Balrogs and Elvish Spirits - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Beregond · 12-19-2008, 11:12 PM

Two questions which may be unworthy of advanced discussion:

The first is simple: where did Tolkien talk about "houseless elves"? I've seen the term bandied about in recent research and I know Houseless Elves are bodyless Elves who refuse the call of Mandos, but I don't recall hearing the term before. Did I pass over it the first few times I read the Silmarillion and UT? Very possible.

Is is discussed elsewhere?

The second question is less straightforward, and forgive me if it's been hashed out previously:

Why did the Moria Balrog stay under the mountains for so many thousand years? Even after the Dwarves poked it in the dark, it never (from my understanding) took a stroll in the daylight or moonlight to smell the flowers and feel the summer breeze under it's wings/shadows. Wouldn't a creature filled with such malice towards free people actively hunt out some victims instead of hanging out with the Nameless Things playing hide-and-go-seek? Was the Balrog scared? Of the light, of Gandalf, of Galadriel? Or had it lost the initiative when the Valar deleted its master to Eru's trash bin, there to await the great Permanent Removal?

12-19-2008, 11:12 PM	#1
Beregond Playful Ghoul Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 1,251	Balrogs and Elvish Spirits Two questions which may be unworthy of advanced discussion: The first is simple: where did Tolkien talk about "houseless elves"? I've seen the term bandied about in recent research and I know Houseless Elves are bodyless Elves who refuse the call of Mandos, but I don't recall hearing the term before. Did I pass over it the first few times I read the Silmarillion and UT? Very possible. Is is discussed elsewhere? The second question is less straightforward, and forgive me if it's been hashed out previously: Why did the Moria Balrog stay under the mountains for so many thousand years? Even after the Dwarves poked it in the dark, it never (from my understanding) took a stroll in the daylight or moonlight to smell the flowers and feel the summer breeze under it's wings/shadows. Wouldn't a creature filled with such malice towards free people actively hunt out some victims instead of hanging out with the Nameless Things playing hide-and-go-seek? Was the Balrog scared? Of the light, of Gandalf, of Galadriel? Or had it lost the initiative when the Valar deleted its master to Eru's trash bin, there to await the great Permanent Removal? __________________ "Hope and memory shall live still in some hidden valley where the grass is green."