Quote:
Originally Posted by blantyr
Quote:
Originally Posted by obloquy
The Balrog of Moria was likely fully incarnate, though this was presumably not always the case. The Balrogs probably incarnated due to indulging in the pleasures of the flesh, but it's possible (though unlikely, in my opinion) that Morgoth deliberately incarnated them (assuming he was capable of doing so) in order to exercise greater control over them. The drawback would be that they were one-time-use goons in an age when Elf-lords rivaled their spiritual potency.
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I would think the balrogs and dragons were given shapes intended for battle, to aid Morgoth in the domination Middle Earth and the defeat of his enemies. Other mythos feature succubi and other dark spirits whose 'magic' might be associated with sex. Tolkien for the most part seems to deal with love more than sex. I certainly wouldn't associate balrogs with either. |
I agree,
blantyr. The shapes taken by the Balrogs appear to have been intended to give them a large amount of physical power, greater than that of the Children of Ilúvatar, as well as an aspect of terror. And my thought would be that the Balrogs had incarnate forms from the beginning of their service to Morgoth, not because it would have given Morgoth greater control over them (which I don't feel was necessary; he already had their allegiance), but because a corporeal form would have been required for a maximum effect on the physical world. If they were just disembodied spirits roaming around, I would think their value to Morgoth would be limited. Even as covert, invisible spies, the terror they projected, like the later Nazgűl, would probable have been perceptible. So a physical form would have been logical.