The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Dates
The date of the Mansion's foundation is uncertain, but it probably predated the first rising of the Sun; it was deserted in III 1981, and briefly recolonised III 2989 - III 2994
Location
In the central regions of the Misty Mountains, to the northwest of Lórien
Origins
Race
Division
Culture
Family
Ruled by the House of Durin
Important peaks
Passes
The Dimrill Stair led through the Mountains of Moria and down into the valley of Azanulbizar (the Dimrill Dale), into which the Great Gates of the Mansion opened
Pronunciation
Khazâd is pronounced 'k-ha'zad'
Meaning
Other names

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About this entry:

  • Updated 23 March 2024
  • This entry is complete

Mansion of the Khazâd

The ancestral home of the Longbeard Dwarves

Map of the Mansion of the Khazâd

A partial translation of Khazad-dûm, the name given by the Dwarves to their vast underground dwelling within the Misty Mountains. Founded by Durin the Deathless in the Elder Days, it remained the seat of his descendants the Longbeards throughout the Second Age and well into the Third. In the year III 1980 the mining Dwarves awakened a Balrog beneath the mountains and were driven out of their Mansion, after which time it became commonly known as Moria, the Black Pit. More than a thousand years later, Balin made a brief and ultimately disastrous attempt to recolonise Khazad-dûm, but it would not truly return into the hands of the Dwarves until some time after the War of the Ring.

The name 'Mansion of the Khazâd' shows us that the Dwarvish word dûm means 'mansion' (because it is known that Khazâd was the Dwarves' name for their own kind, originally given to them by Aulë their maker). A full translation of Khazad-dûm, then, would be 'Mansion of the Dwarves'.


Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 23 March 2024
  • This entry is complete

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