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appendix a 1409
where he was then dwelling, he went north with Nár, and they
crossed the Redhorn Pass and came down into Azanulbizar.
When Thrór came to Moria the Gate was open. Nár begged
him to beware, but he took no heed of him, and walked proudly
in as an heir that returns. But he did not come back. Nár stayed
nearby for many days in hiding. One day he heard a loud shout
and the blare of a horn, and a body was flung out on the steps.
Fearing that it was Thrór, he began to creep near, but there
came a voice from within the gate:
‘Come on, beardling! We can see you. But there is no need to
be afraid today. We need you as a messenger.’
Then Nár came up, and found that it was indeed the body of
Thrór, but the head was severed and lay face downwards. As he
knelt there, he heard orc-laughter in the shadows, and the voice
said:
‘If beggars will not wait at the door, but sneak in to try thieving,
that is what we do to them. If any of your people poke their foul
beards in here again, they will fare the same. Go and tell them
so! But if his family wish to know who is now king here, the
name is written on his face. I wrote it! I killed him! I am the
master!’
Then Nár turned the head and saw branded on the brow in
dwarf-runes so that he could read it the name azog. That name
was branded in his heart and in the hearts of all the Dwarves
afterwards. Nár stooped to take the head, but the voice of Azog 1
said:
‘Drop it! Be off ! Here’s your fee, beggar-beard.’ A small bag
struck him. It held a few coins of little worth.
Weeping, Nár fled down the Silverlode; but he looked back
once and saw that Orcs had come from the gate and were hacking
up the body and flinging the pieces to the black crows.
Such was the tale that Nár brought back to Thráin; and when
he had wept and torn his beard he fell silent. Seven days he sat
and said no word. Then he stood up and said: ‘This cannot be
borne!’ That was the beginning of the War of the Dwarves and
1 Azog was the father of Bolg; see The Hobbit, p.24.