Substituted Science

[Hot, crispy nice hobbit]

Originally Posted by Formendacil

At the risk of turning this into another Balrog Wing Debate... why would a create of shadow and flame be equipped for swimming?

But that was the entire point... why would a creature of shadow and flame be able to swim in the first place? (At least, one Balrog was known to swim in LoTR, and is a thing of slime after the dip) The boundaries of science in LoTR are being tested, and no completely satisfactory answer was supplied, or even inferred.

No body is likely to loose any sleep over the tidbit in other fantasy fictions... But in the case of LoTR and the Histories, folks would still gnaw at the remains of Balrog shadow wings/fins in another half century. This testify to the powers of literature over people's perception.