Balrogs

Balrog is a fictional creature appearing in ‘Middle-Earth Legendarium’ by J.R.R. Tolkien. The first mention of Balrogs appeared in ‘The Lord of The Rings’ which is a fantasy novel. They also appear in other books from the author. These are tall and terrific creatures who are capable of cloaking themselves in shadow and fire. They are often described as carrying swords and whips. Some of the most famed Balrogs are Gothmog, Durin’s Bane, and Lungorthin.​

As described in the fictional history of ‘The Silmarillion’, Balrogs or Valaraukar, were a group of beings that existed before the Elves awoke in the Years of the Trees of the First Age. When Ungoliant and Melkor went to Valinor and destroyed the Two Trees, the Balrogs lived in the pits of Angband. When Morgoth became the ruler of Middle-Earth, he was attacked by Ungoliant and a great cry aroused the Balrogs. They drove Ungoliant away and even started pursuing her. They were stopped by Morgoth and returned to Angband which was then reconstructed.​

This is when the Balrogs were first challenged by the Elves. The Noldor had arrived in search of Morgoth and had won over the Orcs in the battle of Dagor-nuin-Giliath. Feanor had pressed toward Angband in anger and had even found him but was obstructed by a force of Balrogs. He fought with them even when he was wrapped completely in fire and wounded badly. Finally, Gothmog, the Lord of Balrogs wounded Feanor and killed him.

Feanor’s son, Maedhros, tried to persuade the Morgoth forces but he sent the Balrogs and the entire force was slain. Only Maedhros was saved and brought to Angband. After a few years, the Balrogs and Glaurung with an army of Orcs were asked to march from Angband to take over the fortresses of the Elves and kill the Edain. The Balrogs also battled during the Fall of Gondolin. [1] They marched toward the hidden city mounting on the backs of dragons.

During the assault on Gondolin, Gothmog fought with Ecthelion of the Fountain and they killed each other. Glorfindel and his force were blocked by other Balrogs when they were trying to escape the burning city. He was pulled down to death by them. The rest of the Balrogs battled in the War of Wreath that ended the First Age and a lot of them were destroyed. Some Balrogs including the Durin’s Bane had managed to escape and hide deep in the Earth.​

In the 1980s of the Third Age, in an attempt to mine for Mithril, the Dwarves awoke a Balrog in Moria. The Dwarves were driven out of the place by the being and the King Durin was killed. The Balrog later came to be called ‘Durin’s Bane’. As described in the ‘Fellowship of the Ring’, during the War of the Ring, the Fellowship had passed through Moria and encountered Balrog. Gandalf had faced them at the Bridge of Khazad-Dum and even broke the bridge but both of them fell into it. The battle ended after many days and Durin’s Bane and Gandalf were killed by each other.​

Balrogs were usually a form of tall and menacing creatures with a man-like shape though described as consisting of shadow. They were constantly burning and held a whip and sword and other weapons said to have been made of lava. The Lord of Balrogs, Gothmog, used to arm himself with an ax in the First Age. These creatures spread a lot of terror among friends and enemies. A lot of them who came across Balrogs describe them as monsters made up of flame and shadow. Many references quote that their wings stretched from wall to wall, but whether they had physical wings is a matter of debate. Balrogs were possibly capable of altering their structure according to the occasion. This can be said from the description of a battle between Gandalf and Durin’s Bane when the Balrog turned himself into a slime upon falling into a water body. This could, however, just be a description of the Balrog by Gandalf after seeing his flame extinguishing and covering with water. According to the later conception of Tolkien, Balrogs were not easy to be vanquished and required a specific stature by the hero. Only the dragons had the power to challenge them with ferocity. During the First Age, they were among the most fearful of Morgoth’s forces.​

Talking about the characteristics of Balrogs, Tolkien’s concept kept changing with time. They were numerous in his early writings and nearly twice the size of a human. They used to battle with elves and men and were often killed in the fight. Balrogs were powerful, mighty demons, generally described with fire, holding whips of thongs and steel-like claws. They were described to be loyal to Morgoth and even came out of hiding once to save him. In the later versions of Tolkien’s writing, Balrogs became more powerful. Only seven of them were enough to drive away a very giant monster, Ungoliant. Durin’s Bane was alone capable of driving away from the Dwarves of Moria from their fortified place which was the biggest kingdom ever. It had also battled with Gandalf and shattered a mountain with his physical power. Gothmog had fought and defeated Feanor, an elf that was highly powerful and fierce.

He had also spread chaos throughout Gondolin, the city full of elves of similar power. Whether or not Balrogs had wings is not clear. This is mainly due to Tolkien’s changing description of the creature. It is not specific if the wings were physical or simply figures of shadow. The Balrogs in Moria are known to be using a flaming sword and thronged whip. Some references suggest their use of maces and black axes.​

The term ‘Balrog’ first appeared in the early works of Tolkien like ‘Fall of Gondolin’. An ancient list of names suggests that Balrog had no pure equivalent in some of the earliest invented languages. While writing ‘The Lord of the Rings’ in the 1940s, Tolkien linked the name with ‘balch’ – cruel and ‘rhaug’ – a demon. According to the last etymology appearing in the Quendi and Eldar languages, Balrog is a Sindarin word for the Quenya term ‘Valarauko’ which means ‘Demon of Might’. The plural for Balrog is not yet known in Sindarin though Tolkien always used Balrogs. He has once used the word Balrogath as well. In Quenya, Balrogs are named as Valaraukar.​

Appearing in different versions of Silmarillion, Gothmog [2] has a strong and massive physique. He is described as a 12 feet tall creature in one of the versions. He holds a whip of flame and a black ax as his weapons. He was awarded the titles like ‘The High Captain of Angband’, ‘the Lord of the Balrogs’ and ‘Marshal of the Hosts’. He has led many battles and slain many enemies before being killed in combat. The meaning of Gothmog is ‘Dread Oppressor’. [3] Gothmog had led the Second Battle against Feanor where he wounded him. In the Fifth Battle, he led Orcs, Balrogs, and Dragons as the commander and slew Fingon. He also captured Hurin and brought him to Angband. He was also the command of the storming of Gondolin as the Marshal. An Elf-lord had intervened when he was about to kill Tuor. Gothmog fought Ecthelion in the battle and they had killed each other.​

As described in ‘The Lord of the Rings’, Durin’s Bane was encountered by the Fellowship of the Ring in the Mines of Moria. It had survived in the War of Wrath and remained hidden in the mountains for over five millennia. The Dwarves tried to fight it in the Third Age but it was too powerful to be defeated. He was challenged by a wizard Gandalf and fought him for many days before being defeated and killed by him. Durin’s Bane was hiding deep inside the Earth when it was disturbed by the miners of the Dwarf kingdom. The Balrog has immediately killed Durin VI after which it was called the Durin’s Bane by the Dwarves. Many dwarves were killed by the Balrog and survivors were compelled to flee. According to sources, Moria was left to the Balrog for another 500 years before the Dwarves tried to retake Moria in a war against Orcs. The Dwarves got a victory in the battle but Balrog did not let them occupy Moria again. In 3019 of the Third Age, the Fellowship of the Ring traveled to Moria and were attacked by the Orcs. The wizard Gandalf the Grey was encountered by the Balrog. Gandalf had broken the bridge where they fought and both fell into the lake. Balrog’s body turned into flames and remained as a slime in the water. Gandalf also died shortly thereafter.​