In Fellowship of the Ring, did only 🧙Gandalf recognize the balrog?

[Pseudoscience-is-Immoral]

When Gandalf realized they're being trailed by a belrog, was he the only one that knew what a balrog is? In the movie, Legalos seemed to react to Gandalf's proclamation with a slightly knowing look, but maybe I'm just over-reading him. As old as Legolas was, the belrogs preceded him by thousands of years. The elves could have read about them, but like electricity, guns, combustible engines, etc., the printing press had yet to be invented, and therefore reading material was very limited.

 

[grendel]

Welcome, Pseudo! I would not consider the movies as canon, as PJ made far too many changes for my taste. In the book though, I don't believe Gandalf knew it was a Balrog until it made an appearance. At the Tomb of Balin, he sensed a presence on the other side of the door, but there was no indication that he associated it with a Balrog. (The Wise here can correct me if I'm wrong.)
But you raise an interesting point, how did Legolas know? True, the Elves pass down a lot of lore (basically because they live forever [don't @ me, I know!]), but it is stated several times that the various Elf cliques at this point pretty much keep to themselves. Legolas knows about the legends of the Ents, for instance, but he knows nothing about the Elves who lived in Eriador in the Second Age. So how would he know, on sight, a Balrog when he wasn't around in the First Age and had never been near Beleriand?

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

You're correct, he didn't know until it showed itself.

There's a fairly recent thread around here somewhere that went into the question of who knew what when. I'll see if I can find it.

I'd certainly think stories of the terror of the balrogs were handed down, and spread through most of Middle-earth.

As for reading, of course there was reading and writing-- you wouldn't expect Tolkien to leave that out, would you? 😄 No, no printing presses, but Elvish scholars and copyists. Just think how many manuscripts one hardworking Elf could produce in a millennium or two!