📊Poll: Do Balrogs have wings?

[The Phony Pope]

Here is an EXACT quote directly from the book, proving that the Balrog most likely DID NOT have wings

"The Balrog reached the bridge. Gandalf stood in the middle of the span, leaning on the staff in his left hand, but in his other hand Glamdring gleamed, cold and white. His enemy halted again, facing him, and the shadow about it reached out like two vast wings..."

Before when they describe the Balrog in more detail they do not mention wings. Only does it mention them when it met with Gandalf at the bridge, and its shadows reached out LIKE two vast wings, the key word here begin 'like'.

 

[Gothmog]

Just a thought, I recall reading some years ago, an article about putting wings on a man. In this article it talked about the muscles needed to power the wings in a flying creature. Now these would have to be very powerful to be able to move the wings so as to achive flight. Well according to the workings out of the author it seems that the pectoral muscles would have to be of such size that the chest of our man would have been about 6 feet infront of his nose.

Another point. All of the animals, birds and other creatures including the forms taken by the Valar and the Maiar seem as far as I can remember to be possessed of four limbs. So why would there be only one small group that goes against this view and have Six limbs?

 

[The Phony Pope]

Here is the address of a document writing about wether Balrogs had wings or not (or more precisely, if they could fly or not, but it doesn't really matter).

http://tolkien.cro.net/balrogs/fly.html

 

[Evenstar]

I have always pictured Balrogs without wings; just surrounded by a mist of darkness. IMO a creature strong enough to challenge Gandalf would look silly with useless "ostrich" wings. Now I understand and appreciate the explanations as to why the Balrog had useful wiongs and could not fly out of the pit- I personally just don't buy them. I just imagine the Balrog as an equal to Gandlaf and I would rather it have a similar shape.

However, I believe that this is a matter of interpretation so to each his own.

 

[pippin le qer]

balrog wings

is n't there a line in the Silmarillion abouth Balrogs flying around the tines of Gondolin in the siege and fall of that elvencity?. flying requires wings unless you can get an airoplane. Tolkien didn't use airoplanes in his books, so Balrogs had wings question answered

 

[The Phony Pope]

I just read that part in the Silmarillion and I saw no evidence tat Balrogs could fly at all

 

[pippin le qer]

then's my memory a little bit rusty I've read it abouth 10 years ago

 

[Nazgul_Lord]

Once and for all, Blarogs have wings, it says it in the fellowship of the ring, and in the silmarillion, and it shows it in the movie. But they can not fly.

 

[JeffF.]

It Is Not Decided...

...the passages in the Fellowship of the Ring are debatable as you can read in this long thread. The Silmarillion and the various volumes of History of Middle Earth NEVER describe Balrogs as having wings.

it is left to each reader to decide for him or herself as it should be. it's like that along debat of Uruks/Uruk-Hai. netiher side can be swayed by the other. The beauty of LOTR is that we don't need to be if we don't want to. It's fiction so the book and story means something different to each and every one of us.

The benefit of all these discussions is not who wins in the end or even who has the most votes for any particular view. The beauty and benefit is in the ver discussion we have with other folks who have a passion for the same topic.

respects to all fellow Middle Earth admirers,

JeffF.

 

[TulKas Astaldo]

1) Gothmog didn't have wings. This is a widely accepted fact... But Gothmog was the only son of Morgoth, not a true Balrog.

2) The Balrog, if it had wings, could have at least used them to slow itself when it fell from Khazad-Dum. Again with the Balrog Glorfindel slew, and again with the Balrogs running down 'faster than a river of fire' in The Silmarillion... I don't picture a river as flying, nor do I something that runs.

3) Tolkien himself stated in one of his letters that balrogs do not have true wings. I think this one pretty much sums it all up, but I don't have an exact letter number...

