The Encyclopedia of Arda - Barazinbar (original) (raw)
The Dwarvish name for the Redhorn
The name given by the Dwarves to the northernmost of the three Mountains of Moria in the central reaches of the Misty Mountains. It stood above the Dwarf-city of Khazad-dûm, and below its peak was a difficult and dangerous pass that led from the western side of the Mountains down into the vale of Azanulbizar on the east.
Beneath Barazinbar the Dwarves mined for precious mithril. It was under Barazinbar, in the year III 1980, that the miners of Khazad-dûm discovered an ancient horror: a Balrog that had been dormant beneath the mountain since the end of the First Age. The Balrog - known as Durin's Bane for King Durin VI, who was among its first victims - drove the Dwarves out of their home and made Moria a place of darkness and dread.
Barazinbar (sometimes shortened to Baraz) derived its name from the Dwarvish words baraz 'red, ruddy' and inbar 'a horn'. This was the origin of the Elvish name for the mountain, Caradhras, and also the Mannish form 'Redhorn', both of which are direct translations of the original Dwarvish name.
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- Updated 5 August 2011
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