Do Balrogs Have Wings?

[Folwren]

Asked by The Saucepan Man:
The text notwithstanding, how come so may people (including those who have since become non-wingers) imagine the Balrog to have wings when they first read this passage?

The only reason I did (yeees, I did picture him first with wings) was because a year or two before I'd read the book, I saw an awesomely painted picture by John Howe of the Balrog and Gandalf on the Bridge. His Balrog had wings. The image stuck in my head, though I only saw it once, I think, and when I read it, that's what I pictured.

Even if I am one of those who pictured him first with wings, I still think that Balrogs don't have them.

- Folwren