Dimrill Dale
Also calledAzanulbizar, Nanduhirion, The Vale of Dimrill
Dimrill Dale is the deep valley on the eastern side of the Misty Mountains beneath the three Mountains of Moria, holding the lake of Mirrormere and the springs of the Silverlode. It was the front door of Khazad-dûm and the field of the Battle of Azanulbizar, the bloodiest fight of the War of the Dwarves and Orcs.
Description
The valley of the East-gate
Dimrill Dale lies in the eastern flank of the Misty Mountains, cupped between Caradhras, Celebdil and Fanuidhol. Its Sindarin name Nanduhirion and its Dwarvish name Azanulbizar both refer to the dim streams that fall down its sides, and the Common Speech name preserves the same picture: a valley of rills in shadow, where the sun comes late over the mountain wall. The Dimrill Stair, a series of falls and steps at the valley head, brings the Redhorn Pass down into it; the East-gate of Moria, also called the Dimrill Gate, opens onto its western slope beneath a broken stair of old dwarvish steps.
In the floor of the dale lies Mirrormere, the dark lake where Durin first looked and saw a crown of stars, with the pillar of Durin's Stone standing by its shore. From the lake's outflow the Silverlode, Celebrant to the Elves and Kibil-nâla to the Dwarves, runs down eastward past the springs of Nimrodel to Lothlórien and the Anduin. The lower valley was green with grass and scattered with fir and birch, and no place in Middle-earth was more revered by the Longbeards.
History
For two ages the dale was the peaceful forecourt of Khazad-dûm, watched by the East-gate and crossed by the road to Lórien. After the Dwarves fled in T.A. 1981 it lay under the shadow of the orcs who held Moria. In 2790 Thrór came here alone and passed through the East-gate; his body was thrown out onto the valley steps by Azog, who had branded his name on the severed head. That insult began the War of the Dwarves and Orcs, and on a winter's day in 2799 the seven houses of the Dwarves met the orc host of the mountains in the dale. The Battle of Azanulbizar was fought up and down the slopes and on the shore of Mirrormere; Náin of the Iron Hills was killed, his son Dáin Ironfoot slew Azog before the gate, and Thorin won his name Oakenshield. So many Dwarves fell that they were burned rather than buried, and the survivors would not enter Moria when Dáin looked through the door and saw that Durin's Bane still waited within.
In 2994 Balin, lord of the short-lived colony that had retaken the halls, was shot by an orc while looking into Mirrormere, and the Dwarves buried him in the Chamber of Mazarbul. The Fellowship came out of the East-gate into the dale on January 15, 3019, hours after Gandalf fell on Durin's Bridge, and rested by Durin's Stone before going down the Silverlode to Lórien.
Geography
A steep-sided valley on the eastern side of the central Misty Mountains, below the Redhorn Pass and the East-gate of Moria, containing Mirrormere and the headwaters of the Silverlode, which flows east to Lothlórien.
Places within1
- Lake
Mirrormere, Kheled-zâram to the Dwarves, is the still, dark lake in Dimrill Dale beneath the East-gate of Moria. Here Durin the Deathless saw a crown of stars reflected above his head, and the Longbeards held the water sacred ever after.
Associated figures
Visited
Father of the Longbeards
Durin I
LongbeardsDurin the Deathless was the eldest of the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves, the first to awaken, and the founder of Khazad-dûm. He lived so long that his people believed he would return among them, and his name was borne by six later kings of his line.
Khazad-dûm
Fought at
King of Durin's Folk
Thorin II Oakenshield
LongbeardsThorin Oakenshield, son of Thráin II and heir of Durin's line, spent most of his life as a king in exile after Smaug took Erebor. In T.A. 2941 he led twelve Dwarves and the hobbit Bilbo Baggins on the quest that ended the dragon and restored the Kingdom under the Mountain, and he died of his wounds in the Battle of Five Armies after reconciling with Bilbo.
Erebor; halls in the Blue Mountains during the exileChieftain of the Orcs of Moria
Azog
OrcsAzog was the great Orc who ruled Moria after the Dwarves had abandoned it, and whose murder and mutilation of King Thrór in T.A. 2790 provoked the War of the Dwarves and Orcs. He slew Náin of the Iron Hills at the Battle of Azanulbizar and was beheaded there on the doorstep of Moria by Náin's son Dáin.
