`I need no map,’ said Gimli, who had come up with Legolas, and was gazing out before him with a strange light in his deep eyes. `There is the land where our fathers worked of old, and we have wrought the image of those mountains into many works of metal and of stone, and into many songs and tales. They stand tall in our dreams: Baraz, Zirak, Shathûr.

`Only once before have I seen them from afar in waking life, but I know them and their names, for under them lies Khazad-dûm, the Dwarrowdelf, that is now called the Black Pit, Moria in the Elvish tongue. Yonder stands Barazinbar, the Redhorn, cruel Caradhras; and beyond him are Silvertine and Cloudyhead: Celebdil the White, and Fanuidhol the Grey, that we call Zirak-zigil and Bundushathûr.

`There the Misty Mountains divide, and between their arms lies the deep-shadowed valley which we cannot forget: Azanulbizar, the Dimrill Dale, which the Elves call Nanduhirion.’

`It is for the Dimrill Dale that we are making,’ said Gandalf. `If we climb the pass that is called the Redhorn Gate, under the far side of Caradhras, we shall come down by the Dimrill Stair into the deep vale of the Dwarves. There lies the Mirrormere, and there the River Silverlode rises in its icy springs.’

`Dark is the water of Kheled-zâram,’ said Gimli, `and cold are the springs of Kibil-nâla. My heart trembles at the thought that I may see them soon.’

-The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, “The Ring Goes South”

I KNOW I KNOW NONNIE

I KNOWWWWWW

here is the text on Tolkien Gateway – warning, ORI, OIN AND BALIN FEELS.

ALSO FRAR, LONI AND NALI FEELS.

MORIAAAAA GAH, the angst that never stops angsting. *cries into her beard*

In answer to your question: I think Dori would read it. I do. It has been twenty-five years, no word, not a sign. He would read it simply to find out what happened at long last – and then he would forever wish that he had not.

Expecting some massive crushing Durin guilt when little Durin grows up and reclaims Moria. Hrera practically pulls her hair out by the roots worrying about her hubby and her son. Dain worries frantically for his grandkid.

OUCH NONNIE.

do you have all the dwarves’ ages, and how you translate them to human years (in your own canon, i mean)? in your (wonderful, WONDERFUL) fic it’s mentioned how young poor ori is when he dies, is he in the dwarf equivalent of his twenties? thirties? what about the others (sorry if this is asking a bit much, i’m just very curious now!)

Ah, there’s a fair bit of argy-bargy about this! I’d welcome any comments.

There’s not much in canon to go on, comparitive ages-wise. I’ve blabbed about how I am translating Dwarven ages in Sansukh here and here and here. Basically, I am going with the idea that Dwarves ‘come of age’ at 70, though they may reach physical maturity much earlier.

Ori was around 127 (from memory?) when he died in Sansukh. He’s not a little Dwarfling any more – he’s most definitely an adult, in the prime of his years. But try telling Nori that!

(For comparison, during the Ring War, Gimli is 139.)