Gandalf winter, they crossed "under" the mountains through the Mines of Moria, though only Gimli the Dwarf was enthusiastic about that route. In Moria, they discovered that the Dwarf colony established there earlier had been overrun by orcs. The Fellowship fought with the orcs and trolls of Moria and escaped them. At the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, they encountered "Durin's Bane", a fearsome Balrog from ancient times. Gandalf faced the Balrog to enable the others to escape. After a brief exchange of blows, Gandalf broke the bridge beneath the Balrog with his staff. As the Balrog fell, it wrapped its whip around
Themes of The Lord of the Rings Jesus Christ in three main characters of "The Lord of the Rings": Gandalf, Frodo and Aragorn. While Chausse found "facets of the personality of Jesus" in them, Kreeft wrote that "they exemplify the Old Testament threefold Messianic symbolism of prophet (Gandalf), priest (Frodo), and king (Aragorn)." Mark Stucky sees this character as a symbol of the resurrection of Christ. "Moria", where Gandalf fell, is reminiscent of "Moriah", and Christian tradition holds that Mount Moriah, where Isaac was to be sacrificed to God, was the same hill as Mount Calvary, where Christ was crucified – and that the sacrifice of Isaac