Did you catch one of Tolkien’s most important dwarves in Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2?

With so, so much lore written into J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium, it’s understandable that some things won’t make it into Amazon Prime’s Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. However, the show’s been known to include a satisfying easter egg or two, and this season, one of the most interesting came out of the dwarfish storyline. Yes, as you were watching Durin IV and Durin the III butting heads, you may have missed the introduction of another of their kind – one that Tolkien positioned in a very important spot in the history of the Second Age.

That dwarf was Narvi, played by actor Kevin Eldon. Narvi’s screentime in this season doesn’t amount to a lot, but in the text that inspired the show, he plays an important part in one of the grandest histories of Middle-Earth. Allow us to take you through that history here.

Who is Narvi in The Lord of the Rings?

Like so many storied dwarves in Tolkien’s legendarium, Narvi dwelt in the majestic kingdom of Khazad-dûm, the dwarfish capital of the Second Age, the time period in which The Rings of Power is set. Though the dwarves were known, as a race, to be master craftsmen as well as miners, Narvi’s name stands out for a work he produced that would last into the Third and even Fourth Age of Middle-Earth. This project was a joint effort between Narvi and Celebrimbor, played by Charles Edwards in The Rings of Power, a rare example of a collaboration between dwarfish and elvish architects. This project was the Doors of Durin, perhaps one of the most iconic pieces of architecture in all of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.

What are the Doors of Durin in The Lord of the Rings?

We first come across the Doors of Durin in The Fellowship of the Ring, as the Fellowship attempts to enter what was once Khazad-dûm, but is referred to in the text as something else (more on that in a second). The doors are marked with both dwarfish and elvish runes and, in the moonlight, reveal a riddle about the password that opens them. Here we see Celebrimbor’s influence on the Doors – the metal that illuminates in the moonlight is Ithildin, which has been seen throughout Rings of Power season 2, and the answer to the Doors’ password riddle is in elvish, the language of Celebrimbor’s people.

So just how long did Narvi and Celebrimbor’s creation last? Well, the Fellowship made their way to Moria in the year 3019 of the Third Age, conservatively putting the age of the Doors of Durin at roughly 4,600 years old. And that’s on the young side. Though we never get the exact date the master craftsmen completed their great gate, we know it must’ve been before 1675 of the Second Age, which is when Celebrimbor dies. You have to hand it to our pal Narvi – though he doesn’t appear much in the Rings of Power, his creation will last long after its events wrap up.

Unfortunately, the same can not be said for the kingdom that the Doors of Durin guard.

What’s in store for the dwarves of The Rings of Power?

Image credit: Amazon Prime Video

As mentioned previously, Narvi is a resident of Khazad-dûm, a name you may be unfamiliar with if this is your first time watching Rings of Power. But if you’ve seen Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, you’ve been to Khazad-dûm before, you just remember it by a different name: Moria.

Yes, that Moria.

Though we don’t know the fate of Narvi in particular, we know that his fellow dwarves and their kingdom will fall in apocalyptic fashion. This is due to the waking of the Balrog, a wicked creature that first came to Middle-Earth in the First Age as a servant of the ultimate Dark Lord, Morgoth. The Balrog would bring destruction down upon the halls of Khazad-dûm, scattering the dwarves for generations. For millennia upon millennia, the Doors of Durin guarded little more than a tomb.

What’s unclear is whether or not we’ll see this come to pass in The Rings of Power. You may recall that we caught a glimpse of the Balrog in season 1 of Rings of Power, but with only two episodes left in the second season (as of this writing), it’s doubtful that we’ll see it’s destructive influence on Khazad-dûm in the very near future.

Oh well. More time to get to know Narvi, I guess!