5. The Bridge of Khazad-dûm
The Fellowship of the Ring makes its way through tunnels, halls, up and down staircases, in the vast, subterranean complex. Symbolically, the caves of Moria form a labyrinth. We will take a closer look at these symbols.
A cave that is simply a cave is an archaic symbol of the mother, often used in initiation rituals – an archetypal image that sometimes appears in our dreams and folktales, for example. It represents a return to the womb, from which the initiate emerges reborn. As previously mentioned, “fully human beings” are born twice: once of flesh and once of spirit. However, Moria is far more than just a cave – it is a masterfully carved complex within the mountain. As a deliberate, rational creation, the place embodies a higher degree of consciousness than a natural cave (compare Gollum’s dwelling), which is a prerequisite for the rebirth of the already highly enlightened Gandalf.
Central to the Moria situation is that the Fellowship must pass through it for transformation to occur. We have seen how they were more or less forced to come here and prevented from turning back, that it is a matter of necessity. Both trees and mountains are symbols of personality and the Self,[1] and traversing them represents individuation, or at least some form of personal growth or healing.
The labyrinth is a symbol of the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. During this journey, one risks getting lost, returning to places already visited, grappling with confusion and hopelessness, but also encountering monsters. In other words, the symbol illustrates the individuation process and the inner journey, with its risks, uncertainties, conflicts, and potential for transformation. Moria’s labyrinthine cave system is thus an archetypal situation that leads to Gandalf’s death and rebirth. Joseph Campbell writes:
“[G]oing through the labyrinth takes you through a psychological or spiritual crisis, transforming you into a full human being ... it brings you to death and immortality. Either way, it is a dangerous, difficult passage that only those who know can accomplish.”[2]
This chapter begins in Balin’s tomb, where the drama soon escalates as orcs attack. (A note on orcs: We will not discuss orcs in great detail, as they primarily serve a dramaturgical function in the story, as opposed to a symbolic one. The true danger to Frodo comes from the ancient monsters, that is, the archetypes, not the fleeting orcs that come and go. Orcs are, of course, a threat in the “manifest” story, to borrow Freud’s terminology, but not in the “latent” story, which is our focus.) The adventurers shut and barricade the door to keep the horde at bay. The monsters break through the door. The first thing to burst through is a troll’s arm, reminding us of the previous chapter’s discussion of arms and snakes. In any case, the monsters storm in, and a fierce battle ensues.
Most significant in this fight is the moment when an unusually large orc, “swift as a snake,” rushes forward and thrusts a spear into Frodo, who falls lifeless to the floor. In light of the previous chapter’s discussion of Sam, it is noteworthy that the first to react is this loyal hobbit – he severs the spear shaft. Then they manage to flee the scene.
In passing, we can recall our earlier discussion of the Black Riders, who seemed more interested in Frodo’s person than anything else. We suggested then that, in our psychological understanding of the story, this is because Frodo represents consciousness (in this context individuality), the very thing the Terrible Mother seeks to extinguish. If he dies, the adventure ends, as all the “sub-personalities” – the other hobbits, Aragorn, and so on – would vanish with him. Thus, the Terrible Mother targets Frodo specifically, while Aragorn and the others are willing to go to almost any lengths for his sake. This pattern repeats in Moria: the unknown water monster outside the gates seized Frodo, and only him, and now the large orc targets this unassuming hobbit, bypassing others in the Fellowship to reach its victim. How can one rationally understand the orc’s behavior? Here are warriors, elves, dwarves, and a wizard fighting the orks – yet it is the small hobbit at the back who must be killed first! While we can attribute magical qualities to the underwater monster, we can hardly assume the orc knew this particular hobbit carried the One Ring and therefore had to be killed. It is literally irrational, but symbolically consistent.
When they escape the immediate danger, the Fellowship is astonished to discover that Frodo is alive and in quite good condition. The mithril shirt saved him. It comes, as it were, from the Good Mother and provides protection against masculine attacks. We have noted several times that the Terrible Mother’s monsters do not attack like warriors; they do not engage in close combat with sharp weapons to stab, strike, or slay the Ring-bearer or his friends, but instead use ensnaring, lulling, paralyzing, and terrifying means. When the monster (albeit only an orc) in this rare exception employs a masculine attack against the Ring-bearer – thrusting a pointed weapon into Frodo – it turns out that the Ring-bearer is immune to it. This is also the first and last time Frodo engages in close combat with orcs or similar enemies. There is no point, according to the story’s inner logic, in attacking him “masculinely,” as he is now immune to it. Symbolically, this insight is the very point of the battle in Balin’s tomb. An otherwise insignificant orc is used to underscore this point. The Terrible Mother does not seek to extinguish the Ring-bearer with a thrust, but with paralyzing, ensnaring, extinguishing means. The orc that attacks with a spear thrust has no higher purpose than to highlight this point – it is why it is merely an orc and not, for example, a strangling tree or an ensnaring lake monster.
