A very warm welcome my friend!
There are many things in this world that should remain unseen by most, although not by all. We adventurers are often envied for our lives full of action, but it also is not easy to live like this. A few months ago Nimreidhreth, my old elven friend, sent me a mail of him trying to bind a real ancient evil, trying to stop it from escaping after being captured ages ago.
I never saw one of those, but the letter talked about a “Balrog”. I could try describe it, but I think the words of my old friend may be more accurate:
“Balrogs, although you may not have heard of them dear Qwerqsar, are ancient spirits that Morgoth, former master of the now rampaging Sauron, bound to him. They helped him in many evil deeds, always filling up the ranks of elite warriors in his armies. I personally saw none, since I was born after the capturing of the dark and evil higher spirit, but from what my father told me, these creatures spit out fire and corruption wherever they stepped. Bringing one of those down was difficult, and their supposed disappearance was seen as a great relief for many of the now called Free Peoples of Middle Earth.
Even Durin VI was impressed by the Balrog that would bring
his own and his kingdom’s downfall.
I have finally seen one with my own eyes. It was a terrible image to behold. It was gigantic, it towered towards us, breaking his chains that kept him from moving, suddenly brandishing a huge flaming sword. His wings spanned meters across the hall, almost shadowing any light sources the hall it was kept in had. It’s roar froze up my heart for a moment… then I charged with my fellow warriors of foretold directly at him. But it felt like I was charging into darkness itself…”
There is not much on the result of the battle here, since some pages are missing. They should have a system like in the Shire’s Quickpost, that’s for sure. But it seems that the efforts barely renewed the chains, since my friend had to go back to slay that creature again. I still don’t know if it is dead, but if it is not, I hope it is still chained up, and maybe you or any of your fellows might help Nimreidhreth to kill it. Still, judging by the last letter I got, it seems that it defended itself successfully again, leaving a deep shadow looming over our heads.
I see you are already standing up, with an eager flame in your eyes. Will you risk your life to slay that ancient evil? I hope you succeed. If not, I can’t foresee the consequences to its release.
Ruins inside the Rift: impressive and beautiful.
What will I do? Maybe I’ll not move today, there is still plenty of tea and some cookies left. I surely hope that Nimreidhreth has it under control. I hope to see you again to join by my fire some day.
Until then, fare well.
[The topic of discussion this week may be a theme way too many times discussed and even with unfruitful results. I will not say that these are the last words that will ever be spilled over the issue, since every time someone says it, a few weeks or months later someone brings it up. But I think this is the magic of fandom and of the discussion of these topics. It permits us to communicate, no matter if we agree with each other or not. The issue here is the old question: Do Balrogs have wings?
I already can see the booing I’ll get for bringing the theme back up, especially since the Tolkien Professor and later Haakon, at CSTM, brought it up and gave their final discussions on it. Both have admirable different points of view. The first one categorically says no, something you’ll hear in his lectures, and the other says yes, bringing up some interesting thoughts on why they should have wings. Now I’ll put in my bit of Tolkien lore, and even though I may have confessed I barely read beyond the usual triad –Hobbit, LOTR and Silmarillion- I think my bare knowledge may still give a new point of view into the discussion. My answer to this question, as strange as it may sound, is yes and no. But first I’ll give my why don’t agree with both of the aforementioned authors. I’ll just remind you that I won’t enter into a full discussion with the authors, I’ll just highlight some key points to keep the post as short as possible.
I) I have a strange opinion about Haakon and this is the first time I’ll ever voice it out: I don’t agree with most of what he says. Be it lore, an opinion on some LOTRO mechanic or something else, I always have a “but” to include in his discussion. Still, I like what he does and try to read of him as much as my time permits me (by the way, I love the passages of the books he is starting to include into CSTM). Maybe I like to disagree with him, or maybe it is just my respect for all he knows that drives me to read and discuss with him, even though I never really discuss with him directly or openly. Whatever the reason may be, I was totally against his answer.
