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Animated Skeleton
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<img src="http://www.barrowdowns.com/images/posticons/nenya.jpg" align=absmiddle> Figures of speech
It seems more likely to me that the "figures of speech" of which the prof was so fond, tend in those places where Balrogs are mentioned, to actually imply flight rather than discredit it. One example that you're no doubt totally familiar with has to be:
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Quote:<hr> "Far beneath the ruined halls of Angband... Balrogs lurked still... and now swiftly they arose, and passing over Hithlum they came to Lammoth as a tempest of fire."<hr></blockquote>
Needless to say, there is no evidence of wings at this stage in the development. On this point I hold no dispute. However, they "arose" somehow. Later in the Silmarillion, there appears a brief reference to their speed capability:
[qoute]"Then suddenly Morgoth sent forth great rivers of flame that ran down swifter than Balrogs from Thangorodrim, and poured over all the plain."[/quote]
This passage is interesting in that it hints at two elements simultaneously (a device which appears frequently in the Silmarillion); the swiftness of the lava i.e the strength and power of Morgoth's determination to destroy Beleriand for his own means, compared with that of your average Balrog. Also, at Cirith Thoronath there is reference to: <blockquote>
Quote:<hr> "...the duel of Glorfindel with the Balrog upon a pinnacle of rock in that high place; and both fell to ruin in the abyss."<hr></blockquote>
Sadly, no explanation is given as to how they both fell to ruin. The image of a Balrog waiting beneath the shadows of the highest peaks of the Crissaegrim or thereabouts to do battle WITHOUT WINGS however, is less probable than the winged version, surely <img src=wink.gif ALT="
"> .
I still hold that Tolkien used various well-known images, in particular derived from popular myth and legend, to depict his arguably original inhabitants of Middle-earth. It is nigh on impossible to invent a creature that doesn't resemble one already known, however remotely, because the simple fact is that our imagination is, very basically, made up of mixtures of things that have had an impression on us in the past. The idea is for an author to exploit his limitations by tuning into the psyche of the masses and providing them with new forms of what they are already familiar with. This creates rapport and hopefully sells books. Tolkien uses this all the time in his books. The similarities to our own world are many and various. The ORIGINS of his universe are unique, as are the stories set therein. Our fascination starts with the unknown territory that he presents, which leads us into an assumed world other than our own. We are inspired by his ability to suspend disbelief; to leave so much hanging in the balance that we gradually cease to question the structure that surrounds us in the stories. From my personal need to indulge in fantasy and to delve into alternative realities, I openly accept what is laid down before me in words. But at the same time I question the origins of some of the elements of Middle-earth as they were when they first arose in the mind of their author. And I see no reason to suppose that Balrogs (for example) are not an ascendant of another far more familiar form of Daemon, seen in certain medieval architecture and gothic renderings of satanic scenes. After all, the man was brought up and indeed lived with strong Catholic beliefs and interests. There is no threat to the viability or originality of Middle-earth, because the intricacy of the structure derives from the imagination of a well-educated and open-minded individual. As with all works of great beauty that I have so far discovered, the works of JRRT cause echos of things in me that I believed were long buried or forgotten. It's those familiar images and underlying emotions that are the indispensable and undying part of the books.
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