Balrog Sprinters?

[The Perky Ent]

A pondering question: When Ungoliant started strangling Melkor, and Morgoth sounded that loud screem and the Balrogs came from the ruined halls of Angband, how is it that the Balrogs could make it in time to save Melkor? I mean, Ungoliant became pretty darn big after devouring the treasures of Formenos, so it wouldn't be long before Melkor kicked the bucket! And seeing the speed of a Balrog in FOTR, how is it that they could come from Angband to Morgoth in enough time to save him? How long would it take Morgoth to die? I mean, surely longer than a man or elf, but Balrogs are slow. Unless they're balrog sprinters in the first age, ungoliant might have snapped Melkor's neck! Wouldn't that be a sight! Anyway, how is it that a Balrog can travel that fast?

[Mister Underhill]

Wings!

[The Saucepan Man]

They flew.

And I don't see the most powerful of the Valar being killed by Ungoliant that quickly, however large she might have grown.

Edit: Darn you, Underhill, you beat me to it!

[Silmiel of Imladris]

I thought I smelled the wings issue again. How many times are we going to bring this up?

[The Perky Ent]

Yes, it's possible, but i've never understood the argument with Balrog wings! Do they work? Because i've always though they were like vestigial structures....that is if Balrog's evolve. I though they were small and couldn't carry the weight. And still, the Sil says

and now swiftly they arose, and passing over Hithlum they came to asunder the webs of Ungoliant

which indicates they might have flown, but you never can tell...

[Keeper of Dol Guldur]

Wings or no, in those days the Balrogs weren't as apt to wear the forms of shadow and they were made of flame - but are still spirits and can do some amazing things. Flew probably just means they weren't putting feet on the ground, and since the Silm explicitly states that they came in a 'fiery tempest' (or something similar to that), then I'd say it was less an instance of them even being in a humanoid physical form. I try and imagine several streaks of fire blazing forth low over the ground, burning all in their way as the came, with shadows streaking out behind them (occasionally even twisting, writhing and barrel-rolling around eachother) like some sort of fire storm out of hell (again literally). A spirit of fire doesn't need to follow the laws of human physics.

Also, I was under the impression that it would mostly be Ungoliant's abdomen that swelled even fatter, and Melkor was a very, very strong being. He had spear, fist and black magic to keep her from sinking her teeth in, but he was pinned nonetheless. But if a being is capable of screaming so loud that his servants can hear him from hundreds of miles away, it's not that big of a stretch to think he could hold his own, and that the servants could get there fairly quickly (that being said, if the movie Sam could hold open Shelob's fangs, I think Melkor could).

[Gorwingel]

I doubt that they would have flew. From what it says in the Sil it sounds like they ran with just very big strides, and maybe some sort of otherworldly power. But maybe we will have to just leave this to the imagination. Because of course, from what we have learned from our many, many, many other Balrog threads... Tolkien never exactly decided for sure what the Balrogs should be.

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

Then sudden Morgoth sent forth great rivers of flame that ran down swifter than the Balrogs from Thangorodrim...

(The Silmarillion 18)

Now, I wouldn't compare the speed of those rushing rivers of flame to something slow, would I. Ergo, the Balrogs were swift. Very swift. Probably with momenta equal to that of...

Physics finals is over.

Yes. Sorry.

I think it was the movie Balrog that was depicted as slow. The movie was wrong - again...but that was not unexpected...

P.S. Yep, glad the Silm's back.