Balrog
This article deals with J.R.R. Tolkien's Balrogs. For more Balrogs see Balrog (disambiguation) Template:Spoiler
Balrogs are fictional demon-like creatures from J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. A Balrog (Sindarin for "Demon of Might"; the Quenya form is Valarauko , Valarauco or Valaraukar) was a tall, menacing being in the shape of a Man, having control of both fire and shadow and with a fiery whip of many thongs. They induced great terror in friends and foes alike and could shroud themselves in darkness and shadow. The Fellowship of the Ring encountered a Balrog in the mines of Moria, in The Lord of the Rings (specifically, in Book II, the second half of The Fellowship of the Ring).
Balrogs in the First Age
The Balrogs were originally Maiar, of the same order as Sauron and Gandalf, but they became seduced by Morgoth, who corrupted them to his service in the days of his splendour before the creation of Arda. During the First Age, they were among the most feared of Morgoth's forces. When his fortress of Utumno was destroyed by the Valar, they fled and lurked in the pits of Angband.
As Maiar, Balrogs would have had the natural ability to change their shape at will, and to move "unclad in the raiment of the world" meaning invisible and without form. As such, their appearance would change according to the will of the Balrog. However, it seems that Melkor, Sauron and their assorted Ainur servants all have lost the ability to change shape and to have become bound to one form permanently. Melkor became locked into the "tyrant of Utumno", gigantic and terrible, and he even seems unable to heal basic wounds, his hands and forehead remained burned by the Silmarils and his face and foot wounds never healed after the battle with Fingolfin. Sauron became trapped in the form of a gigantic burning man after the flooding of Numenor and even lost his finger when the Ring was cut from his hand. It is unknown whether this affected Balrogs in the same way, and whether or not Balrogs had the ability to change shape or not.
The Balrogs were first encountered by the Elves during the Dagor-nuin-Giliath in the First Age. After the great victory of the Ñoldor over Morgoth's Orcs, Fëanor pressed on towards Angband, but the Balrogs came against him. He was mortally wounded by Gothmog, Lord of Balrogs, the only Balrog known by name. Though his sons fought off the demons, Fëanor died of his wounds soon after, and his spirit departed for the Halls of Mandos.
Later, in the Fall of Gondolin, two Balrogs fell at the hands of Elves (though, according to the Book of Lost Tales 2, forty-eight Balrogs fell in Gondolin). Ecthelion of the Fountain fought Gothmog in the square of the King, where they both perished. Glorfindel fought a Balrog who waylayed the escape from the fallen Gondolin; they both fell off a mountainside to their deaths.
The Balrog in The Lord of the Rings
The Balrogs were nearly all destroyed at the end of the First Age. However, it was later discovered that one had escaped and hidden in Moria. He was nicknamed Durin's Bane after the unfortunate Dwarf who rediscovered the Balrog's existence. His history is not chronicled in any of the three major volumes of the history of Middle Earth (the Silmarillion, the Hobbit, and the Lord of the Rings), but he is referenced in various other documents, such as the Histories.
Eventually, the Fellowship of the Ring also ventured through the mines of Moria and stumbled upon Durin's Bane. While the Fellowship fled the caves, Gandalf battled the Balrog, and both fell into an abyss. Eventually Gandalf managed to kill it, the last of the Valaraukar slain.
Though the Balrog of Moria was never named by Tolkien himself, Iron Crown Enterprises later dubbed him Muar for their Middle-Earth role playing (MERP) products. It should be noted, however, that this is a non-canonical name.
The Appearance of the Balrog
Despite numerous interpretations of the Balrog's appearance, Tolkien himself was never entirely clear as to the exact appearance of the Balrog. It was unclear whether the Balrog had retained the Maia ability to change shape, or what was to be the exact shape of the Balrog encountered by the Fellowship. Specifically, it was never clear how large the Balrog actually was, and whether it was intended as a winged creature or not.
Winged or not?
The debate on his wings mainly comes from The Bridge of Khazad-dûm, a chapter in The Fellowship of the Ring. There are two references in this chapter.
