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From Lord of the Rings:

Saruman: Moria... You fear to go into those mines. The dwarves delved too greedily and too deep. You know what they awoke in the darkness of Khazad-dum... shadow and flame.

So, the dwarves awoke the Balrog beneath Moria. But why was the Balrog there in the first place?

Shade
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    Basement living is very trendy nowadays. – Valorum Feb 03 '21 at 14:20
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    You said so yourself: it was awoken. Where else would you try and sleep for milllennia as a balrog? I know where I wouldn't sleep: In some random forest or field in Middle Earth. – DKNguyen Feb 03 '21 at 14:59
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    Could be Balrogs everywhere if you dig deep enough. Fourth Age oil companies, beware! – Invisible Trihedron Feb 03 '21 at 15:03
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    No book handy for a supported answer, but the idea is that the Balrog had fled the overthrow of Angband at the end of the First Age and was hiding. There's no particular reason why it was under Moria, other than a really unfortunate coincidence for the Dwarves of Khazad-Dûm. – chepner Feb 03 '21 at 15:32
  • It probably fled there after the fall of thangorodrim but I expect someone with better knowledge and quotes will be able to clarify in answer-worthy form. – Todd Wilcox Feb 03 '21 at 15:45
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    Just a note that the line quoted is from Jackson's FotR film and not present in the books. The question itself is still valid though. – J W Feb 04 '21 at 08:40
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    @DJSpicyDeluxe The Balrog was in there before the dwarfs, and quite possibly before the mountains existed over the top. – Graham Feb 04 '21 at 10:21
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    OK people, that's a whole lot of funny comments. We don't really hate fun, but if everyone leaves their wit here, it's going to be a very full comment section. I've moved the comments to chat; feel free to continue sharing as much wit as you like there. – Rand al'Thor Feb 05 '21 at 03:35

1 Answers1

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Silmarillion, Chapter XXIV Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath:

The Balrogs were destroyed, save some few that fled and hid themselves in caverns inaccessible at the roots of the earth

Yaroslav Kornachevskyi
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