dwarves was Khazad-dûm, the Dwarrowdelf, Hadhodrond in the Elvish tongue, that was afterwards in the days of its darkness called Moria; but it was far off in the Mountains of Mist beyond the wide leagues of Eriador, and to the Eldar came but as a name and a rumour from the words of the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains.

Silm Of the Sindar

Khazad-dûm was long established by the end of the First Age, and thousands of Dwarves likely lived and worked there. There would have been comings and goings constantly, and surely the Dwarves kept a watch at the doors. How did something like a Balrog slip underground under the most populous city of the Dwarves?

[Morsul the Dark]

like a hobbit Caefully and quietly

Actually maybe through another passae like the ones the orcs made home in later I mean and this is PURELY Conjecture they(the tunnels) did all kind of intersect somehow. Or he could havee gone through the west gate which may have been much less populated than the other side also here's the idea being a maiar he could look like a dwarf and only in his rage did he reveal himself.

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Morsul the Dark

like a hobbit Caefully and quietly

Somehow I don't get the impression that Balrogs are all that good at stealth...

Originally Posted by Morsul the Dark

Actually maybe through another passae like the ones the orcs made home in later I mean and this is PURELY Conjecture they(the tunnels) did all kind of intersect somehow. Or he could havee gone through the west gate which may have been much less populated than the other side

I don't think so, Morsul– it doesn't fit with what we hear of the Balrog hiding "at the foundations of the earth", and the fact that it was only excessively deep mining that disturbed it. It wasn't actually in Moria until then, but rather beneath it, with no way of getting through.

I find it more likely that it entered through the tunnels beneath Moria– you know, the ones "gnawed by nameless things" (see The White Rider).
According to Gandalf, the Balrog was familiar with these. We're not told if there was a way directly into these deep tunnels from outside at the time of the War of the Ring, but I don't see why there couldn't have been at some point.

From an outside-the-story viewpoint, I should say that's why Tolkien bothers to mention this ancient, unknown network of tunnels beneath the mountains– it explains how the Balrog got there in the first place.

This is a pretty interesting image, however–

Originally Posted by Morsul the Dark

also here's the idea being a maiar he could look like a dwarf and only in his rage did he reveal himself.

[Mister Underhill]

Interesting catch on the detail there, Inzila, as usual. Perhaps the Balrog flew down a ventilation shaft.

In any case, as Nerwen has mentioned, it seems doubtful that the Balrog entered Moria proper and then made his way to the deep places. Instead he must have wormed his way there from the surface by some other means, only to be "unearthed" by the Dwarves later on. You've inspired me to page through some of the accounts of the coming of the Host of the West to see if I can glean more details...

[wayseer]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

Somehow I don't get the impression that Balrogs are all that good at stealth...

We are told that Balrogs were 'cloaked in darkness' so maybe they did posses some stealth aspects.

In LoTR 'the Balrog' is the only surviving member which was also known as Durin's Bane having killed two kings of the Durin's Folk in Khazad-dum. This was the one Gandalf killed in TA 3019 after a lengthy battle. I suspect 'the Balrog' arrived in Moria before the TA through its ability to move unseen.

Interesting points raised here.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

I find it more likely that it entered through the tunnels beneath Moria– you know, the ones "gnawed by nameless things" (see The White Rider).
According to Gandalf, the Balrog was familiar with these. We're not told if there was a way directly into these deep tunnels from outside at the time of the War of the Ring, but I don't see why there couldn't have been at some point.

My only problem with this is you'd think that the entire area, not just Moria proper, would have been crawling with Dwarves. There should have been constant travel to and from the West-gate through the area later to be known as Eregion.
I would say the Balrog was lucky to have escaped their vigilance, but it was probably the Dwarves who were luckier.
This actually makes me wonder why the Balrog picked a location where it was likely to be discovered sooner or later. The Misty Mountains were a pretty large range, and you'd think there would have been hundreds of caves it could have explored. Maybe it had once known the Watcher and wanted to catch up on old times.

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

My only problem with this is you'd think that the entire area, not just Moria proper, would have been crawling with Dwarves. There should have been constant travel to and from the West-gate through the area later to be known as Eregion.
I would say the Balrog was lucky to have escaped their vigilance, but it was probably the Dwarves who were luckier.

I think Nerwen is spot on in her observation.
Anyways the entrances to tunnels under Moria probably wasn't situated near the gates or at the main travel rutes, the misty mountains is a massive mountain range and it should be no problem to find a desolate place.

[Pitchwife]

From the Silmarillion, it would seem that Angband was mostly subterranean, and probably dug pretty deep - maybe even including some biotopes for nameless, gnawing things of its own (Morgoth's pampered pets?). So who's to say Durin's Bane didn't travel all the way underground? It could have wandered through the entrails of the Earth for millennia until it finally found a cosy nook to settle down, entirely unaware that there were Dwarves living on top of it. I guess it was pretty annoyed when they broke into its attics.