 

[Lantarion]

The way some of you people describe the Balrog reminds me of a burning, seven-foot, thick-skinned monster with horns, and who has a fiery whip and sword in his hands. Just take a look at the picture of the Balrog in the 2002 Tolkien Calendar: ridiculous! The Balrogs were Maiar, demi-gods with substantial magical powers. I think the movie-depiction of the Valarauka (which is its Quenya name) is very accurate indeed, at least to my mind.

 

[Nocturno]

Aerodinamics

Sorry if the word is not spelled right (I speak spanish).
But I have read enough about birds and their way of flying as principles of aerodinamics.
The general rule is to have a wing shaped so that the air below runs much faster than above.
Most of the birds and bats actually glide on the air and only flap their wings to start flight or change their course or altitude.
The smallest of birds and the insects flap their wings all the time to fly.
That doesn't happen with the great birds.
A vulture would glide almost of the time and has a really hard time to get off the air when departing from the ground.
What is this all about?
A balrog (given his size) would glide, not flap his wings, or he would need to be extremely light or have a very different muscle system (after all it is described as man-like).
So it's no wonder if he couldn't fly inside a cave!
He would need a lot of room, a hot air current from below, and the chance to spread his wings (after all Gandalf was battling with it) to deterr his fall.
The fall doesn't prove he didn't have wings.
And afterwards, when cast off the mountain, you could bet he was badly hurt.
I am for wings! They explain much more than they confuse, from the Silmarillion to the LOTR.

 

[Gothmog]

How can they explain anything in the Silmarillion?

 

[Taranir]

No wings

In Silmarillion there were no writing about Balrogs with wings. Professor would have includet those wings in his description of B:s, if there were wings. Nor were they flying at any point.

 

[dgoof911]

Personally, I do not think they had wings. Looking at what Readwryt said earlier, "The Balrog made no answer. The fire in it seemed to die, but the darkness grew. It stepped forward slowly on to the bridge, and suddenly it drew itself up to a great height, and its wings were spread from wall to wall; but still Gandalf could be seen, glimmering in the gloom; he seemed small, and altogether alone: grey and bent, like a wizened tree before the onset of a storm." , makes me agree that Tolkien is desribing the shadow, which appears to take the form of wings. So maybe it has shadow wings but, shadow does not take the form of solid, which you would obivously need to be able fly.

Also, I don't think you can use the movie as an example for the Balrog having wings. It is the "movie" not the book, and how every thing looks is not accurate to what Tolkien described in th book. The Balrog is just someones idea of what it would look like.

 

[greypilgrim]

i think he had wings......what else would cause such a shadow?
and his wings were spread from wall to wall. i can only come to one conclusion, his wings made the shadow, and then he drew himself up to his full height, and spread his wings. thats my tale, others may be devised.

 

[Cian]

Originally posted by greypilgrim
i think he had wings......what else would cause such a shadow?

A shadow

"... their hearts were of fire, but they were cloaked in darkness, and terror went before them; they had whips of flame. Balrogs they were named ..." JRRT LQS

 

[greypilgrim]

i'm sorry, but a shadow cannot cast another shadow, in middle earth or anywhere. the balrog's wings cast the shadow.

 

[Lantarion]

Taranir: I had posted that post on a different thread, where I believe you were inquiring about the Balrog's wings. I did not ask for it to be moved, but I find that the Moderators seem to enjoy flipping posts idly around the place. There was no reason, Mr. Moderator, to move my post from its original position, most of all because it makes no sense for it to be moved to *this* thread, as I inserted a link to this thread!! Please, the next time you want to move one of my posts, I would be much obliged if you asked for my consent first. *whew*

But greypilgrim, the book does not say anything cast a shadow, but that the Balrog's shadow stretched out like two vast wings. The Balrog is made of some strange, ethereal flame and deep shadow, and he was fluffing it about probably to intimidate Gandalf on the rickety little bridge.

 

[greypilgrim]

balrogs wings

there seems to be alot of debate on this subject. i think this will be my last comment on it:


one balrog, hot, with wings on the side.