Khazad Dum or Moria

[Mactjeerd]

I finally caught up with series today. My goodness, what a journey so far. First of all: a big thank you for the Professor. I don't know how you manage to keep at it, but it's much appreciated. Never have I learned so much in such a short time about my nr 1 favorite book series.

My question for Narnion, now I'm up to speed: On the grave of Balin the inscription reads: Here lies Balin, son of Fundin, Lord of Moria.
Do you think this is in line with Tolkien's earlier choice to call Khazad Dum Moria on the inscription on the Hollin door? Or could it be a conscious choice by the Dwarves from Balin's expedition to use the more negatively charged name Moria, as they would have been thoroughly disheartened by that time, and maybe came to see Khazad Dum more as the Black Pit then as the former glorious kingdom of the Dwarves?

Kind regards from the Netherlands

 

[Flammifer]

Congratulations on catching up!

 

[MithLuin]

Images of Balin's tomb:

From LOTRO:


From the book:


So, before answering the question about the thoughts of the Dwarves, it's important to establish what (precisely) this inscription says.




Because the short answer is that only the bottom line says "Balin Son of Fundin Lord of Moria."

The top three lines are in Khuzdul (or, well, close enough - we know that "Balin" is not a Khuzdul name).
Apparently -ul is an ending that means 'son of', and "uzbad" means "lord".
Presumably, the -u ending also indicates 'of' in some capacity, but I imagine there's more to it than that. But the point is....the name "Khazad-dûm" certainly appears on Balin's tomb, and the use of "Moria" is only in the translation into the Common tongue (ie, English for the reader).

So it seems that "Moria" is the name when speaking to outsiders, but not the 'true' name in Khuzdul.

 

[Mactjeerd]

Thanks for the in-depth reply Mithluin!

So it looks like either the dwarves were not bothered at all by the negative connotation of the name used by outsiders, or maybe those connotations became negative only later, going from something like "dark and deep structure underground" to "the black pit" over time.

 

[Odola]

Thanks for the in-depth reply Mithluin!

So it looks like either the dwarves were not bothered at all by the negative connotation of the name used by outsiders, or maybe those connotations became negative only later, going from something like "dark and deep structure underground" to "the black pit" over time.

indeed neither dark nor pit must necessary seem negative for dwarves