The password to enter the Mines of Moria in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings is Mellon.
The word appears on the Doors of Durin at the western entrance to Moria. Gandalf initially struggles with the inscription because he treats it as a difficult password rather than as a simple instruction. He eventually realizes that the Elvish word mellon means “friend.”
When Gandalf speaks the word, the doors open, allowing the Fellowship to enter. The scene illustrates the ancient friendship between the Elves of Eregion and the dwarves of Khazad-dûm, whose western gate was made by the dwarf Narvi and inscribed by Celebrimbor.
Mellon is a Sindarin word, not a dwarvish password. The phrase is especially memorable because the solution depends on understanding the inscription’s meaning rather than guessing a secret code.