Thread: Bye Bye Balrogs
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Old 08-12-2001, 12:04 PM   #2
jallanite
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Re: Minimizing Balrog numbers in the Fall of Gondolin

This is an attempt to remove as many Balrogs from the account of &quot;The Fall of Gondolin as possible. It has turned out to be astoundingly easy. We may be able to live with even six Balrogs.

Each passage is given a code of the form FG-B followed by a two-digit number.

[ ]******Normalized, usually used for proper names indicating they are here in final form, not as in original text. Eg. &quot;M[orgoth]&quot; probably represents an original &quot;Melko&quot;
{ }******Material to be deleted.
<u>Underline Material</u> inserted for grammatical reasons or as editorial bridge or replacement for deleted material

FG-B01: Balrogs on the dragons of flame.<blockquote>Quote:<hr> ... and upon them rode the Balrogs {in hundreds};<hr></blockquote> FG-B02: Balrogs shoot arrows of fire.<blockquote>Quote:<hr> ... yet a worse matter was it that {a company} <u>one</u> of those demons climbed upon the coils of the serpents {of iron[?]} and thence loosed unceasingly from {their} <u>his</u> bow{s and slings} till a fire began to burn in the city to the back of the main army of the defenders.<hr></blockquote>I have changed the company of Balrogs to a single Balrog. This links to the next item. Removal of words &quot;of iron&quot; are per the modification of the dragons, and should not be considered part of the changes to be considered in this discussion.

FG-B03: Rog's men attack.<blockquote>Quote:<hr> ... but the men of Rog leapt even upon the coils of the serpents and came at {those} <u>that</u> Balrog{s} and smote {them} <u>him</u> grievously, for all {they} <u>he</u> had whip{s} of flame and claws of steel, and {were} <u>was</u> in stature very great. They battered {them} <u>him</u> into nought, {or} <u>and</u> catching at {their} <u>his</u> whip{s} wielded {these} <u>it</u> against {them} <u>him</u> that they tore {them} <u>him</u> even as {they} <u>he</u> had aftoretime torn the [Elves]; and {the number of Balrogs} that <u>this Balrog</u> perished was a marvel and dread to the hosts of M[orgoth], for ere that day never had any of the Balrogs been slain by the hand of Elves or Men.
****Then Gothmog Lord of Balrogs gathers all his demons that were about the city and ordered them thus: {a number} <u>two</u> made for the folk of the Hammer and gave before them, but the greater {company} <u>part</u> rushing upon the flank contrived to get to their backs, higher upon the coils of the drakes and nearer to the gates, so that Rog might not win back save with great slaughter among his folk.<hr></blockquote>This is the most difficult passage. The company of Balrogs, reduced to one Balrog in the previous change, is now attacked by Rog and his company and slain. Some daring emendation.

FG-B04: Entrance into the city.<blockquote>Quote:<hr> ... and behind comes a creature of fire and <u>a</u> Balrog{s} upon it.<hr></blockquote>We should probably allow only one Balrog rider per dragon.

FG-B05: Ecthelion against the Balrogs.<blockquote>Quote:<hr> Of these demons of power Ecthelion {slew} <u>drove back</u> three, for the brightness of his sword cleft the iron of them and did hurt to their fire, and they writhed.<hr></blockquote>Daring but minimal emendation as we cannot aford to slay even one more Balrog if it can be helped and I would like to keep the sentence. Also, the Balrogs are now entering the city by the gap made by the dragon, so meeting three together is not unreasonable.

FG-B06: The Great Market.<blockquote>Quote:<hr> ... where a force of Or[k]s {led by Balrogs} came on them at unawares ....<hr></blockquote>or<blockquote>Quote:<hr> ... where a force of Or[k]s led by <u>a</u> Balrog{s} came on them at unawares ....<hr></blockquote>This corresponds to FG-C01 but should be considered here and not with the C series.

FG-B07: To the Square of the King.<blockquote>Quote:<hr> But now the men of M[orgoth] have assembled their forces, and seven dragons of fire are come with Or[k]s about them and <u>a</u> Balrog{s} upon <u>one of</u> them down all the ways from [sou]th, [we]st, and [ea]st, seeking the Square of the King.<hr></blockquote>This corresponds to FG-C02 but should be considered here and not with the C series. Reduce Balrogs from many to one (rather than omit) as in the next paragraph Gothmog lord of Balrogs appears.

FG-B08: The king and his guard.<blockquote>Quote:<hr> ... the royal house laid on and the king came down in splendour among them and hewed with them, that they swept again much of the square, {and of the Balrogs slew even two score,} which was a great prowess indeed:<hr></blockquote> This corresponds to FG-C04 but should be considered here and not with the C series.

</p>Edited by: <A HREF=http://www.barrowdowns.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_profile&u=00000212>jallanit e</A> at: 8/13/01 9:21:24 pm
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