- " The end comes soon. We hear drums, drums in the deep. They are coming."
- —Ori's last entry in the Book of Mazarbul
The book as it appears in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Book of Mazarbul was begun in TA 2989, upon Balin's return to Moria. The book recounted the expedition's experiences within Moria, including 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, 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 east by the Orcs and from the west by the mysterious Watcher in the Water. Their last stand was in the Chamber of Mazarbul, where the Orcs eventually overcame and destroyed them.
The victorious Orcs seem not to have understood the significance of the Book, so that rather than carrying it off or destroying it, they left it to rot in the Chamber. There it was found twenty-four years later by the Fellowship of the Ring, burned, slashed and blood-stained, and missing a number of pages, but still readable in some parts. Gandalf passed it to Gimli to return to King Dáin, after which nothing more is said of it.[1]
Text in the Book
Page 1
We drove out the orcs from the Great Gate and guardroom and took the First Hall. We slew many in the bright sun in the dale. Flói was killed by an arrow. He slew the great chieftain. We buried…Flói under grass near Mirrormere…came…ken we repaired…We have taken the Twenty-first Hall of North End to dwell in. There is good air…that can easily be watched…the shaft is clear…Balin has set up his seat in the Chamber of Mazarbul…gathered…gold…wonderful lay Durin’s Axe and…silver helm. Balin has taken them for his own. Balin is now lord of Moria:…today we found truesilver…well-forged helm…made all of purest mithril…Óin to seek for the upper armories of the Third Deep…go westwards to s…to Hollin Gate.
Page 2
…years since…ready sorrow…yesterday being the tenth of November Balin, lord of Moria, fell in Dimrill Dale. He went alone to look in Mirrormere. An orc shot him from behind a stone. We slew the orc, but many more came…up from east up the Silverlode…we rescued Balin’s body..after a sharp battle…we have barred the gates but doubt if…we can hold them long. If there is…no escape it will be a horrible fate to suffer, but I shall hold.
Page 3
We cannot get out. We cannot get out. They have taken the bridge and Second Hall. Frár and Lóni and Náli fell there bravely while the rest retreated to the Chamber of…Mazarbul. We are still ho{ldin}g...but hope …Óin's party went five days ago but today only four returned. The pool is up to the wall at West-gate. The Watcher in the Water took Óin--we cannot get out. The end comes soon. We hear drums, drums in the deep. They are coming.
Trivia
- In the The Fellowship of the Ring (novel) the book is found and kept for Dáin Ironfoot; in the movie version it is found but lost again.
- In the film adaptation, the text of the book is different: "They have taken the bridge and the Second Hall. We have barred the gates but cannot hold them for long. The ground shakes...drums, drums in the deep. We cannot get out. The shadow moves in the dark. We cannot get out. They are coming.", hinting at the possibility that Durin's Bane hindered them or at least was seen.
- The book's text was provided by Tolkien separately from The Fellowship of the Ring's publication.
Translations
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afrikaans | Boek van Mazarbul |
| Amharic | ትንቢተ ማዛርቡል |
| Albanian | Libri i Mazarbul |
| Arabic | كتاب مازاربول |
| Aragonese | Libro de Mazarbul |
| Armenian | Մազարիբուլի գիրքը |
| Basque | Mazarbulen liburua |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Мазарбул кніга |
| Bosnian | Knjiga Mazarbul |
| Breton | Levr Mazarbul |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Книга на Мазарбул |
| Catalan | Llibre de Mazarbul |
| Cebuano | Basahon ni Mazarbul |
| Corsican | Libru di Mazarbul |
| Croatian | Knjiga Mazarbul |
| Czech | Kniha Mazarbul |
| Danish | Mazarbuls Bog |
| Dutch | Boek van Mazarbul |
| Esperanto | Libro de Mazarbulo |
| Estonian | Mazarbuli Raamat |
| Filipino | Aklat ng Mazarbul |
| Finnish | Mazarbulin kirja |
| French | Livre de Mazarbul |
| Galician | Libro de Mazarbul |
| Georgian | მაზარბულის წიგნი |
| German | Buch von Mazarbul |
| Greek | Βιβλίο του Μαζαρβολ |
| Gujarati | મઝરબુલની ચોપડી |
| Haitian Creole | Liv nan Mazarbul |
| Hawaiian | Buke o Mazarbul |
| Hebrew | ספר םאזארבול |
| Hindi | मजारबुल की किताब |
| Hungarian | Mazarbul könyve |
| Indonesian | Kitab Mazarbul |
| Irish Gaelic | Leabhar Mazarbul |
| Italian | Libro di Mazarbul |
| Japanese | マザルブルの書 |
| Javanese | Kitab Mazarbul |
| Kannada | ಮಝಾರ್ಬುಲ್ ಪುಸ್ತಕ |
| Kazakh | Мазарболдың кітабы (Cyrillic) Mazarboldıñ kitabı (Latin) |
| Kurdish | Mazarbul pirtûk (Kurmanji Kurdish) |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Мазарбул китеби |
| Latin | Liber Mazarbul |
| Latvian | Mazarbul grāmata |
| Lithuanian | Mazarbul knyga |
| Luxembourgish | Buch vun Mazarbul |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Книга на Мазарбул |
| Malagasy | Bokin'i Mazarbul |
| Malaysian | Buku Mazarbul |
| Maori | Pukapuka o Mazarbul |
| Marathi | मझरबुलची पुस्तक |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Мазарбулын ном |
| Nepalese | बोओक ओफ़ मज़र्बुल |
| Norwegian | Mazarbuls Bok
Mazarbul-boken |
| Pashto | بووک وف مازاربول ? |
| Persian | کتاب مازاربول |
| Polish | Księga Mazarbul |
| Portuguese | Livro de Mazarbul |
| Punjabi | ਮਜ਼ਾਰਬਾਲ ਦੀ ਕਿਤਾਬ |
| Russian | Книга Мазарбул |
| Romanian | Cartea Mazarbului |
| Sinhalese | බෝක් ඔෆ් මzඅර්බුල් |
| Swahili | Kitabu cha Mazarbul |
| Swedish | Mazarbuls Bok |
| Samoan | Tusi a Mazarbul |
| Scots | Beuk o Mazarbul |
| Scottish Gaelic | Leabhar Mazarbul |
| Serbian | Књига о Мазарбулу (Cyrillic) Knjiga o Mazarbulu (Latin) |
| Slovak | Kniha Mazarbul |
| Slovenian | Knjiga Mazarbul |
| Spanish | Libro de Mazarbul |
| Swahili | Kitabu cha Mazarbul |
| Tahitian | Buka a Mazarbul |
| Tagalog | Aklat ni Mazarbul |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Мазарбул китоб |
| Tamil | மஜார்புல் புத்தகம் |
| Telugu | మజార్బుల్ బుక్ |
| Tongan | Tohi 'a Mazarbul |
| Turkish | Mazarbul'in kitabı |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Книга Мазбурла |
| Urdu | کتاب مازآربال |
| Uzbek | Мазарбулнинг китоби (Cyrillic) Mazarbulning kitobi (Latin) |
| Vietnamese | Sách Mazarbul |
| Waray | Basahán ni Mazarbul |
| Welsh | Llyfr Mazarbul |
| Yiddish | באָאָק אָף מאַזאַרבול |
| Yoruba | Ìwé Mazarbul |
References
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book Two, Chapter V: "The Bridge of Khazad-dûm"