One of his points of why Balrogs have wings was based on a line in the Silmarillion, in which Tolkien describes de battle between Morgoth and Ungoliant after they steal the treasures of Feänor and return to Middle Earth:
“Deep in forgotten places that cry was heard. Far beneath the ruined halls of Angband, in vaults to which the Valar in the haste of their assault had not descended, Balrogs lurked still, awaiting ever the return of their Lord; and now swiftly they arose, and passing over Hithlum they came to Lammoth as a tempest of fire.” (Silmarillion)
To this scene Haakon has the following to say:
“Balrogs can move extremely fast in the open. To rescue Morgoth from Ungoliant they move at astounding speed. The Elves must have seen this occur in order to report it in the Silmarillion. This combined with the description of “winged speed” in the alternate version and passing over Hithlum, seems to indicate that the Balrogs were at least airborne some of the way.”
First off, even though the Silmarillion is a text that accounts the memories of the elves, it is by no means necessary that every part of the book is true and/or has eyewitnesses. When Tolkien wrote this (and he wrote for years), he was thinking of creating a new mythology. By doing that, the Silmarillion was becoming something that resembles the Bible; it is absolutely not the same, but when you read it, you have the feeling to be reading a text of myths, not true accounts. It must be set clear that a myth is not a lie, nor a concealed truth; on the contrary, a myth is a narrative, which takes its truth from its interpretation and its context. In other words, this narrative is used to explain certain phenomenon or event in history, without making the description truthful.
This happened a lot in the Middle Ages and in Ancient times. Exact description was not the main goal of many of the “writers” (since most didn’t write at all, but weave these myths into beautiful songs, poems and so on) was to give an impression and also to give a message. If we approach the Silmarillion with our science-based minds, what we will try to do is find a Truth (yes, capital). This is not how you approach such narratives, and this has brought many confusions and, above all, misconceptions about the great sagas, poems and stories of old. Tolkien himself was fascinated by the way of thought of the past, so much that The Lord of the Rings is often close to the medieval mentality, and thus perfect to explain how people in the Middle Ages thought. Secondly, even though this is an account of elves, the whole text is based on memory; some things have been lived through, others had eyewitnesses, but those died, and others just never saw the event and still had to explain the event. Ungoliant’s dead my be explained in a “maybe”, but something as close as Lammoth, right next to the territories of the elves, may have a closer explanation because they felt close to it.
I can imagine no one saw the battle between Morgoth and Ungoliant, still began to piece all together as he saw the events that were happening (death of the Trees, wrath of Feänor and exile of the Noldor and the new growth of evil). Besides, a place with such a terrible noise had to get an explanation. The disappearance of Ungoliant and the burnt hands of Morgoth had to be the clues that were used to get the story together.
It’s like the tale of Beren and Luthíen: no one saw it, still there is a ballad and all. This means that there were hints and pieces of the history around, even as few words from Beren and/or Túnivel themselves. But there were no eyewitnesses, so the story had to be pieced together.
This distance is one of the beautiful things about the Silmarillion. Even though you get to know the world, you get to still imagine most of the events, to interpret them as you like. They all hide some mystery, since you don’t know how much of it is even close to the truth.
Then there is a last reason, but that one I’ll get to in my own explanation.
II) I deeply respect the Tolkien Professor. Corey Olsen re-awakened my interest in The Lord of the Rings. I read The Hobbit when I was about twelve, and got so immersed into the world, that I became a D&D role-player. This, in turn, moved me finally into the direction of becoming a medievalist. I was kind of astray on my thesis when I found him through LOTRO, and now I have been working again to get my title and keep on studying the Middle Ages. I follow right now his undergraduate lectures, but at a slow pace because of my limited time.
But aside of that, I like hearing all that he and his colleagues say about LOTR, and it is interesting to know that there are scholarly studies of the books, which makes me even more interested in finishing my university in the best way possible. I first listened to his podcast/University iTunes application and there the question was made if Balrogs had wings. The answer was pretty much solid, especially the part about the use of the language in Tolkien works, but then there was one argument I immediately said no to.
