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>No, Gimli. I would not take the road through Moria unless I had no other choice. You see, there have been innumerable cave goblins and at least one cave troll living in there for a good while, worshipping a demon of the ancient world that dwells where the dwarves delved too greedily and deep. The fate of the last people to visit Moria, that being the expedition led by your first cousin once removed, Balin, son of Fundin, is uncertain, for there has been no contact with them for some time.
>Oh, that's right, Gandalf. Research into the whereabouts of my cousin Balin was in fact the purpose for which my father and I rode to Rivendell in the first place. It was a foolish thing for me to suggest, and I apologise for being such a pig-headed buffoon and hope you'll forgive me -- you, Gandalf, and all the Fellowship too. Let us trust henceforth not to the vulgar inquiries of dwarves, nor to the mimsy philosophy of elves, nor the arrogant poetry of men, but instead to the higher wisdom of Gandalf and the good tilled instincts of the Shirefolk. I ask you, Frodo Baggins, nephew of Bilbo: take we the Gap of Rohan, the Pass of Caradhras, or the misbegotten Mines of Moria that we are well to avoid, given all that we know and have just discussed?
