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the witch-king flees when Glorfindel arrives, fearing a confrontation.
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Yes, as has been said, one on one the Nazgul aren't going to be able to defeat a Balrog, it would take all nine of them together.
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Although Glorfindel killed a balrog, he died himself.
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The point is Glorfindel got the job done against the Balrog, it died. Both Glorfindel and Aragorn together wouldn't have been able to stop all nine Nazgul.
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It is Glorfindel who drives the nazgûl into the river Bruinen, just be threatening them.
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It is Glorfindel, Aragorn, and the hobbits together that drive the horses into the river. There is no textual evidence to support that the Nazgul had any more control over their horses then any other rider. And even if they did, why would they flee into the water, which they were also afraid of? According to text, the
horses went mad with terror and bore their riders into the flood.
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a balrog has no reason to fear a ring-wraith, who has no weapons to harm a balrog.
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First off, the Balrogs are capable of fear. They fled the War of Wrath. Secondly, the Balrogs had physical bodies that could be slain. If a Balrog was confronted by an opponent of near equal spiritual/magical strength it could be slain by a weapon. Ecthillion's helmet spike killed Gothmog. If a Balrog gets ran through by a long pointy object, it's going to die. Lastly, the Nazgul had a dark aura of terror that went before them. The Balrogs had a similar aura. The dark aura caused fear, but it was more than just terror, it was the physical reflection of their power on the corporeal world. Every being of great power has such an aura. Most of the time the aura of the good guys is a shrouded white light. Gandalf's aura, Glrofindel's aura, and Galadriel's aura are all described in this fashion. Even Aragorn is described as having an inner power that can flash in his eyes. (most men do not have that type of power) The aura of the bad guys is usually a dark cloud of shadow from which fear emanates. What I'm getting at is the aura of all nine Nazgul combined would have been greater than that of a single Balrog. And all of this is without Sauron having possesion of the One Ring.
[ June 26, 2002: Message edited by: Thingol ]