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appendix a 1407
Moria was not yet known for what it was. All evil things were
stirring. The Dwarves delved deep at that time, seeking beneath
Barazinbar for mithril, the metal beyond price that was becoming
yearly ever harder to win. 1 Thus they roused from sleep 2 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. Durin was slain by it, and the year
after Náin I, his son; and then the glory of Moria passed, and its
people were destroyed or fled far away.
Most of those that escaped made their way into the North, and
Thráin I, Náin’s son, came to Erebor, the Lonely Mountain,
near the eastern eaves of Mirkwood, and there he began new
works, and became King under the Mountain. In Erebor he
found the great jewel, the Arkenstone, Heart of the Mountain. 3
But Thorin I his son removed and went into the far North
to the Grey Mountains, where most of Durin’s folk were now
gathering; for those mountains were rich and little explored. But
there were dragons in the wastes beyond; and after many years
they became strong again and multiplied, and they made war on
the Dwarves, and plundered their works. At last Dáin I, together
with Frór his second son, was slain at the doors of his hall by a
great cold-drake.
Not long after most of Durin’s Folk abandoned the Grey
Mountains. Grór, Dáin’s son, went away with many followers
to the Iron Hills; but Thrór, Dáin’s heir, with Borin his father’s
brother and the remainder of the people returned to Erebor. To
the Great Hall of Thráin, Thrór brought back the Arkenstone,
and he and his folk prospered and became rich, and they had
the friendship of all Men that dwelt near. For they made not
only things of wonder and beauty but weapons and armour of
great worth; and there was great traffic of ore between them and
their kin in the Iron Hills. Thus the Northmen who lived between
Celduin (River Running) and Carnen (Redwater) became
1 p. 413.
2 Or released from prison; it may well be that it had already been
awakened by the malice of Sauron.
3 The Hobbit, pp. 207–8.