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Det var känt att det fanns något farligt i Moria. Glóin berättar för Elrondrådet:
Glóin sighed. ‘Moria! Moria! Wonder of the Northern world! Too deep we delved there, and woke the nameless fear. Long have its vast mansions lain empty since the children of Durin fled. But now we spoke of it again with longing, and yet with dread; for no dwarf has dared to pass the doors of Khazad-dum for many lives of kings, save Thrór only, and he perished.
The Lord of the Rings Book Two, Chapter 2: The Council of Elrond
Page 240 (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Single Volume 50th Anniversary Edition)
Jag tror inte att någon i Middle Earth var medveten om att Durins banan var, i själva verket en Balrog. I brev 144 skriver Tolkien
The Balrog is a survivor from the Silmarillion and the legends of the First Age. So is Shelob. The Balrogs, of whom the whips were the chief weapons, were primeval spirits of destroying fire, chief servants of the primeval Dark Power of the First Age. They were supposed to have been all destroyed in the overthrow of Thangorodrim, his fortress in the North. But it is here found (there is usually a hang-over especially of evil from one age to another) that one had escaped and taken refuge under the mountains of Hithaeglin (the Misty Mountains). It is observable that only the Elf knows what the thing is – and doubtless Gandalf.
The Letters of JRR Tolkien: Letter 144
Vi vet att Aragorn förutsåg att Gandalf skulle vara i fara om han kom in i Moria. När Gandalf frågar vem som följer honom till Moria, varnar Aragorn honom
‘I will,’ said Aragorn heavily. ‘You followed my lead almost to disaster in the snow, and have said no word of blame. I will follow your lead now – if this last warning does not move you. It is not of the Ring, nor of us others that I am thinking now, but of you, Gandalf. And I say to you: if you pass the doors of Moria, beware!’
The Lord of the Rings Book Two, Chapter 4: A Journey in the Dark
Page 297 (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Single Volume 50th Anniversary Edition)
Att Gandalf kommer in Moria trots varningen betyder inte att han inte tror det. Celeborn och Galadriel diskutera detta
‘Alas!’ said Celeborn. ‘We long have feared that under Caradhras a terror slept. But had I known that the Dwarves had stirred up this evil in Moria again, I would have forbidden you to pass the northern borders, you and all that went with you. And if it were possible, one would say that at the last Gandalf fell from wisdom into folly, going needlessly into the net of Moria.’
‘He would be rash indeed that said that thing,’ said Galadriel gravely. ‘Needless were none of the deeds of Gandalf in life. Those that followed him knew not his mind and cannot report his full purpose. But however it may be
with the guide, the followers are blameless.
The Lord of the Rings Book Two, Chapter 7: The Mirror of Galadriel
Page 356 (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Single Volume 50th Anniversary Edition)
Så vi har bevis på att Gandalf och Aragorn visste att Gandalf skulle vara i fara i Moria någon gång innan han kom in. Jag har inte hittat något skrivande av Tolkiens som bekräftar att detta var menat att hända, men det skulle vara i linje med hur stora händelser som detta arbete. Med andra ord tror jag att Gandalf alltid var tänkt att offra sig, även om detaljerna (som Balrog) kan ha förändrats om saker hade gått på annat sätt.
Medan Tolkien ogillar allegori kan vi säkert se parallellen mellan Gandalfs offer och den kristna troen på Jesu (alltid planerade) död och uppståndelse. Och det är osannolikt att detta är oavsiktligt.