How did Gollum get out of Moria?

[IronParrot]

Okay, so he's tracking the Fellowship, right? And the way out of Moria is by the Bridge of Khazad-dum, which is of course smitten by Gandalf. So somehow, Gollum would have had to get out of Moria's eastern exit before the Fellowship, knowing that they were coming. So did he just run ahead of them? That's not particularly good tracking, considering they took a big detour through the Chamber of Mazarbul... but maybe he took that same route ahead of them, because of the fissure in the main corridor down to the Bridge.

Thoughts?

[Keith K]

The orcs must have repaired the bridge. Or perhaps there was another way out. After all, Gollum was pretty resourceful.

[Millane]

It isnt necassarilly bad tracking if Gollum had of ran ahead he might have guessed that the fellowship would destroy the bridge after they passed which would be the obvious thing to do...
Also i think that he could have run ahead in fear of the balrog... something tells me that gollum wouldnt be all that brave and hold his position tracking the fellowship when a balrog appears... i think he would bail pretty quick.
Thats all i got sorry

[BeardofPants]

There's more than one way out, I guess.

[Goldberry1]

Finding another way out seems to be the choice that I would guess.

[The Lady of Ithilien]

That's a real good question. Guess I've always assumed he came out with the pack of Orcs that pursued the fellowship that evening.

[crickhollow]

Guess I've always assumed he came out with the pack of Orcs that pursued the fellowship that evening. That's a really good assumption. He didn't come sniffling through the woods until after the Orcs had passed.

[Menelvagor]

Yes, that's what I always assumed, though I doubt he acually travelled with them. Probably just followed them to find another exit.

[IronParrot]

Well, while it's true that Moria orcs did pursue the Fellowship, and were even among the band that captured Merry and Pippin, I always assumed that they were orcs that weren't actually in Moria, but brethren hiding on the east side of the Misty Mountains who hunted the Fellowship out of vengeance.

[olsonm]

Frodo saw (or thought he saw) Gollum before they enter Lorien. It's highly likely that the orcs had alternative routes out of Moria; but I would believe these to be farther away. Perhaps Gollum knew Moria better than the Fellowship or maybe he did leave prior to the collpasing of the bridge.

[Dunadan]

Considering he'd lived for 500 years under the Misty Mountains, I think it's not stretching the imagination too much to think that he could find his own way out. Either by anticipating where the party were heading, by finding another way or by following the orcs.

[Draken]

I think the party would have seen him overtake him and cross the bridge ahead of them. I'm sure the orcs would have managed to quickly bodge some sort of repair to the broken bridge and he could have slipped over that. Or perhaps there were ventilation shafts to the surface that he was small enough to get through.

[CrystalBolger]

i think that he had another way out. hes so small that he would have fit almost newhere. in the Hobbit, there were places in the Misty Mountains that goblins could get thru. Gollum prolly knew every way out of there.
(by the way, Gollum is 1 of my fave characters):)

[WallRocker]

I'd have to believe that Gollum came out with the pursuing Orcs after the fellowship left the Mines of Moria.

[Agburanar]

The dwarves must have had another exit. Remember that Moria spanned three mountains and The company only travelled under the one furthest south. The main Mithril lodes were under Charadras and Finhuidol and the dwarves must have had a way to transport equipment, mithril, armour etc. out. It couldn't all have travelled across the bridge, not enough room.

[Khamûl]

Here's a question: How did Gollum get into Moria?

The Watcher in the Water destroyed the Doors of Durin after the Fellowship escaped into them. Another side door, perhaps?

[Sister Golden Hair]

Originally posted by Khamûl
Here's a question: How did Gollum get into Moria?

The Watcher in the Water destroyed the Doors of Durin after the Fellowship escaped into them. Another side door, perhaps? Intriguing question Khamul.

[olsonm]

Gollum was already in Moria when the Fellowship arrived. He entered from the East and had slowly worked his way west and just happened to be there when the Fellowship arrived. This is explained in Unfinished Tales.

[Wayfarer]

I think it might be pertinent at this juncture to refer you to a brief not by tolkien which refers to gollum as 'smeagol hudene'.

