The New Notion Club Archives
Register
Advertisement
The New Notion Club Archives
Durin

Dúrin III

The most revered of all Dwarves, Dúrin (Del."Gate Sleeper" or E."King"; Kh."Abadgamil" "Ancient King") awoke far back in the Elder Days, as the Longbeards first stirred, and traveled to Azanulbizar, the broad and beautiful valley east of the Misty Mountains. A solitary pilgrim, he boldly named the vale. Enraptured by the beauty of a crystal clear lake which he called Kheled-zaram (the Mirrormere), Dúrin experienced a vision: a crown of seven stars swirled around his head, although it was daytime, Durin's Crown, as the Dwarves called the halo, was known and held in awe by all Dwarves. At the site of the vision, a weathered stone pillar became Durin's Stone, another place held in reverence by the Khazad. Nearby, Dúrin founded the great Dwarf-kingdom of Khazad-dûm (or Moria), shaping the caves above the lake to suit his tastes, and gathered Longbeards to his side. In the Second Age, Dúrin and his smiths accomplished a feat unparalleled in all of Middle-earth: the building of the Endless Stair and at its peak, Durin's Tower. An unending spiral staircase cut into the living stone, the breathtaking walkway takes one thousands of steps, from the depths of the caverns to the summit of the Silvertine. Durin lived for so long that many believed him to be immortal. He was not. Yet after his death, five heirs in the Second and Third Ages had so resembled Dúrin I that they received his name, for many Dwarves believed each to be a reincarnation of the first Dúrin.

see: Seven Fathers

Durinsline

Dúrin´s Line

Durin´s principal Items[]

The seven Dúrins[]

  • Dúrin I - awoke at Gundabad and led his people south to found Khazad-dûm.
  • Dúrin II - Durin II ruled Khazad-dum in the Second Age, in the 700's. He was thought to have been King at the time of the construction of the enchanted West-gate of Moria, built by Narvi and his Dwarf-craftsmen to encourage trade between the Dwarves and the Elves of Eregion.The Men of the Misty Mountains named him Daurrein for the first time.
  • Dúrin III - Second Age King of Khazad-dum, Durin III ruled the Dwarves when Celebrimbor forged the Rings of Power in the 1500's. As a gift, Durin III was given the foremost of the seven Dwarf-rings by the Elves, who judged him their friend. Unable to be dominated and controlled by Sauron's Ruling Ring, Dwarves nonetheless fell victim to greed and as a race, declined in power and fell from grace with the passage of time.
  • Dúrin IV - closed the doors of Khazad-Dûm and led his folk into isolation.
  • Dúrin V - fought in the War of the Last Alliance and reconquered Gundabad.
  • Dúrin VI - Born in T.A. 1731 this King of Khazad-dûm lived in relative peace until 1980, when his delving under Caradhras for the mithril-lode released the Balrog. The evil spirit slew Durin VI, and the next year, his son, Nain I. Moria was abandoned by the Dwarves after Nain's death.
  • Dúrin VII Lastking - proclaimed himself in the Fourth Age and reconquered Moria.

Notes[]

  • The Name Durin is explained as both, a name in the language of the folk of Dale, and as "Durin", an ancient title meaning "King" in the language of the ancestors of the Northmen in the Second Age.
  • Due to misleading depictions of the Family tree of the House of Durin in The Lord of the Rings appendices many people identify Dúrin VII as the son of Thórin Stonehelm.However the original family tree makes it clear that Dúrin VII appears some undetermined generations after Thórin.Also Dúrin probably was not simply reborn in another Dwarf but literally re-awoke from his grave.
  • LOTRO also follows an interpretation which has Thórin Stonehelm have a son named Dúrin who sets on to reconquer Gundabad after the War of the Ring, though he himself and the Dwarves of his house remain unsure if he might be Dúrin returned or not, as seemingly "Dúrin" was not an uncommon name among Longbeard nobility and not every "Dúrin" was identical with one of the seven incarnations of Dúrin the Deathless.

References[]

  • MERP:Lords of Middle-earth Vol III: Hobbits, Dwarves, Ents, Orcs & Trolls
  • MERP:Middle-Earth Adventure Guidebook II
Advertisement