Thread: Balrog size
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Old 02-06-2002, 12:45 AM   #45
Elendur
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Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Arnor
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Quote:
Now Maia or not, Gandalf is restricted to the limitations of his human body. That would include mass and inertia. I think anything much bigger than a 12 ft balrog would have simply swept Gandalf off the bridge with his blow.
Next we have the scene where the Balrogs whip is "dragging him to the brink". Gandalf "grasped vainly at the stone" clearly showing he was being dragged slowly, yet surely by the balrogs weight. By cube square law for a doubling in dimensions you get a quadruple in volume. A 12ft Balrog would have weighed about 800 lbs (given a 6 ft man at 200). Anything much heavier than that would simply have dragged Gandalf over without any hesitation.
I agree that this is speculation at best, but I just wanted to put in my words more for fun than anything else.

Gandalf was restricted to the limitations of his human body, but he was still very strong. I am too lazy to get quotes to prove my point, but hopefully you can take my word for what Im about to talk about. Gandalf had passed through Moria before he went in with the fellowship. He entered at the eastern entrance and exited on the western side. To exit through the western side of Moria, you have to get through the doors that the fellowship opened with the word Mellon. In Unfinished Tales it says that the doors could be opened from the inside without doing anything but pushing on the door, but that it took 2 dwarves or maybe a Dwarf Lord to open the door alone. So that means Gandalf had the strength of a great dwarf to have forced the doors open to exit Moria.

With that said, I think we can conclude that Gandalf may have had a part in being dragged off the bridge slowly, while a person of less strength would have been swept off more quickly. And I dont think Gandalf is 200 pounds. I would say at the most he is 180.
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