Comments on: Moria

By: Varthonai

Varthonai — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 17:29:10 +0000

This is also probably a reference to the repetition of the phrase “We cannot get out” as Gandalf reads the account in the Book of Mazarbul (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Mazarbul#Book_of_Mazarbul) of the Dwarves’ final stand against the orcs:

“We have barred the gates, but can not hold them for long. We can not get out. They have taken the Bridge and the Second Hall. Frár and Lóni and Náli fell there. The pool is up to the wall at the Westgate. The Watcher in the water took Óin. We can not get out. The end comes. Drums, drums in the deep. They are coming.”

By: Marco

Marco — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 13:30:51 +0000

They ran into a balrog, a demi-god-like creature that served as some kind of general under Saurons former lord Morgoth. The balrog was prisoned deep under the mountains until the dwarves dug to deep.

There was a big clash between the balrog and gandalf at the bridge at the end of the mines. Maybe this hint. helps your memory?

By: Michael Miller

Michael Miller — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 20:47:22 +0000

not sure why this was voted down, I completely agree with it.. not a big LotR fan, did they dig so deeply they ran into something bad? All I remember from the movies were little goblin things that seemed to die easily.

By: Waldir

Waldir — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 09:12:19 +0000

“if the dwarves dug too deeply, then they just were unable to get out.” — that doesn’t really explain the joke; actually, it only repeats what the comic says, with a slightly different phrasing. I would suggest adding “because they’re short”, or something similar.

By: TCs

TCs — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 07:54:28 +0000

Just do a Google search for the title of the comic with the tag site:explainxkcd.com like this.

By: byrongary

byrongary — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 01:03:39 +0000

This is not the appropriate place for this comment, but couldn’t find anywhere else to comment so I just chose the most recent entry –

Why isn’t there a search bar for this page? Love it, great idea, but I often can’t find the specific comic I’m looking for, since they’re not dated on xkcd.com. Am I missing it?

By: Dave Leach

Dave Leach — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 16:03:35 +0000

It’s worth noting that the Endless Stair isn’t just something Randall made up, but is part of the mythology of Middle Earth:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moria_(Middle-earth)#Endless_Stair