We have the "statistics" for the Balrogs in the First Age, but what if they "shrunk" just as all the other heros shrunk? Think about it. As the Ages went on, all the heroes became comparatively weaker. Elrond wasn't as strong as Fëanor, and Aragorn probably wasn't as strong as Tuor or Turin. What if the same principle could be applied to Balrogs or other creatures of darkness? If they waned in power (and in size) as the ages went on, it would be a lot easier for Gandalf, being a Maia, albeit a "hooded" Maia, to slay or defeat a Balrog in the Third Age, than it was for, say, Glorfindel to defeat that Balrog in the First Age.
__________________
But Melkor also was there, and he came to the house of Fëanor, and there he slew Finwë King of the Noldor before his doors, and spilled the first blood in the Blessed Realm; for Finwë alone had not fled from the horror of the Dark.
|