Durin, Nain, and the Balrog

[Elmo]

Yes but why wasn't the Balrog lashing Dain with his whip by the doors of Moria and why did the Balrog let Balin's rule last five years then send Orcs to destroy them. Did it not notice that a large number of dwarves living in his realm for five years and why didn't it go after them itself?

[Lord Melkor]

Hmmm, interesting topic. I think Rumil made some good suggestions about that first year of the Balrog's release. I reckon the Balrog first killed the Dwarves that awoke him and lingered for a while in the deep places of Khazad-dum to regain his bearings. After all, he was asleep for thousands of years before being rudely awakened. I think some of the miners escaped back to the upper levels and warned their lord, Durin, who decided to venture down there himself with a strong detachment of Dwarven warriors to teach this creature a lesson in Dwarven hospitality. Unfortunately he got a lot more than he bargained for and was duly killed by the Balrog, who must have been getting pretty annoyed by all these Dwarves prancing around him.

For the next year the Dwarves would have probably tried to contain the Balrog in the lower levels by sealing the corridors and hallways leading there. Obviously their efforts were in vain when at the end of that year the Balrog broke out and killed Nain. Now that the Balrog had broken through to the main halls of Khazad-dum and having lost two kings and probably a good deal of their best warriors, the Dwarves were compelled to hastily evacuate Khazad-dum.

It seems probable that the Balrog and Sauron (who resided close-by in Dol Guldur) had some sort of 'gentlemen's agreement', where the Balrog would allow Sauron's orcs to inhabit Khazad-dum, as long as they acknowledged the Balrog's supremacy in Moria. Though not stated outright in the books it seems the Balrog resided mostly in the lowest levels of Khazad-dum, close to his original resting place. I believe Gandalf remarked that though the upper levels had been completely plundered, no-one dared to venture into the deeper levels, stating that these are clouded in the shadow of fear (aka, the Big Bad Balrog resided there).

This would also explain why the Balrog allowed Balin's expedition to continue for so many years. It may be that the Balrog was simply unaware of them, with the dwarves only inhabiting the upper levels of Khazad-dum while the Balrog resided in the deep, lower levels. Only after the Orcs returned into Moria was the Balrog's ire aroused, though it may be that the Balrog himself never actually attacked Balin's dwarves, instead preferring to let the Orcs do the cleaning out.

[Elmo]

Yet why did the Balrog appear to the Fellowship within days of them entering Moria?

[Lord Melkor]

Originally Posted by hewhoarisesinmight

Yet why did the Balrog appear to the Fellowship within days of them entering Moria?

The Balrog may have been attracted by the presence of the Ring. As seen with the Watcher in the Water the Ring had the tendency to draw evil creatures to it. And there is also the matter of foolish Tooks tossing stones into deep wells. Who knows what elese was disturbed by Pippin's stone? It certainly wasn't just Orcs, as Gandalf found out on the Bridge of Khazad-dum.

[Elmo]

Just one last question, when Dain looked into the darkness of Khazad-dum, did he see Durin's bane?

[Lord Melkor]

Yes.

I don't have the exact quote at hand but when Dain returned after the Battle of Azanulbizar he was greatly shaken and told Thrain that the time to return to Moria had not yet come

[The Might]

Very true Lord Melkor, I thought I should give the quote to clear things up a bit more:

Then Thrain [color=black]turned to Da[/color]in, and said: "But surely my own kin will not desert me?" "No," said Dain, "You are the father of our Folk, and we have bled for you, and will again. But we will not enter Khazad-dum. You will not enter Khazad-dum. Only I have looked through the shadow of the gate. Beyond the shadow it waits for you still: Durin's Bane. The world must change and some other power than ours must come before Durin's Folk walk again in Moria. ~ LOTR, Appendix A, Durin's Folk

Actually, now that I re-read this passage it sounds as a bit of a prophecy to me, similar to the prophecy made by Glorfindel about the Witch-king. Clearly, Dain possessed enough wisdom to realise that the Dwarves would never be strong enough to defeat Durin's Bane on their own. Fortunately for them, this other power appeared in the form of Gandalf the Grey.

However, I definitely don't agree with the idea of an agreement between Sauron and Durin's Bane. I see it more as a relation between Sauron and Shelob. Shelob helped Sauron indirectly by making sure nobody made it alive through her lair, but she had no real wish to serve him.

Also, I am not so sure whether the Balrog actually cared about anyone passing through Moria as long as he wasn't disturbed. During Balin's reign the Dwarves were able to reach as far as to the West Gate so clearly if they had wished to exit Moria they could have (except the unfortunate episode with Oin and the Watcher). Neither the Balrog nor the Watcher were in any way serving Sauron knowingly, it was just a lucky coincidence for him that they were present there.

As for the Orcs, they clearly respected and served the Balrog, however this doesn't mean they didn't have their own pride. Azog's time as "ruler" of Moria shows that not all Orcs were necessarily also serving the Balrog, which leads me to the conclusion that the Balrog didn't care much about what was going on as long as he was ok.