MoriaLord of Moria
Balin
LongbeardsBalin son of Fundin was the eldest and wisest of Thorin's companions on the quest of Erebor and the Dwarf who became closest to Bilbo. In T.A. 2989 he led an expedition to refound the kingdom of Khazad-dûm, ruled there as Lord of Moria for five years, and was killed by an Orc arrow at Mirrormere; the Fellowship found his tomb in the Chamber of Mazarbul.
Erebor; Moria from T.A. 2989Lord of the Iron Hills
Dáin II Ironfoot
LongbeardsDáin Ironfoot slew the Orc Azog at the gate of Moria when he was thirty-two, ruled the Iron Hills, led five hundred Dwarves to the Battle of Five Armies, and succeeded Thorin Oakenshield as King under the Mountain. He ruled Erebor for seventy-eight years of prosperity and died in the War of the Ring defending the body of King Brand at the gate of the Mountain.
Iron Hills; Erebor from T.A. 2941King of Durin's Folk
Thráin II
LongbeardsThráin II, son of Thrór and father of Thorin Oakenshield, led the Dwarves in the War of the Dwarves and Orcs and afterwards founded halls in the Blue Mountains. Lured by his Ring toward Erebor, he was captured by Sauron's servants and died in the dungeons of Dol Guldur, where Gandalf found him and received the map and key of Erebor.
Erebor in exile; halls in the Blue Mountains- Longbeards
Dwalin, younger brother of Balin, was the first Dwarf to arrive at Bag End and one of Thorin's thirteen companions on the quest of Erebor. He lived on at the Mountain into the Fourth Age and died at the age of three hundred and forty, the longest life recorded of any Dwarf after Durin the Deathless.
Erebor
Died in
Chieftain of the Orcs of Moria
Azog
OrcsAzog was the great Orc who ruled Moria after the Dwarves had abandoned it, and whose murder and mutilation of King Thrór in T.A. 2790 provoked the War of the Dwarves and Orcs. He slew Náin of the Iron Hills at the Battle of Azanulbizar and was beheaded there on the doorstep of Moria by Náin's son Dáin.
MoriaLord of Moria
Balin
LongbeardsBalin son of Fundin was the eldest and wisest of Thorin's companions on the quest of Erebor and the Dwarf who became closest to Bilbo. In T.A. 2989 he led an expedition to refound the kingdom of Khazad-dûm, ruled there as Lord of Moria for five years, and was killed by an Orc arrow at Mirrormere; the Fellowship found his tomb in the Chamber of Mazarbul.
Erebor; Moria from T.A. 2989King of Durin's Folk
Thrór
LongbeardsThrór, grandfather of Thorin Oakenshield, restored the Kingdom under the Mountain in T.A. 2590 and ruled it in its greatest wealth until Smaug came in 2770. Driven to wander by exile and by his Ring, he entered Moria alone and was murdered there by the Orc Azog, and his death began the War of the Dwarves and Orcs.
EreborLord of the Iron Hills
Náin
LongbeardsNáin, son of Grór and father of Dáin Ironfoot, was Lord of the Iron Hills. He brought fresh forces to the Battle of Azanulbizar in T.A. 2799, fought his way to the gate of Moria, and was slain there by Azog before his son avenged him.
Iron Hills
Peoples
Timeline
- Years of the Trees
Durin looks into Mirrormere
Durin I comes to the dale, sees the crown of stars above his reflection, and founds Khazad-dûm beside it.
- T.A. 1981
The Dwarves flee Moria
After the Balrog kills two kings, Durin's folk leave the halls and the dale falls silent.
- T.A. 2790
Thrór's death at the gate
Azog slays Thrór inside Moria and casts his mutilated body onto the steps of the East-gate.
- T.A. 2799
Battle of Azanulbizar
The united Dwarves destroy the orc army of the mountains; Náin falls and Dáin slays Azog.
- T.A. 2994
Balin slain
An orc-archer kills Balin beside Mirrormere; his colony in Moria is soon destroyed.
- T.A. 3019, January 15
The Fellowship escapes into the dale
Eight companions emerge from the Dimrill Gate after losing Gandalf and rest by Durin's Stone.
Sources
- The Fellowship of the RingBook II, chapter 6 'Lothlórien'
- The Lord of the Rings: AppendicesAppendix A, III 'Durin's Folk'
See also
Part of
Elsewhere in The Misty Mountains
- Moriarealm
- Caradhrasmountain
- Goblin-towncave
- Mount Gundabadmountain
- The High Passpass
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