Balin

Balin was a dwarf frontrunner, the lad of Fundin, the senior brother of Dvalin. Dvalin is a dwarf from the Thorin’s squad. The youngest brother of Balin was born 2 years later the attack of the dragon Smaug on Erebor. Dvalin was tall, sullen, sturdy and courageous. A well-known soldier and authoritative partner, he didn’t want anything other than the return of the dwarf King under the mountain.

Balin probably was born in Erebor before the dragon attack. Smaug was a fiery dragon who existed in the Third Age – the previous “great” dragon of Middle-earth. Its origin is unknown. More than two centuries, he lived in the captured Erebor, lying in a pile of treasures. No one ventured to climb the mountain since then, and the scorched territory at the mountain began to be called “Smaug’s wasteland”.

Belonged to the genus Durin. He was one of the twelve gnomes who escorted Thorin Dubostchita in his campaign to Lonely Mountain. Erebor is also known as Lonely Mountain – the greatest dwarven empire of Middle-earth. In the distant past, gnomes from the genus Durin discovered valuable minerals here. Soon a colony was founded, and a road was laid connecting the mountain with the Iron Hills and even with the distant possessions of gnomes in the west, such as the Blue Mountains.

Balin was deep-rooted and intelligent. He was one of Thorin’s friends, as well as his adviser. Balin could continuously attend to the interlocutor and give astute advice.

Fought together with Thorin in the Battle of Moria and was also with his brother Dvalin in the campaign contrary to Erebor, which was conceived by King Train. Moria (also known as Casad Doom and Dwarroudelf) was a huge foothill dwarf settlement in the Misty Mountains. For thousands of years, the gnome community has flourished here. They dug mines, found gold and sometimes rare and precious metal – mithril. The city was abandoned when the demon Balrog was accidentally exposed during the deepening of the mines.

Though, the campaign was unsuccessful, as Trayna was abducted by servants of Sauron and Balin returned with the other gnomes, informing Torin of the sad news.

After the events with the dragon and the combat of the Five Hosts, after some time, Balin decided to assemble a detachment to restore the olden gnome empires in Moria. He also hoped to find there one of 7 magic dwarven rings. The search for the ring was unsuccessful, but Balin was able to become the ruler of Moria, finding the head covering and ax of the ancestor of his clan Durin I.

Sauron presented monarchs of the dwarves with seven rings. Obviously, each of the rings was given to the head of each of 7 dwarven clans, whose names are: Iron Hands, Hard Beads, Chernovlas, Kamenegogi, Shirokozady, Firebeards, Longbeards (they are the Folks of Durin). Gnomes used these rings to accumulate enormous piles of gems (not explained how the rings helped in this). This, in turn, attracted dragons.

Soon, however, Balin was murdered. He went alone to a mountain lake, where he was shot from the bow by an orc. The gnome colony was also, after some time, exterminated by the orcs and Balrog.

Balrogi – dark spirits of majar, which were seduced by Melkor. When Eru Iluvatar played music, and Melkor introduced dissonance, these spirits picked up Melkor’s motive. Thus, they not only existed before the creation of the world of Arda, but also contributed to its spoilage.

The fate of the colony of dwarfs was not identified until the entrance of the Communion of the Ring in Moria, in which was a relative of Balin – dwarf Gimli, son of Gloin and nephew of Oin. They discovered the grave of Balin, on which it was written: “Balin, the son of Fundin, the lord of Moria”. Near the grave detachment exposed the remains of the gnome Ori, who managed to make the last record before the attack of the orcs.