- "His enemy halted again, facing him, and the shadow about it reached out like two vast wings." (...) "...suddenly it drew itself up to a great height, and its wings were spread from wall to wall..."
- The Lord of the Rings II 5 "The Bridge of Khazad-dûm"
From these two brief passages, it is unclear whether or not the reference to wings is to be taken metaphorically or literally, whether the wings of shadow were actually there, or meant as an allusion to its menacing nature. There are other mentions of Balrogs travelling with "winged speed", but this is a common expression used widely throughout Tolkien's work.
Adding to the confusion, both Gandalf and Glorfindel had had duels with Balrogs, and in both cases, the Balrog fell from a great height and did not use its wings. Again, this can be interpreted in various ways. It is conceivable that the wings could not be used for flying due to its size or its current physical condition (injury or exhaustion as a result of combat).
The Balrog's Size
Even the exact size of Balrogs are a matter of dispute. Tolkien gives a few statements of the Balrog's size.
- "[the Balrog] strode to the fissure, no more than man-high yet terror seemed to go before it."'
- The History of Middle-earth Volume VII (The Treason of Isengard), X The Mines of Moria II: The Bridge
This does not appear in the published version of The Lord of the Rings, so it may or may not be intended as the definitive version. But the other texts on Balrogs indicate that they were not of any particular great height.
In Lord of the Rings, Tolkien notes that an entrance was sized so that
- "...orcs one after another leaped into the chamber." and "...clustered in the doorway."
- The Lord of the Rings II 5 "The Bridge of Khazad-dûm".
Such a doorway seems unlikely to be passable for a creature much larger than man-sized.
For movie adaptations of the book, both these issues needed to be resolved. The Balrog drawn by Ralph Bakshi for the 1978 movie version resembled a winged ape, not much larger than man-sized but considerably heavier, and it did fly. Peter Jackson's film version of The Fellowship of the Ring, released in 2001, ultimately decided on a clearly large, winged creature. However, during the fight with Gandalf, the Balrog did not seem able to fly.
Miscellaneous
In one of Tolkien's early Middle-earth writings, Lay of the Children of Húrin, "Lungothrin, Lord of Balrogs" is mentioned. It is not, however, certain if it was another name for Gothmog, or it simply meant "a Balrog lord". According to Christopher Tolkien, the latter is more probable, as the name Gothmog was mentioned in the earliest Middle-earth writings, as well as the final version of Tolkien's mythology.
The Balrogs were originally envisioned as being immense in number:
- "The early conception of Balrogs makes them less terrible, and certainly more destructible, than they afterwards became: they existed in 'hundreds' (p. 170), and were slain by Tuor and the Gondothlim in large numbers: "thus five fell before Tuor's great axe Dramborleg, three before Ecthelion's sword, and two score were slain by the warriors of the king's house."
- The Book of Lost Tales 2, commentary by Christopher Tolkien on The Fall of Gondolin.
- "There came wolves and serpents and there came Balrogs one thousand, and there came Glomund the Father of Dragons."
- The Lost Road, Quenta Silmarillion chapter 16, §15.
As the legendarium became more formidable and internally consistent, and the Balrogs more terrible, this number was much reduced. In the end Tolkien stated that there were "at most" seven Balrogs:
- "In the margin my father wrote: 'There should not be supposed more than say 3 or at most 7 ever existed.'"
- Morgoth's Ring, Section 2 (AAm*): note 50 (just before section 3).
The amount of Balrogs changed to at most 7 at the same time they 'became' Maiar in Tolkien's mind. So this note is the only applicable indication of Balrog numbers that Tolkien wrote. Often, however, the Balrogs are alluded to have great numbers, even if there is no exact count. To account for this, Balrogs are often looked upon as having two major classes- Greater and Lesser Balrogs. There were only a few Greater Balrogs, as there are only a few important Maia, but many Lesser Balrogs who made up the bulk of Morgoth's forces.
External links
- The Truth About Balrogs essay series by Conrad Dunkerson.