[the guy who be short]

Originally Posted by Morsul the Dark

as for the material one would assume they have glands which secreet flame resistent chemicals kind of like sweat.

Perhaps they wore Kevlar? That wasn't really meant to be taken seriously though - I'm quite sure the majority of those "Winger" oddballs believe the wings are made of shadow and fire like the rest of the 'Roggies, thus the inability to fly

The shadow about it reached out like two vast wings.

If the Balrog had wings, why that terminology? Why liken shadow to wings if the Balrog already had wings? Surely Tolkien could just say "The shadowy wings reached out" or something like that? Bottom line, why use a simile for something that exists already.