Mazarbul

Mazarbul is the name of the Chamber of Records within Khazad-dûm, the ancient dwarven city beneath the Misty Mountains. The chamber functioned as a repository for the chronicles of Durin’s Folk, preserving histories, logs, and tallies of the dwarves’ deeds. It is most notable in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings for housing the Book of Mazarbul, a leather-bound chronicle kept by Balin’s expedition to reclaim Khazad-dûm.

The Book of Mazarbul records the progress and eventual collapse of Balin’s settlement in Moria, including accounts of battles with orcs and the toll on Balin’s company. The surviving entries provide a grim record of the dwarves’ fate and the dangers that plagued the ancient realm after it fell under darkness. Within the larger narrative, the book serves as a historical source that informs Gandalf, Gimli, and others about Balin’s fate and the state of Khazad-dûm.

In the story, the Fellowship discovers the Chamber of Mazarbul during their descent into the depths of Moria. The chamber is described as worn and dim, with shelves of ledgers and a long table where the chronicles were kept. The Book of Mazarbul, found among the ruins, is damaged and partial, yet its entries illuminate the decline of Balin’s garrison and the peril that still haunted the ancient underground city.

Mazarbul thus stands as a symbol of dwarven memory and loss within Tolkien’s legendarium, illustrating how histories endure even as civilizations fade.