Was it a messenger of 👁️Sauron that caused Balin to go to Moria?

[BalrogRingDestroyer]

I'd never caught the possible hint at what Gloin was implying in "The Council of Elrond", but now I think I may get the meaning.

Gloin: It is now many years ago that a shadow of disquiet fell upon our people. Whence it came we did not at first perceive. Words began to be whispered in secret: it was said that we were hemmed in a narrow place, and that greater wealth and splendour would be found in a wider world. Some spoke of Moria: the mighty works of our fathers that are called in our own tongue Khacad-dum; and they declared that now at last we had the power and numbers to return."

For a long time, I didn't think much of it, assuming that it had come from an idea from the dwarves, perhaps Balin himself. However, the sentence "Whence it came we did not at first perceive." tells me that they eventually did figure out where it came from. I now recall, after reading the Silmarallion again in 2020 and having last read Fellowship of the Ring in 2018, of how Melkor was spreading discord amongst the Noldor and that this scheming of his did a lot of damage from within. And it makes me wonder if some wicked dwarf sent by Sauron or some foul inside but fair outside seeming Man went to Dale and Erebor with the intent of luring some of the dwarves back to Moria, where perhaps a trap was set.

It would also explain why it seems that none of them bothered to go to Moria to check up on Balin all these years. If they'd thought that the rumor and all had been started by a messenger of Mordor, then perhaps they feared that it was a bad idea to go near there, in case there was an ambush set, and Balin, alive or dead, wouldn't want them caught by Mordor.

The idea that a traveling dwarf, in league with Mordor (as is plausible that such existed, as it was mentioned in the Hobbit that the goblins/orcs made alliances with wicked dwarves) helped start a rumor to cause dissension at Erebor and possibly lead some to Moria into a trap.

Of course, things like the Watcher at the Water seemed to be there on their own without Sauron's help. But the arrival of the orcs might have been the doing of Sauron. If you recall, Thorin (or I think it was him) said "We have long ago repaid the goblins of Moria...." meaning that they got back at them for the death of Thorin's grandfather and presumably drove them from Moria. But, for whatever odd reason, they never resettled the place.

 

[Olorgando]

I've found what I was looking for in Appendix A, section "Durin's Folk".
First some background from Appendix B "The Tale of Years", section "The Third Age":

1980 A Balrog appears in Moria, and slays Durin VI.
1981 Náin I {son of Durin VI} slain. The Dwarves flee from Moria.
2590 Thrór returns to Erebor. Grór his brother goes to the Iron Hills.
2770 Smaug the Dragon descends on Erebor. ... Thrór escapes with Thráin II and Thorin II.
{Thrór apparently became "a little crazed with age and misfortune", and wandering with only one companion arrived at the East-gate of Moria.}
2790 Thrór slain by an Orc in Moria {his severed head branded with the name of Azog}. The Dwarves gather for a war of vengeance.
2793 The War of the Dwarves and Orcs begins.
2799 Battle of Nanduhirion {or Azanulbizar} before the East-gate of Moria.

Back to Appendix A.

At first the battle was not going well for the Dwarves, the day being saved by Dwarves from the Iron Hills led by Náin son of Grór. Náin challenges Azog, but is killed by the latter, who is in turn killed and beheaded by Náin's son Dáin Ironfoot right before the doors of Moria (Dáin is only 32 at this time and is considered a "stripling" in Dwarven terms).
When the battle had been won Thráin II said "Good! We have the victory. Khazad-dûm is ours!"
But the Dwarves, both of Durin's House and of other houses, all having taken losses of about half their original number, were not enthusiastic, to say the least.

Then there is following exchange between Thráin II and Dáin Ironfoot:
Then Thráin turned to Dáin, and said "But surely my own kin will not desert me?" "No," said Dáin. "You are the father of our Folk, and we have bled for you, and will again. But we will not enter Khazad-dûm. You will not enter Khazad-dûm. Only I have looked through the shadow of the Gate. Beyond the shadow it waits for you still: Durin's Bane. The world must change and some other power than ours must come before Durin's Folk walk again in Moria."

The Quest of Erebor took place 142 years later, in 2941, and as a result Dáin Ironfoot became King under the Mountain as Dáin II. So I find it puzzling that he allowed Balin to go to Moria another 48 years later, in 2989, as Balin certainly must have taken far more people with him than the twelve companions that accompanied Thorin II Oakenshield to Erebor. The Dwarves may have multiplied (mainly by immigration from other places) but certainly the world had not changed. And it was another power than theirs that finally dispatched of the Balrog, a Maia: that other Maia Olórin in the guise of Gandalf the Grey.
Unfortunately, JRRT does not state where the shadow of disquiet, that started the whispers, came from, that by implication the Dwarves did perceive at some later time. Perhaps only after the disaster befell the Moria quest in 2944. At any rate, no one followed Balin's initial group, in fact it seems no one was sent out to check out what had become of them. Probably travel had become too dangerous by then.

