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Originally Posted by Aiwendil
Ah, so 'twas in the 1930s ("Etymologies"). But in author's note 28 to "Quendi and Eldar" (1959-1960):
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Some other derivatives [of *RUKU] are in Quenya: . . . rauko and arauko (< *grauk-) 'a powerful, hostile, and terrible creature', especially in the compound Valarauko 'Demon of Might', applied later to the more powerful and terrible of the Maia servants of Morgoth. In Sindarin appear, for instance, raug and graug, and the compound Balrog (equivalents of Q rauko, etc.)
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So it would appear here that "Balrog" is the S. cognate of Q. "Valarauko", which is translated "Demon of Might" rather than "Demon of Torment". |
John Garth ('Tolkien & the Great War') gives an account of the origin of Balrogs & the original meaning of the name:
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Tolkien had listed several monstrous creatures in the 'Poetic and Mythologic Words of Eldarrissa & its ethnological chart: tauler, tyulqin, and sarqin, names which in Qenya indicate tree-like stature or an appetite for flesh. . . All these new races of monsters proved transitory, bar two: the Balrogs and the Orcs. Orcs were bred in 'the subterranean heat and slime' by Melko: 'Their hearts were of granite and their bodies deformed; foul their faces which smiled not, but their laugh that of the clash of metal. . .' The name had been taken from the Old English orc, 'demon', but only because it was phonetically suitable. The role of demon properly belongs to Balrogs, whose Goldogrin name means 'cruel demon' or 'demon of anguish'. These are Melko's flame-wielding shock troops and battlefield captains, the cohorts of Evil.
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The Balrogs were 'born' on the battlefields of WW1 & I can't help feeling that however much Tolkien's thoughts about them & their nature may have developed over the course of his life, what they meant & their appearance would have changed little in essence.
If we imagine German troops approaching through the mist & smoke of no man's land, spraying flame from their dreadful
Flammenwerfers, I think its easy to see where Tolkien got the idea from. We can even see a possible origin for their 'whips of flame':
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The smaller, lighter Flammenwerfer (the Kleinflammenwerfer) was designed for portable use, carried by a single man. Using pressurised air and carbon dioxide or nitrogen it belched forth a stream of burning oil for as much as 18 metres.
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(Good article here:
http://www.firstworldwar.com/weaponry/flamethrowers.htm)