| Balin | |
|---|---|
| Tolkien character | |
| In-universe information | |
| Aliases | Lord of Moria |
| Race | Dwarf |
| Book(s) | The Hobbit (1937) The Fellowship of the Ring (1954) Unfinished Tales (1980) |
Balin is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's world of Middle-earth. A Dwarf, he is an important supporting character in The Hobbit, and is mentioned in The Fellowship of the Ring. As the Fellowship travel through the underground realm of Moria, they find Balin's tomb and the Dwarves' book of records, which tells how Balin founded a colony there, becoming Lord of Moria, and that the colony was overrun by orcs.
Balin featured in the 1977 Rankin/Bass animated film of The Hobbit; in Peter Jackson's 2012–2014 live-action film series, where he is portrayed by Ken Stott as reluctant to search for lost gold and sympathetic to Bilbo; and in the 2003 video game adaptation where he is voiced by Victor Raider-Wexler.