I’ll paraphrase it, for the exact sentence can be easily found in the respective Podcast (“On Wingless Balrogs and Tom Bombadil”, released 27/07/2009), but in a general line he opposed Balrogs having wings because Durin’s Bane lived in the mines and there was no use of wings inside caves and he never flew back up while he fell into the chasm with Gandalf. Here Professor Olsen uses a practical reasoning, and it can be answered with another argument of the same nature: Balrogs didn’t always live in caves. They were powerful warriors of Morgoth and often wandered outside and waged full open war on the elves, dwarves and men. This means, they had other kinds of ambiences they could have developed: why not have wings? Second, they fought alongside dragons, which also fly, so: why not be able to do the same?
Lastly, I don’t think the Balrog Gandalf confronted could have flown up again for two reasons. One, he was fighting the wizard after all, and both are more or less equal in power and age, and second, going back to a more physical description, he would not have had a lot of space to maneuver, much less to start flight.
Foretold charging into the Rift: the Balrog must be defeated.
Here is where my argument would try to bring together both points of view, since I think there can be an explanation, although it may sound a bit complicated. I hope I can get my point through, since I am pretty bad at explaining something more metaphysical.
First off, we must remember who the Balrogs were (or are). This refers us back to the creation myth, in which we see a special kind of creature in existence, the Valar. Those are primordial spirits, each with a set of attributes given to them by Ilúvatar. Those primordial forces, through their song, create the world in which everything told in Tolkien’s Middle Earth will happen.
They enter the world with a status separation according to power. The Valar, being the most powerful of all spiritual beings, take control of the different aspects they develop on Middle Earth, even so much that Morgoth takes the from of evil in the world. The lesser spirits help thus the higher spirits out. Who are those lesser spirits? I could think of two examples that are more than familiar to us: the five wizards and the Balrogs. Remember: they are not the only ones.
Now comes the real point of the discussion: what is one of the main traits of these spirits, lesser and higher? They are formless, this means, they have no real physical bodies or defined features. Those are gained as they develop in the world, taking mostly humanoid forms, emulating the sons of Ilúvatar.
Now you’ll have to bear with me when I get to the quotations. My version of the Silmarillion is in Spanish. I haven’t been able to get an English one yet (better said, I still haven’t looked for it), so I’ll have to translate the quotations back into English. This means that stylistically it won’t be the same as you can read it… neither in word choice. But the main point, which is to get a few ideas across, will be achieved nonetheless.
In the Ainulindalë Tolkien talks about the Valar and how they look:
“…the Valar took for themselves form and color; and because they were drawn to the world by the love of the children of Ilúvatar, in whom they had put much hope, they took forms that looked alike the ones they had seen in the vision of Ilúvatar, except in majesty and splendor. Those forms came from the knowledge they had of the visible world more of the world in itself, and they don’t need them, except as we use clothes, since we could walk naked without lessening ourselves. Therefore the Valar can be, if they want it that way, without a visage, and even then the Eldar don’t notice them clearly, even though they are present.”
Bringing this one more step further, in the Valaquenta, Tolkien briefly says the next line about the lesser spirits, the Maiar:
“…on Middle Earth the Maiar rarely have appeared in visible form to the elves and men.”
In a few words: Maiar and Valar can change forms. If they take one form, it’s because they are comfortable with it, and they only dress up when they have to appear in front of the creatures of Middle Earth. Such is the case of Gandalf, who takes the form of an old man in front of hobbits, dwarves, elves and men. But he is no man, since he has magic powers beyond of any other man on Middle Earth.
But as there are the Valar and Maiar that protect and bring order to the sung world, there are also the evil counterparts. Melkor, or Morgoth, is the main Valar, more powerful than the good ones, that decided to go the corrupt way, trying to enslave other creatures. Under him are a myriad of other spirits and Maiar, who thought that joining evil would bring themselves benefits. The Balrogs are Maiar, clearly noted in the Silmarillion.
The quotes given talk about their capacity to change forms. Later in the book we find out that Melkor loses his ability to change the way he looks like, since he is so consumed in evil thoughts, that he chooses a fixed and terrible body. Whether the evil Maiar go trough the same situation, is not clear. But if there is one thing for sure is that they did have a choice in the beginning.