 

[BalrogRingDestroyer]

I've found what I was looking for in Appendix A, section "Durin's Folk".
First some background from Appendix B "The Tale of Years", section "The Third Age":

1980 A Balrog appears in Moria, and slays Durin VI.
1981 Náin I {son of Durin VI} slain. The Dwarves flee from Moria.
2590 Thrór returns to Erebor. Grór his brother goes to the Iron Hills.
2770 Smaug the Dragon descends on Erebor. ... Thrór escapes with Thráin II and Thorin II.
{Thrór apparently became "a little crazed with age and misfortune", and wandering with only one companion arrived at the East-gate of Moria.}
2790 Thrór slain by an Orc in Moria {his severed head branded with the name of Azog}. The Dwarves gather for a war of vengeance.
2793 The War of the Dwarves and Orcs begins.
2799 Battle of Nanduhirion {or Azanulbizar} before the East-gate of Moria.

Back to Appendix A.

At first the battle was not going well for the Dwarves, the day being saved by Dwarves from the Iron Hills led by Náin son of Grór. Náin challenges Azog, but is killed by the latter, who is in turn killed and beheaded by Náin's son Dáin Ironfoot right before the doors of Moria (Dáin is only 32 at this time and is considered a "stripling" in Dwarven terms).
When the battle had been won Thráin II said "Good! We have the victory. Khazad-dûm is ours!"
But the Dwarves, both of Durin's House and of other houses, all having taken losses of about half their original number, were not enthusiastic, to say the least.

Then there is following exchange between Thráin II and Dáin Ironfoot:
Then Thráin turned to Dáin, and said "But surely my own kin will not desert me?" "No," said Dáin. "You are the father of our Folk, and we have bled for you, and will again. But we will not enter Khazad-dûm. You will not enter Khazad-dûm. Only I have looked through the shadow of the Gate. Beyond the shadow it waits for you still: Durin's Bane. The world must change and some other power than ours must come before Durin's Folk walk again in Moria."

The Quest of Erebor took place 142 years later, in 2941, and as a result Dáin Ironfoot became King under the Mountain as Dáin II. So I find it puzzling that he allowed Balin to go to Moria another 48 years later, in 2989, as Balin certainly must have taken far more people with him than the twelve companions that accompanied Thorin II Oakenshield to Erebor. The Dwarves may have multiplied (mainly by immigration from other places) but certainly the world had not changed. And it was another power than theirs that finally dispatched of the Balrog, a Maia: that other Maia Olórin in the guise of Gandalf the Grey.
Unfortunately, JRRT does not state where the shadow of disquiet, that started the whispers, came from, that by implication the Dwarves did perceive at some later time. Perhaps only after the disaster befell the Moria quest in 2944. At any rate, no one followed Balin's initial group, in fact it seems no one was sent out to check out what had become of them. Probably travel had become too dangerous by then.

I actually read later in the book just now that Balin came, in part, because he thought Thror's Ring was there. However, that seems to be a continuity error, as, while Gandalf never mentioned Thror's Ring at the time, he specifically stated that Thror had died in the dungeon of the Necromancer (Sauron) and that he'd lost everything but the map or the key or something to Erebor. And Balin himself had been present when Gandalf had stated this.

 

[Olorgando]

Gloin: It is now many years ago that a shadow of disquiet fell upon our people. Whence it came we did not at first perceive. Words began to be whispered in secret: it was said that we were hemmed in a narrow place, and that greater wealth and splendour would be found in a wider world. Some spoke of Moria: the mighty works of our fathers that are called in our own tongue Khacad-dum; and they declared that now at last we had the power and numbers to return."

A bit further on in Balin's report at the Council of Elrond, it becomes clear that none of the Dwarves had forgotten Durin's Bane, and that Dáin II Ironfoot "did not give leave willingly" for that quest. Dáin was 222 years old at the time when Balin went on his quest (and 252 when he fell in the attack on Dale and Erebor during the War of the Ring), so I'm wondering why he didn't put his foot down more firmly. Perhaps JRRT means such to us puzzling events to be a part of Dwarven nature that we just don't understand. What humans did understand was the fact that the Dwarves could be stubborn to an unrivaled degree.

I actually read later in the book just now that Balin came, in part, because he thought Thror's Ring was there. However, that seems to be a continuity error, as, while Gandalf never mentioned Thror's Ring at the time, he specifically stated that Thror Thráin had died in the dungeon of the Necromancer (Sauron) and that he'd lost everything but the map or the key or something to Erebor. And Balin himself had been present when Gandalf had stated this.

With "later in the book" do you mean LoTR? I haven't found the passage, could you please point out where this is to be found? It would be a discontinuity.