What would the Balrog have done if the ring had fallen into his hands

Ithrynluin said:

Would the ring have fitted its fingers? Or would it grow so as to suit the Balrog?

I think the Ring would definitely be tempting to him, as it called out to any bearer, from Hobbit to Man, from Elf to Maia, in order to ensnare them. Tom Bombadil is an obvious exception, belonging to none of those races.

It may be that the 'closeness' of the Ring was what awoke, or contributed to awakening, the Balrog in the first place.


Sauron referred to Shelob as 'his cat'. Dare we assume that he would have devised similar nicknames for Smaug and the Balrog as well? Something like 'his wormy' and 'his teddy bear', respectively?

Anyway, cool topic, Ossë. And a warm welcome to the Tolkien Forum!

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Lantarion said:

A simple but very interesting question! And you present some good observational questions; welcome aboard Ossë.

As I see it, there are two general factors that determine the Balrog's disposition in this situation: one is the physical, and the other is psychological.
The Ring, being a band of gold with some apparent size-changing capabilities, would not fit on a Balrog's 'finger', I'm quite sure! In fact, as a Balrog is composed entirely of nothing but "shadow and fire", it would be impossible for one to 'wield' or wear something like garments or jewelry. His weapons, as we recall, are not orfinary whips or a standard longsword: they are of the same essense as the Balrog himself, probably wrought for them by Melkor ("whips of flame", etc.).
But given the hypothetical sitation where a Balrog would be able to handle and be in possession of the Ring, the psychological aspect comes into play. Actually, it is arguable whether the Balrog might in fact be able to use the Ring: as is visible from the text, the Ring is a sort of transportation device between the Seen and Unseen worlds. Now as I assume that a Balrog's Maian spirit exists in the Unseen, it may be feasible to think that the Ring in the Unseen would not handle like a material object, and thus would be 'usable' by the Balrog himself. (Just hypothesizing.. )
Now! If Durin's Bane had been in possession of the Ring, what would he have done. I see many possibilities: as a soldier, servant and/or sort of 'elite drone' of Melkor's armies, Balrogs would probably have a sort of Orcish sense of evil duty to them, which would probably prehibit them from using the Ring, and instead seeking out its master. I see this as quite plausible, as the Valaraukar were Maiar perverted, i.e. changed, to be servants of Melkor.
Or, as an independent agent, the Balrog could claim the Ring and use it for himself. Given that amount of power, I think there would be practically no stopping such a powerful Maia-spirit on a rampage; but I think there is a hitch. The Ring is not designed to be used by anybody except for Sauron himself. It has a sort of built-in magical mechanism which is activated when it is separated from its master, its 'host' you might say. It worked when it slipped off Isildur's finger in the Gladden Fields, and it worked all the time when it was in the possession of the Baggins family: it was slowly but surely making its way back to its master, or host!
So I propose that the Balrog, even if capable of wielding the Ring, would not have been able to use it successfully, if Sauron was still in existance.

My take: take it or leave it, it's mine! *mutters in a frighteningly Gollum-esque manner*

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Lantarion said:

Ossë that's a great interpretation! Perhaps it was not Pippin's stone, or the drums of the Orcs, or anything else that drew the Valarauko to the Fellowship (after all, he was leading the nasties, not the other way round), but the Ring around Frodo's neck! I haven't even considered that actually, as I'm sure the Fellowship wouldn't have in such a distressing situation.

Well, seeing as the physicality of the Balrog has quite a direct relevance to this topic, I'll share my thoughts on it after all.
I hold that, as essentially Maian beings, the Balrogs' form was neither wholly metaphysical nor wholly physical; i.e. they existed neither solely in the Seen or in the Unseen. Also, as powerful Maiar, they would (like other characters in Tolkien's works) have been able to shift between Seen and Unseen, or exist 'more' in either of them.
I hold also that when the Balrog was confronted by Gandalf, and when he 'stepped' onto the Bridge, he existed 'more' in the Seen world, and thus was able to interact with his surroundings. There are many possible motives for his doing so, perhaps to try and frighten his adversary away or to be able to battle him better. Also, when the Bridge collapsed, the Balrog was taken by surprise and upon being attacked mid-drop by Gandalf, he would have been unable to shift back to the Unseen. But I would say that after the fall in the water, and the wrestling match between him and Gandalf, the Balrog was able to regain his more Unseen form, which is why he 'flew' up the stairs and into the maze of tunnels under Moria rather than labouring up them clumsily, as his size would have undoubtedly made for.
Then, again, on the mountain-top both the Balrog and Gandalf (in my view) were more in the Unseen; how else would either have been able to really hurt the other? And lastly, I hold that when Gandalf managed somehow to perhaps tap into the Balrog's hröa-driving force, his life-source you might say (though not the fëa), and was able to defeat him and, in essense, 'kill' him, the Balrog became entirely existant in the Seen world and thus 'smote the mountainside' as a heavy, large, physical mass.

There are probably flaws in this reasoning, but it's something I've been tossing around for a little while.. And given the Balrog's hypothetical skill of Shifting between Seen and Unseen, it would tie in well with the Ring's own Seen/Unseen-link and could provide the Balrog with some means of utilizing it.

But I have a theory about the Ring as well: I think that Sauron did not only design it solely for himself, but also for the specific humanoid form he was in. Had he taken the form of a dark cloud or something else, a material object like the Ring could presumably not be used while in that state. The purpose of the Ring was only to increase Sauron's magical capabilities while in humanoid form, which made his 'world domination'-plan far more executable. The invisibility factor is, to me, a pure side-effect; as a Maia, Sauron already existed in part in the Unseen and so would not turn invisible, but Frodo as a wholly Seen entity would be transported 'mostly' to the Unseen upon tapping into the evil energy in the Ring, i.e. becoming invisible.

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