[Feanaro]

I have come at long last to answer this troubling question forever. I have taken the liberty of picking vague and controversial quotes to aid my statements.

To begin my argument, I shall go back to the beginning.

"Of the Enemies: For of the Maiar many were drawn to his splendour in the days of his greatness, and remained in that allegiance down into his darkness; and others he corrupted afterwards to his service with lies and treacherous gifts. Dreadful among these spirits were the Valaraukar, the scourges of fire that in Middle-earth were called the Balrogs, demons of terror."

There you have it ladies and gentlemen. Balrogs were in fact Maiar. What's that? I'm supposed to prove whether balrog's have wings or not? Very well then. If balrogs were truly Maiar, they could change their form to suite their whims. Of course I just quoted that the balrogs were scourges of fire, which would give them a uniformity. Considering that Melkor's "specialization" was in fire and ice (don't ask me where this is stated for I cannot remember), it would seem only natural that this be one of their "treacherous gifts." What has this to do with anything? Well considering that balrogs are fallen Maiar, the question of whether or not they have wings would seem to have to apply individually to each balrog.

Now then, I shall get to Durin's Bane later. First we shall take a look at some famous balrog battles from the past.

The glory of Feanor against the might of Gothmog:

"Thus it was that he (Feanor) drew far ahead of the van of his host; and seeing this the servants of Morgoth turned to bay, and there issued from Angband Balrogs to aid them. There upon the confines of Dor Daedeloth, the land of Morgoth, Feanor was surrounded, with few friends about him. Long he fought on, and undismayed, though he was wrapped in fire and wounded with many wounds; but at the last he was smitten to the ground by Gothmog, Lord of the Balrogs, whom Ecthelion after slew in Gondolin."

Never fails that a tear should form at my eye every time I read that passage. But enough with nostalgia, I have a point to make! If Balrogs indeed had wings (which is not stated in this passage) it must be assumed that those wings were not functional. Balrogs were some of Morgoth's fiercest minions, save perhaps dragons. To be beset by a large number of these demons all at once and sucessfully fend them off for a long time with little support is pretty amazing. But however amazing Feanor was, I highly doubt that he (or anyone for that matter) could fight a long battle against a horde of airborne balrogs. The sheer advantage to be gained by flight would offset any amount of skill possessed by a lone fighter stuck on the ground. Such a case is similar with Ecthelion during the siege of Gondolin, so we shall hop over that story and move straight for Glorfindel!

The duel upon the mountain:

"There was a dreadful pass, Cirith Thoronath it was named, the Eagle's Cleft, where beneath the shadow of the highest peaks a narrow path wound its way; on the right hand it was walled by a precipice, and on the left a dreadful fall leapt into emptiness. Along that narrow way their (the survivors of Gondolin) march was strung, when they were ambushed by Orcs, for Morgoth had set watchers all about the encircling hills; and a Balrog was with them. Then dreadful was their plight, and hardly would they have been saved by the valour of yellow-haired Glorfindel, chief of the House of the Golden Flower of Gondolin, had not Thorondor (big eagle) come timely to their aid. Many are the songs that have been sung of the duel of Glorfindel with the balrog upon a pinnacle of rock in that high place; and both fell to ruin in the abyss."

*Whew!* First thing to get out of the way:
pinnacle- 1. A lofty peak. 2. a lofty eminence or position. 3. the highest or culminating point. 4. any pointed, towering part or formation, as of rock.

There, now that that's out of the way, I can continue. The battle between Glorfindel and the Balrog took place upon the pinnacle of the mountain, which would be the highest point ending in a cone shaped peak, so none of that "well it was a narrow space" nonsense! If a balrog truly had functional wings, I think it might have used them in a situation such as this! I suppose you could argue, "Well it fell into a narrow place," to which I would respond, "Ha! But the actual duel took place upon the lofty peak where flying would give a balrog an infinite advantage over the non-winged Glorfindel!" And yes, the point that Balrogs could not fly does tie in to my argument somewhere.

Now the time has come at long last to focus in upon that troublesome Balrog that fled to Moria in ages past, none other than Durin's Bane. Now I shall use those age old quotes that have been thought of as vague and controversial for many years, until now!

"His (Gandalf) enemy (the Balrog) halted again, facing him, and the shadow about it reached out like two vast wings."

Here is a simile saying that the actual shadow surrounding the balrog stretched out, as a dragon would stretch out its own wings to fly. This is not to be contested, it is a simile and nothing more at this point. All that this quote is saying is that the shadow around the balrog grew wider.

"The fire in it (the Balrog) seemed to die, but the darkness grew. It stepped forward slowly on to the bridge, and suddenly drew up itself up to a great height, and its wings were spread from wall to wall.."

Wait a minute! Now the Balrog does have wings? What just happened? Where did these now physical wings come from? This quote, unlike the last, does not have to be looked at as a simile or metaphor, for the answer has nothing to do with grammar and sentance structure, but Middle-earth mythology! If you remember, Balrogs were in truth Maiar that had been corrupted by Morgoth. Being Maiar, the Balrog's could thus alter their form at will. Case in point, Sauron fighting Huan way back in the day. Another case in point, Sauron changing into Annatar. Could we just have witnessed a Maiar altering its physical form? I say yes.

"The bridge cracked. Right at the Balrog's feet it broke, and the stone upon which it stood crashed into the gulf, while the rest remained, poised, quivering like a tongue of rock thrust out into emptiness. With a terrible cry the Balrog fell forward, and its shadow plunged down and vanished."

Hmm.. so the Balrog did have physical wings, and yet it fell? "Well it was in a narrow space." Don't be foolish! I've already given the answer: Balrogs couldn't fly. I've already stated arguments for this case, but I haven't explained why. Don't worry, I indeed have a theory for that as well, and have been saving it just for this moment! As stated earlier, Balrogs were Maiar that were corrupted by Melkor--with the most emphasis being placed upon the word "corrupted." As I earlier theorized, perhaps one of the negative effects of this corruption was the dulling of the Maia's ability to sucessfully alter its body. And here it comes, the answer to the age old question. Durin's Bane, the balrog in question, does have wings, but these wings are made of shadow, because that's what the rest of the creature's body was made of, having been corrupted by the powers of Morgoth. I cannot imagine wings made of shadow to be very stable, hence the lack of flying around. But of course the original question was not whether or not Balrog's could fly, but whether or not they have wings.

I realize just how evil I am by reviving this thread, but I couldn't resist throwing my theory into the fray.

Forgive the many typos that no doubt have snuck into this post, for it is 2:30 in the morning here and I am most weary.

[ July 28, 2002: Message edited by: Feanaro ]

[ July 28, 2002: Message edited by: Feanaro ]