[BeardofPants]

Perhaps a more pertinent question would be, why in the name of hades in this VAST mine would there be only a few entrances? :rolleyes:

Given that Gollum was there for a significant amount of time, I don't think it's too much of a stretch that there's more than a few entrances into the mines, and that he probably stumbled across them.

[Sister Golden Hair]

Originally posted by BeardofPants
Perhaps a more pertinent question would be, why in the name of hades in this VAST mine would there be only a few entrances? :rolleyes:

Given that Gollum was there for a significant amount of time, I don't think it's too much of a stretch that there's more than a few entrances into the mines, and that he probably stumbled across them. Well, if he was there before the Fellowship, I doubt he went in the same way they did. Saying the word "friend"in Elven to open those doors would have turned his tongue to fire probably.:)

[olsonm]

Originally posted by Sister Golden Hair
Well, if he was there before the Fellowship, I doubt he went in the same way they did. Saying the word "friend"in Elven to open those doors would have turned his tongue to fire probably.:) He was there before the Fellowship but he didn't enter from the Hollin side. He came from Wilderland and theoretically could have just walked in the front door. :)

[BeardofPants]

Originally posted by Sister Golden Hair
Well, if he was there before the Fellowship, I doubt he went in the same way they did. Saying the word "friend"in Elven to open those doors would have turned his tongue to fire probably.:)

LOL! :D

[Agburanar]

I'm sure there were lots of entrances to Moria. The Mithril etc had to get out somehow. The bit of Moria the fellowship went through weren't the actual mines but the mansion bit. The bit where all the dwarf lords had their quarters, where the libraries were kept, the chamber of records etc. It seems to make sense that this section of the mines would have only two exits from the mountains, but that it joined the mines. The dwarves could have retreated into the halls under celebdil, shut the doors to the mines and only had to worry about the east and west gates, oh, and a balrog!

[The Lady of Ithilien]

I'll bet Gollum loved the Balrog. :)

One wonders how Gollum sustained himself in there all that time, without a Ring to wear so he could prey on the Orcs (if the Ring could have hidden him from the Balrog). Maybe he came to some understanding with them early on, before the Fellowship got there.

Imagine what he must have felt to see the Balrog fall and then his precious being carried posthaste out of the lovely darkness: likely he would have drilled through solid rock, if he had to, to follow it.

[Agburanar]

Gollum had been allowed to escape from Mordor remember. At the chamber of Mazarbul it is mentioned that

"some of them are great... black Uruks of Mordor"

Maybe they were sent to Moria partially to ensure that Gollum survived and to increase the chance that he would lead the ringbearer towards Sauron.

[Nurvingiel]

I think that Golum was ahead of them at the point of the first battle. He knew they would have to go that way.

As to why a huge mine only has a few enterances, Dwarves don't like building a lot of entrances. No one really does, because it's less secure. The Lonely Mountain only has one, plus a secret entrance that only few knew about.

Or, if there had been more, they could have collapsed after years of neglect.

[durin's bane]

I think he might have known a secret way out of Moria that took him to the Anduin.

[Lollypopgurl]

Who knows? Maybe he crossed before the fellowship, wanting to get out when he heard the Balrog. Or maybe there is another way out????

Or maybe he had to go all the way back, dig through the mess the Watcher made, and go over Redhorn....

[Nurvingiel]

Gollum is the sort of guy who would know of a back door or secret exit...

[Aragorn_iz_cool]

Originally posted by Sister Golden Hair
Well, if he was there before the Fellowship, I doubt he went in the same way they did. Saying the word "friend"in Elven to open those doors would have turned his tongue to fire probably.:)

We isss hungry...gollum...we isss wanting fishess and oragesss and mellossess.... we isss wanting to know why that door tust opened... yes we isss smegol *Gollum* *Gollum* :D

[The Lady of Ithilien]

yes we isss smegol *Gollum* *Gollum* Nah, Gollum would never have said "Aragorn iz cool." :)

Interestingly, Gollum started following the fellowship soon after they passed through the west entrance. I think it says somewhere, perhaps in the Tale of Years, when he had entered Moria, which was quite some time before the fellowship got there. Maybe he entered through the main gate in the Dimrill Dale, perhaps with the approval of the Orcs of Morder, and had wandered in fear of the Balrog and perhaps also the Orcs all the way across the Dwarrowdelf.