The description of Durin’s Bane in Moria itself is very interesting in regards of the formless theory:
“Something was coming up behind them. What it was could not be seen: it was like a great shadow, in the middle of which was a dark form, of man-shape maybe, yet greater; and a power and terror seemed to be in it and to go before it.” (The Fellowship of the Ring)
It may be said that the description is insufficient because they Fellowship was running. But I could also say that the Balrog in itself presented no real form in itself, but that it was felt like darkness. Two keys to this: first off, the Balrog was of man-shape maybe and on second place the line “power and terror seemed to be in it and to go before it”.
When I read the description I see no definite figure presenting itself, just a presence that is surrounded by fire. Even at the short resting moment at the crumbling bridge the description is not widened much aside from the light expanding as if they were vast wings (which is no definite proof that they have wings).
Why would a meticulous writer as Tolkien, who is so fond of describing not take a second to expand on how a Balrog looks? I think the main clue is in the aforementioned quotations of the Silmarillion. The Balrogs, being spirits, are in essence formless and only take shape when needed. Thus they present themselves as dark figures to scare the orcs and goblins (and elves, dwarves, men, hobbits and the occasional Maiar), but it seems like they take no definite form. They rely on their presence more than their form.
Another factor to include is that, being they spirits, they are not bound to the normal laws of physics to which the other creatures like elves and men are. Valar are known to have great power, such as Elbereth, who hears all, and Maiar, even if not as powerful, can surely take on some fantastic feats that go beyond the imagination of elves. The flight of the Balrogs over the river to save their master can be explained in certain way by their spiritual being, in other words, since they are shapeless and not bound to the world as other creatures, the hindrances work a but different for them. They may have passed the river over without the need to fly, or they went airborne withouth the need of wings, since they don’t need wings to fly. Or how else could we explain the great speed of Tulkas and Melkor on distances that for the elves would take days to achieve?
Why would Gandalf not be that fast when needed then? I think one explanation is in his mission, which forces him to dress up and become a humanoid figure that all races of Middle Earth can see and sometimes even relate to: being bound to a physical form must have limited him.
Lastly, only because they are called Balrogs in general, I don’t think every one looked alike. Every one of them could take the form they wanted in the earlier days, creating a myriad of forms. Remember that I concluded that a Balrog has more presence than a physical form, so the form is more than a formality to appear in front of the normal creatures that populate Middle Earth.
A good last question that would remain is if Durin’s Bane itself has wings. Re-reading the scene in Moria in The Fellowship of the Ring gives me no definite clue. It may be that the chosen physical form of this particular Balrog may have wings. But as far as I understood, the only thing that we can see there is the presence of the evil Maiar and no real form.
Wings or no wings, this enemy is fearsome.
In conclusion, I think we sometimes go too far into factual and objective thinking. Even though I have not read most of the expanded notes on Middle Earth Christopher Tolkien published, I am pretty sure that when his father was thinking of a Balrog, he was thinking of it as a formless presence more than a physical figure. The idea behind it was terror. It’s like Sauron, who is really just a shadow (and took other forms in the past). The eye figure seems more like a form he took in the desire to search far and wide for his ring and also to have all his unruly troops under his control.
Maiar change form, and thus Balrogs can do so to. They have wings, although no literal ones, and they don’t have them since they don’t need them to be what they are. If we read Tolkien’s most fearsome beast that way, we may be able to understand the Balrog more as a visage of darkness than a creature, and even though it has whips and swords, the Balrog remains more Maiar than a beast, man, dwarf, hobbit, elf or whatever other creatures normally roam Middle Earth at the end of the third age. And, after all, isn’t the Balrog more of a rite of passage for Gandalf than anything else?
On other news, Nimreidhreth is now 65, so raiding and instances have become a more normal activity for me. I have a surprise for next weeks post, but later on I will go back to LOTRO itself again. Have fun, see you next week.
And again, sorry for the long post.
All Hail!]
