📊Poll: Do Balrogs have wings?

[Merlin]

Originally posted by Thorondor

I am also suprised that no one has brought up the point Why didn't the Balrog fly out of the Abyss with its wings? Shadows can't fly, and wings can.

Well they may have had wings and still not be able to fly, but fly/hop short distances kind of like big fat chickens? The great thing about books is that they leave something for your own imagination --to fill in the gaps. Therefore in my Tolkien world, Balrogs do have wings (I just like it better that way )

 

[Silnarion]

Excellent article. I like then to think that the "wings" were merely part of a balrog's overall shifting specter of unlight and quasi-shadow.

 

[Talierin]

Yeah, that's pretty much what I think they were too.

 

[Gandalf White]

Probably

I'm not exactly sure how to say this. I believe the Balrog may have had "useless" wings. I imagine him with wings like a bat, but incapable of flight. Just a thought.

 

[Obelaine]

I was talking with my dad and he asked me how could balrogs have real wings if him and gandalf fell? If it had "real" wings it wouldnt have fallen. At least thats what i think.

 

[Telchar]

But then again, a person that belives that the Balrogs did have wings, not that i do, would then say that there might not have been enough room for him to unfold his wings..

 

[Lantarion]

Or the poor beast might have been in some considerable pain, what with Gandalf hacking at him and all..

 

[The Dark Walker]

To be honest i always thouhgt Balrogs had wings, but if he did why didn't he just fly over Gandalfs head on the bridge?

 

[Lantarion]

Welcome, Dark Walker! Hmph, you're new to the forum so I won't bother you too much about it; but it has been stated many times that possible reasons for the Balrog's incapability to fly out of the abyss were a) Gandalf was thwacking him round the head with Glamdring, or b) There was not enough space to unfurl his extensive wingspan. Sorry, not a very encouraging welcome . But seriously, welcome.
On the other hand, if his wings were only of flame and shadow, they would have been extinguished when he fell; and perhaps Gandalf had a few tricks up his beard.

 

[Greymantle]

But of course, this is not the opinion of all the persons of this forum... I am sturdily in the Wingless camp, myself. Though, of course, we are a minority.

 

[The Dark Walker]

O.k, new question if the Balrog had such a large wingspan then he must have been a huge titan that could stomped ol' Gandalf over the head instead of taffin' about!!!!!!!!!

 

[Greymantle]

I would have thought that given the fact that this is Tolkien we're talking about, isn't the triumph of the "little guy" a really important theme?

 

[The Dark Walker]

Yeah but having the Balrog kill Gandalf only to be wiped out by the Fellowship's fury would be much more heroic

 

[Lantarion]

Heroism is a synonym for stupidity, if you ask me. Yes, it would have been more heroic, but the rest of the Company would have been killed as well!
And I agree that the 'little one' usually prevails in Tolkien's stories. On the other hand, it cannot be told if Gandalf was stronger than the Balrog before he was reincarnated..
And DW, a creature doesn't have to be enormous to have a large wingspan. It depends on how big the distance between the tips of the wings, and on the width of the Abyss, but I would say that the Balrog was quite big indeed. But if Gandalf unleashes his fury and utmost might and anger onto any creature, they don't have much of a choise but to scamper out of the way, as the Balrog wisely did (didn't help a lot, he was still grilled, but anyway..).

 

[BelDain]

I was just reading the Lord of the Rings appendices and noticed an interesting passage that tells of the Balrog Durin's folk encountered; presumably the same one that Gandalf later battles. It says the Balrog flew from Angband.

So perhaps the Balrogs do have huge wings and can fly well and fast but it was the relatively small size of the chasm that did not allow this Balrog to swoop up and out and save itself.

 

[Earnil]

I am totally 100% on the side of Balrog's having Wings.
I would go into this argument with more detail but I won't I have already become bored with discussing the Topic of Balrog's having Wings over at Tolkien Online.

All I am going to say about this debate is, even though Tolkien described balrogs as having wings, I think it is all up to the readers. It is all in the eye (or mind) of the beholder. I'm basically saying that everyone chooses to interpret LOTR and certain parts of it differently. And thus we each have our own opinion which diffifers from each other person's interpretation.

 

[Cian]

Originally posted by BelDain
I was just reading the Lord of the Rings appendices and noticed an interesting passage that tells of the Balrog Durin's folk encountered; presumably the same one that Gandalf later battles. It says the Balrog flew from Angband.

The quote reads:

"Thus they roused from sleep a thing of terror that, flying from Thangorodrim, had lain hidden at the foundations of the earth since the comming of the Host of the West: a Balrog of Morgoth." Appendix A III Durin's Folk

And also from Appendix A III Durin's Folk:

"For he saw that all his host in the valley was in a rout, and the Dwarves went this way and that slaying as they would, and those that would escape from them were flying south, shrieking as they ran."

Certainly "fleeing" can easily fit into the context of both quotes. And the Balrog has something to flee from in any case, I think.

And yes, Tolkien used the word "wings" in a description of the Balrog, not exactly the same as describing the Balrog with physical bat-wings though.

 

[JeffF.]

Definitely No Wings

The description of the Balrog in Moria said two shadows 'like wings' and the placement of that a few lines before the sentence saying 'wings extended' makes it apply to that second description as well.

As final proof the Balrog would not fall into the chasm by Gandalph's destruction of the narrow bridge if he had wings. He'd simply have flown across the chasm.

 

[BelDain]

Re: Definitely No Wings

Originally posted by JeffF.
The description of the Balrog in Moria said two shadows 'like wings' and the placement of that a few lines before the sentence saying 'wings extended' makes it apply to that second description as well.

As final proof the Balrog would not fall into the chasm by Gandalph's destruction of the narrow bridge if he had wings. He'd simply have flown across the chasm.

Yes, Thangorodrim not Angband. Thanks Cian.

Anyway. There are only two ways the Balrogs could fly. Wings or some sort of magical or innate power of levitation. If the former were the case as many are argueing here then it would make sense that the cave and the chasm obstructed the optimal functionality of the wings to either carry the Balrog over the chasm or lift it out of the chasm once it had fallen.

If the Balrog could fly through some sort of levitation power then the Balrog falling really would make no sense at all because the physical attributes of wings would play no part. It could simply "float" up out of the chasm. This reasoning makes me think that if the Balrog was indeed flying, as in up in the air, it had to have physical wings.

Of course there are two other a little bit wilder possibilities.
1) The Balrog did have levitation powers that granted it "flight" but the power is somehow impeded by being inside the mountain.
2) Sometimes if someone is driving fast we might say they are flying down the road. So perhaps Tolkien meant the Balrog flying as to say it was moving at great speed from Thangorodrim.

Or wait. Perhaps one of the Balrog's powers is to create physical wings for itself out of its own substance of shadow and flame such that once it extended it's wings of shadow they did indeed become manifested wings.

 

[Lantarion]

But the Balrog would look VERY silly without wings, IMHO! Just look at Ted Nasmith's painting of the Balrog! I think he's not good at painting people or creatures, but he's possibly the best painter of landscapes.
Of course, that is Mr. Nasmith's interpretation. But I think the Balrog is a lot more intimidating with wings. And I think that whatever they were, even if they were just shadows and fire 'like wings', they suffice for a scary profile of a huge, fire-shadow-bat.