Book of Mazarbul This article needs to be rewritten to comply
with Tolkien Gateway's higher standards... The Book of Mazarbul
was begun in T.A. 2989, upon Balin's return to Moria. The book
recounted a battle with the Orcs that inhabited the old halls of
Khazad-dûm, in which Balin's Dwarves were victorious. They
settled in the Twenty-first Hall, above the East-gate, and Balin
himself ruled his new domain from the old Chamber of Records,
also called the Chamber of Mazarbul. Over the next five years,
the Dwarves seem to have settled quite successfully into their
new home, exploring under the Mountains as far as the West-gate
of Moria, and recovering Durin's Axe and apparently other
priceless items made of mithril. The Lordship of Balin was
short-lived. Ori, who was with him in Moria, recorded in the
last pages of the Book how an army of Orcs came unexpectedly out
of the east, slaying Balin outside the East-gate. The Dwarves
defended themselves, but they were beleaguered from the the east
by the Orcs, and from th