Yeah, I meant Ecthillion, sorry about that. The difference between the Dragons and Balrogs is that the spirits of Dragon's (be they Maia or Elf) entered into an already existing creature that Melkor had bred. On the other hand the spirits of Balrogs did not enter into any beast, but were incarnated into a body that they created. This is exactly what happened to Melkor. The Balrog is able to draw itself up to a great height, fire blazes forth from its body, and it certainly has control over the shadow that surrounds it. I did not say that it actually changed its shape after it fell into the water with Gandalf, I understand that the snake comment was only a metaphor. Anyway before I respond to the rest of your last post I want to quote from the Letters of Tolkien in an attempt to clear up the nature of magic in Middle Earth. Some of this is not very pertinent to the Balrog/Dragon debate, but interesting none the less.
Quote:
But I suppose that, for the purposes of the tale, some would say that there is a latent distinction such as once was called the distinction between magia and goeteia[1]. Galadriel speaks of the "deceits of the Enemy". Well, enough, but magia could be, was, held good (per se), and goeteia bad. Neither is, in this tale, good or bad (per se), but only by motive or purpose of use. Both sides use both, but with different motives. The supremely bad motive is domination of other free wills. The Enemy's operations are by no means all goetic deceits, but "magic" that produces real effects in the physical world. But his magia he uses to bulldoze both people and things, and his goeteia to terrify and subjugate. Their magia the Elves and Gandalf use (sparingly): a magia, producing real results (like fire in a wet faggot) for specific beneficent purposes. Their goetic effects are entirely artistic and not intended to deceive: they never deceive the Elves (but may deceive or bewilder unaware Men) since the difference is to them as clear as the difference to us between fiction, painting, and sculpture, and `life'…The basic motive for magia - quite apart from any philosophic consideration of how it would work - is immediacy: speed, reduction of labor, and reduction also to a minimum (or vanishing point) of the gap between the idea or desire and the result or effect.
1 Greek equivalent of goetia; the English form Goety is defined in the O.E.D. as `witchcraft or magic performed by the invocation and employment of evil spirits; necromancy.
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Quote:
Anyway, a difference in the use of "magic" in this story is that it is not come by "lore" or spells; but it is an inherent power not possessed or attainable be Men as such...
Alongside the final paragraph, Tolkien has written: 'But some Númenóreans used "spells" in making swords?
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Letter #155
In Tolkien's Middle Earth magic is the ability of ones Fea to affect the physical world. The elves specialize in using their Fea to create what Tolkien calls art, but they are also capable of using their spirit in a destructive way. The same is true of the enemies, but they choose to use their power to dominate others. It is important to note that men do not have this ability. The spirits of men are not bound to the Earth and subsequently have very little power to physically affect the world. The only slight exception to this is the Númenóreans sword craft. However, this is not the same as elven magic, it is lore. Lore is the ability to create items of magical properties. The power that comes from lore does not reside in men, it comes from the item the man is wielding. The reason I am brining this up is because it shows the nature of magic in Tolkien's works and the relative impotence of man's magical/spiritual power. My main point is that even though the spiritual/magical power of men is no where close to that of an elf, let alone a Maia, they are still able to slay Dragons. While I can not prove beyond a doubt that the Balrog can not be destroyed without first being defeated, or at least stunned, on a spiritual level I think it is a reasonable assumption. If this is not the case then how else can you explain the futility of Fingolofin's duel or Manwe's statement that Feanor's war against Melkor was doomed to failure? I don't see any reason why a great spiritual/magical battle couldn't have taken place in the midst of a great battle. The Witch King harnesses his magical power to break the gates of Minas Tirith in the midst of a great battle and moments later a spiritual/magical confrontation occurs between Gandalf and The Witch King.