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 and the Scouring of the Shire in the Mirror of Galadriel, to Arwen Evenstar's choice of mortality. Professor Peter J. Kreeft identifies a theme of divine providence, that divine influence can determine fate. Gandalf says, for example, that a hidden power was at work when Bilbo found the One Ring as it was attempting to return to its master. While Prof. Kreeft observes that there is no one complete, concrete, visible Christ figure in The Lord of the Rings (such as Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia series), he and author Jean Chausse have identified reflections of the figure of