Kheled-zâram

"There like jewels sunk in the deep shone glinting stars, though sunlight was in the sky above. Of their own stooping forms no shadow could be seen."

—The Fellowship of the Ring

Kheled-zâram , also known as the Mirrormere, is a small lake in Azanulbizar a vale east of Moria.

Geography

Kheled-zâram in The Lord of the Rings Online, reflecting the stars on a cloudy day.

The lake lay less than a mile east and a little below the Great Gates of Moria. It was long and oval, shaped like a great spear-head thrust deep into the northern glen of the vale. Its waters were dark: a deep blue like clear evening sky and there was a smooth sward of grass around its rim.

History

In the First Age, Durin the oldest of the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves wandered into Azanulbizar vale and beheld in a small, still lake a reflection of himself bearing a crown of seven stars. The stars were the constellation Durin's Crown which the elves call Valacirca and men call the Big Bear. Because of this sign Durin chose to build his great hall Moria in the mountains above that vale. The name Kheled-zâram is in Khuzdul and means "Glass-lake". In Westron it was called Mirrormere, it is probably so named because the waters of the lake were always smooth and the stars could always be seen reflected in its surface no matter the time of day. Only Durin, however, could see his own reflection.

The Dwarves of Durin's Folk regarded this site as sacred and built a monument there. It was a single stone column called Durin's Stone, standing by the roadside. After Moria was abandoned it fell into disrepair, and in the last years of the Third Age it was cracked, weather-worn, and broken at the top.

When Balin came to retake Moria in TA 2989 one of his companions, a dwarf named Flói was slain in a battle before the Gates and was buried in a place of honour by the banks of Kheled-zâram. Balin himself was killed here five years later, by an orc arrow, when he went alone to look into the lake.

The Fellowship of the Ring stopped briefly at Kheled-zâram while Gimli, Frodo, and Sam took time to look into the lake, even though they were in great hurry.

Translations around the World

Foreign Language	Translated name
Portuguese (Brazil)	Kheled-zâram a.k.a. Lago-espelho or Lago-Espelho
Portuguese (Portugal)	Kheled-zâram a.k.a. Lago do Espelho
Spanish (Spain and Latin America)	Kheled-zâram a.k.a. Lago Espejo
Italian	Kheled-zâram a.k.a. Mirolago

References

• The Atlas of Middle-earth pg. 81

External link

• Kheled-zâram at Tolkien Gateway