The easternmost region of Moria is also the most ancient. Called Nud-melek by the Dwarves, this is the Khazad-dûm of old, the halls first dug out of the mountain by the Dwarves of the First Age. Now it stands cracked and damaged, having weathered fierce battles and fell beasts, including the dreaded Balrog known as Durin’s Bane. Yet still it stands proud and glorious, looming high and beautiful inside the mountain, seemingly ready to endure another age’s worth of wear and war thanks to the mighty craftsmanship of ancient Dwarf-smiths.

The History of Nud-melek

In the First Age of Middle-earth, the legendary father of the Longbeards—the great Dwarf called Durin the Deathless—came upon the lake Mirrormere in the Dimrill Dale beneath the mighty mountain of Celebdil. Something there inspired Durin. Some say it was the starry reflection in the lake. Others claim it was a mystic vision.

The source of Durin’s creative spark may have been vague, but his path was steadfast and clear. He envisioned a great city of Dwarves spreading out within the mountain, and he set out to make that city real.

Durin’s folk began mining where the mountain met the Dimrill Dale, at what is now the East-gate of Moria. They carved a fine hall beyond that gate, into the rock of Celebdil (called Zirakzigil by the Dwarves, and Silvertine by Men), and thus began Khazad-dûm. That first great region of halls and bridges and manses that they delved is now known as Nud-melek.

Thus, the history of the East-gate—and all of Nud-melek—is long. So too is it bloody. More than once, this edge of Moria has been a hotly contested battleground for the right to enter or control all of the Dwarf-city beyond.

Long did Orcs and Goblins, in their pursuit of great sunless kingdoms of their own, dream of conquering Khazad-dûm. The Second Age saw the stalwart Dwarves manning the East-gate to repel numerous attacks against the city.

Perhaps the most famed battle at the East-gate, however, came late in the Third Age, long after Durin’s Bane drove the mountain-folk out of Moria. Then an army of Dwarves—including the heroic Thorin Oakenshield and Dáin Ironfoot—sought revenge against the army of the Goblin warlord Azog for the death of King Thrór. This final battle in the War of Dwarves and Orcs was fought in the Dimrill Dale, which the Dwarves name Azanulbizar.

Though the Dwarves claimed victory that day, and Azog died on the steps of the East-gate, Dáin’s doughty army dared not re-enter Moria. The lingering fear of the mines as a well of darkness, haunted by Durin’s Bane, proved enough to keep even a victorious army from attempting to retake its halls.

Centuries later, Balin’s expedition came to Moria from Erebor, the Lonely Mountain, on a mission to recolonize the Dwarf-city, and those foolhardy souls presumably entered through the East-gate. Five years after, a new wave of Orcs and Goblins attacked through the East-gate as well. They surged into Nud-melek, slaying or driving back many brave Dwarves, and they eventually slaughtered Balin’s folk and retook Moria.

In this way, the East-gate has been the site of many glorious beginnings and sad losses. Today, it is the site of the only Stable-master and the lone outpost of colonial Dwarves in Nud-melek. These few Dwarves, alone at the edge of the dark, form the vanguard that links the new effort to restore Moria with the woodlands of Lórien beyond.