The drama does not lessen as they leave the battle scene. They hurry downward along winding staircases. After descending seven levels, they reach the correct level, the one with the path out on the eastern side. (Thus, they begin in the west, where the sun sets, and emerge in the east, where the sun rises, further illustrating the theme of death and rebirth in Moria.) The situation becomes chaotic and desperate – in short, fires burn here, and hordes of orcs swarm about. In other words, they have reached a hell-like environment in the underworld, a kind of purgatory before the paradise on the other side. (Not only sun and freedom, but also the magical land of the elves, Lothlórien; and of course Gandalf’s coming rebirth.)
We have seen how Gandalf led them to Moria despite Aragorn’s empathetic objections – he seemed to have a premonition of what it would mean for the wizard – and Gandalf guided them through the subterranean labyrinth. Moria is about Gandalf. Here, he confronts his shadow. It is a fire demon, as Gandalf represents fire. Consequently, it would contradict the symbolic logic if the entire Fellowship fought the monster that now emerges. Gandalf reiterates that they can do nothing and should not even try. This is his personal fate.
The monster, a balrog, is initially described as “a great shadow, in the midst of which was a dark form ... in [which] there seemed to be a mighty power.” That is, the balrog is not made of fire but of shadow and darkness that wields fire; just as Gandalf is not fire but represents light and enlightenment that uses or produce fire.
In its right hand, the monster holds a sword – both the right hand and the blade are masculine; in its left hand, it holds a whip – both the left hand and the whip are feminine. Unsurprisingly, Gandalf uses his power to shatter the monster’s sword. He has greater difficulty with the whip, which is only natural – he is a masculine figure.
The whip is an instrument of control and tyranny. It is primarily used to demonstrate power over slaves and animals, that is, beings already under its control, who may need to be disciplined or punished if they do not “behave.” The whip is not a killing weapon like a sword but a controlling one. Its ability to coil around something gives it the qualities of a snake and the power to ensnare. “The whip is an attribute of the Terrible Mother,” Jung notes.[3]
Gandalf stands on the narrow bridge, awaiting his adversary, which charges forward “enveloped in fire.” The wizard, in one of the trilogy’s most dramatic scenes, declares that he “serves the Secret Fire” and refers to “the flame of Anor.” The Secret Fire can be understood as the inner fire, the soul, while Anor is the sun, God. Gandalf knows the balrog well, this primordial monster, and commands this “flame of Udûn” to “go back to the shadow.” Udûn is essentially hell, while the fiery Gandalf, with his pointed blue hat, represents heaven. These are two cosmic primordial forces meeting on the bridge.
In the saga’s symbolic context, where Frodo represents the ego in the individuation process, the encounter between Gandalf and the balrog mirrors the archetypal conflict between good and evil, concretized for Frodo. Before the adventure began with Gandalf’s arrival, Frodo was unaware of the real conflict between good and evil. Then he became vaguely aware of it when he heard of Mordor and the war. Finally, he set out on the adventure, and now the conflict is realized within him. But he does not participate himself; it is not a conscious engagement with the conflict, but he sees it, he sees that it exists in reality. And this means that he loses something very precious, which he has held dear.
Gandalf strikes his staff into the bridge, causing it to break, and the “balrog’s shadow” falls. But at the same time, it lashes out with its whip, which coils around the wizard’s legs like a snake, pulling him down into the darkness with the hellish monster. In this moment, all fires are extinguished, and a pitch-black darkness spreads. Both the good and the evil fire have, for the time being, been quenched, sinking back into unconsciousness. In the following three or four chapters, Frodo and the rest of the Fellowship are also somewhat listless and dispirited.
They flee onward and reach “an arch of blazing light.” They run down the stairs under the open sky. A valley stretches out before them. The sun shines. They made it through Moria, but at a great sacrifice.
Footnotes
[1] Carl Gustav Jung, "The Philosophical Tree," in Alchemical Studies, trans. R. F. C. Hull, The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, vol. 13 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1967), par. 407.
[2] Joseph Campbell, Goddesses: Mysteries of the Feminine Divine, ed. Safron Rossi (Novato, CA: New World Library, 2013), p. 42.
[3] Jung, Symbols of Transformation, par. 369.