The Lost Colony

Preface

When I was eleven years old, a friend of mine gave a presentation in front of our class about a book he had read recently. I remember my friend nervously fumbling over his words while trying to explain a long and complex story involving Dwarves, a dragon and something called a hobbit. As he tried in vain to tell the class what a hobbit was, the book's cover caught my eye; green and blue with mysterious symbols around the edges. After he sat down beside me, convinced that his presentation had been a flop, I asked to borrow the book, and thankfully, he agreed to lend it to me. This marked the beginning of my fascination with the world J.R.R. Tolkein created which became an important part of my own world for the rest of my life.

After reading The Hobbit, I was pleased to learn that there was more, much more to this story, and went back to the library and borrowed The Fellowship of the Ring. When I finished that book and went to check out the next in the series, I was disappointed to find that someone else had already borrowed the library's sole copy of The Two Towers and I would just have to wait until they returned it.

Not wanting to leave Middle Earth while I waited for some unknown reader to finish, I went back and reread my favorite parts again and again. The Fellowship's journey through the Mines of Moria was one of the parts that I couldn't get enough of. Something about its labyrinthine passages, hidden treasures, and unseen dangers ensnared my imagination. There seemed to be something new around every corner. But, like many other readers, my list of questions continued to grow with every reading. Many of these questions, I still don't have answers for (who is Tom Bombadil, anyway?).

I respect that, in Tolkein's words, "even in a mythical Age there must be some enigmas, as there always are," but that does little to quell my curiosity, especially after the Peter Jackson films portrayed Moria in such a mysterious and awe-inspiring way. The scene when the Fellowship discover Balin's tomb in the Chamber of Mazarbul was as moving as it was thought-provoking. Why did Balin undertake such a dangerous expedition in the first place? What calamities had befallen the colony, and how did it all go so wrong?

The Fellowship, especially relating to the fate of the Ring, seemed to be guided by unseen forces intent on aiding our heroes in their quest. Despite hardship, loss and encircling evils, the Ring still finds its way into the fires of Mount Doom as if unable to escape its fate. Even with the Scouring of the Shire among other casualties of the War of the Ring, the Fellowship's mission was an overall success despite the terrible cost.

However, not all stories have happy endings, and sometimes the rewards are not worth the price paid for them. Some quests are destined to suffer the fate of unavoidable catastrophe. As J.R.R. Tolkien described in his writings in "The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son," a would-be hero can fall victim to ofermod, an Old English word meaning something akin to a dangerous overconfidence or fool hardiness. Tolkien goes on to describe how one motive for these individuals doomed to failure is tied to lofgeornost, another Old English word which summarizes the relentless desire for glory that drives these leaders and their equally ill-fated followers ever closer to an inescapable tragedy. The Lost Colony is the story of how one individual's destructive quest for glory, pride, and honor leads himself and others to one inexorable end.

Concerning Dwarves

In the Dwarvish traditions of the Third Age, the seven fathers of the Dwarves were created by the Vala Aule, and were later "awakened" at various points across Middle Earth, though only two of these were known to Elves and Men. In the West of Middle Earth, the ancestors of the Firebeards and the Broadbeams awoke near the Blue Mountains. In the wide lands to the East, the fathers of four other houses (the Ironfists, Stiffbeards, Blacklocks and Stonefoots) awoke:. Little is known about these sundered eastern kindreds and they would often face suspicion from other clans. Durin, the ancestor of the Longbeards, awoke at Mount Gundabad in the far North and here the seven clans would later hold assemblies until the sacred mountain was taken by Orcs. In times of great need even the most distant would send help to any of their people; as was the case in the great War against the Orcs (Third Age 2793 to 2799).