For those of you who are fans of the Lord of the Rings films, the scene at the site of Balin’s tomb in Moria is one of the great moments of Peter Jackson’s film trilogy.
People who knew nothing of Tolkien’s universe must have wondered who Balin was and why he had a tomb there. Although Gandalf, in the movie scene, was reading a kind of diary about the last days of the dwarves, little or nothing was said about this mysterious character.
Years later, those who had not decided to read the books but returned to the movies to see The Hobbit trilogy discovered to their surprise, that Balin was one of the thirteen dwarves who made up Thorin Oakenshield’s Company in their crusade to recover the kingdom of Erebor from the clutches of the dragon Smaug.
He was a dwarf who oozed experience, probably the oldest of all Thorin’s dwarves. He wore a scarlet cap and a long white beard, accentuating his veteran appearance.
Like his compatriots, he loved beer. He always carried a viola with him, with which he often entertained the meals and dinners of the group of adventurers.
Balin’s role in the Company of Thorin was that of the group’s scout, overseeing that the passes were safe and that the nearest miles to travel were free of dangers and enemies.
How did Balin end up perishing in the mines of Moria if he was a vital member of the dwarves of Erebor?
After the events of The Hobbit, he remained with his people in Erebor for about half a century.
Seeing that his mission had been successful and they had recovered the kingdom, Balin believed they could do the same with the mines of Moria, the kingdom of Khazad-Dhûm, which had fallen into the hands of orcs and goblins long before.
He gathered an expedition, and they set out for the mines. They settled in the so-called Chamber of Mazarbul, which became their center of operations and the point from which they undertook the reconquest of the kingdom.
Upon arrival, Balin proclaimed himself Lord of Moria, and with caution, the dwarves explored the different caves, tunnels, and chambers in which, with luck, they would recover their ancient splendor.
However, what promised to be a mission for history turned out to be a deadly disaster.
Gradually the dwarves were cornered by the orcs, who drove them out of the few places where the work of refounding had already begun.
Balin himself was killed by an arrow shot when he was in the Mirror Lake; an orc shot him treacherously in the back, and the Lord of Moria died in a few minutes.
In the same Chamber of Mazarbul, which had become the last dwarven bastion against the orcs, the survivors erected a tomb for Balin, inscribed in birth runes: Balin, son of Fundin, Lord of Moria.
A few days later, no dwarf was left alive.
Years later, the Fellowship of the Ring would find the tomb, where they would fight a fierce battle against orcs and a troll of the caverns, to later face a whole Balrog, in another thrilling scene that we all remember.
As a curiosity and, finally, Balin was a close relative of Gimli; his father, Fundin, was the brother of the grandfather of the famous dwarf of the Fellowship of the Ring.