The seven thains of Morgoth - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

obloquy · 01-16-2002, 10:51 AM

That's exactly my point, Thingol. Seven fits easily, but the mere fact that Tolkien suggests the number three tells us that he considered eliminating all occurrences of Balrogs except the three specifically named ones. The end result I think Tolkien was driving at was a kind of creature that had no match on the Free Peoples end. More powerful than Elves, virtually untouchable by Men. Trolls and Orcs were enough to cause trouble for an army of the Free Peoples, but groups of this kind of creature could have utterly ravaged even the largest army. I think it's very plausible that Tolkien, with the final conception of the Balrogs in mind, was playing with an idea that would completely eliminate Balrogs from the history, except for the three mightiest: Gothmog, Glorfindel's Bane, and Durin's Bane. Replace the rest with Trolls or Boldogs, as I said.

[ June 07, 2003: Message edited by: obloquy ]

01-16-2002, 10:51 AM	#19
obloquy Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: WA Posts: 941	That's exactly my point, Thingol. Seven fits easily, but the mere fact that Tolkien suggests the number three tells us that he considered eliminating all occurrences of Balrogs except the three specifically named ones. The end result I think Tolkien was driving at was a kind of creature that had no match on the Free Peoples end. More powerful than Elves, virtually untouchable by Men. Trolls and Orcs were enough to cause trouble for an army of the Free Peoples, but groups of this kind of creature could have utterly ravaged even the largest army. I think it's very plausible that Tolkien, with the final conception of the Balrogs in mind, was playing with an idea that would completely eliminate Balrogs from the history, except for the three mightiest: Gothmog, Glorfindel's Bane, and Durin's Bane. Replace the rest with Trolls or Boldogs, as I said. [ June 07, 2003: Message edited by: obloquy ]