Balrog 'v' Moria orcs

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

Hmmm...were there "countless orcs" in Moria? If so, what did they eat?
I can't recall any given number. And as far as Orcs being strategic and thinking ahead, I don't believe there are many cases where Orcs displayed Napoleonic stratagems to defeat a foe, particularly one like a Balrog who, of course, is a Maia -- and one with wings!

Chicken wings are a deadly weapon when it comes to food fights, true.

(And that indeed explains what the orcs would have eaten!)




Seriously, though - what would even one orc eat in Moria? If you can find food for one, you can find food for two. I thought Moria was absolutely barren in that sense, and if they got fresh food at all, it was from hunting on moonless nights. I don't see why you can't feed many many many orcs that way. They don't seem to gorge themselves on food, and it's possible to hunt without depleting the region of wildlife.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

Seriously, though - what would even one orc eat in Moria? If you can find food for one, you can find food for two. I thought Moria was absolutely barren in that sense, and if they got fresh food at all, it was from hunting on moonless nights. I don't see why you can't feed many many many orcs that way. They don't seem to gorge themselves on food, and it's possible to hunt without depleting the region of wildlife.

The Uruk-hai in Rohan had dried meat and bread. Hunting and gathering such plants and shoots as they could eat in the immediate area of the East-gate would probably have been sufficient. It doesn't look like the garrison in Moria was very large anyway.

[Andsigil]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

Seriously, though - what would even one orc eat in Moria?

Each other. I would say that being the runt of any orc litter was probably a ghastly fate. They may have also harvested edible fungi and, like Gollum, eaten the blind fish in the waters underground.

As for whether or not they could, collectively, beat a Balrog, there is a quote often attributed to Stalin during WWII which goes, "Quantity has a quality all its own". So, perhaps, yes.

[Axbolt]

Originally Posted by Andsigil

Each other. I would say that being the runt of any orc litter was probably a ghastly fate.

I don't think Orcs actually eat eachother, otherwise wouldent there eventualy be none left?

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Axbolt

I don't think Orcs actually eat eachother, otherwise wouldent there eventualy be none left?

Perhaps it wasn't an everyday practice, but since we see them threatening one another with cannibalism, there was probably some truth to it.

[Mithadan]

Not to inject seriousness into this topic (well, OK maybe to make a serious comment) there is a lengthy and near legendary thread that, in part, addresses the issue of food in Moria. It is linked here: http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthr...ghlight=bridge.

[Kuruharan]

Originally Posted by Mithadan

Not to inject seriousness into this topic (well, OK maybe to make a serious comment) there is a lengthy and near legendary thread that, in part, addresses the issue of food in Moria. It is linked here: http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthr...ghlight=bridge.

Oh my eyes! The broken code!

Originally Posted by Andsigil

As for whether or not they could, collectively, beat a Balrog, there is a quote often attributed to Stalin during WWII which goes, "Quantity has a quality all its own". So, perhaps, yes.

I don't think, short of Sauron's actual presence, the orcs would or could have attacked the balrog. I believe the balrog would have exercised an influence on the orcs that I don't think even the Nazgul would have been able to overcome.

Had Sauron been present and needed to take down the balrog (and I could imagine such a scenario being possible, evil not getting along very well with itself) and Sauron not choosing to wade in himself, then yes, I think numbers would have told in the end.

[Axbolt]

Originally Posted by Kuruharan

Oh my eyes! The broken code!

I don't think, short of Sauron's actual presence, the orcs would or could have attacked the balrog. I believe the balrog would have exercised an influence on the orcs that I don't think even the Nazgul would have been able to overcome.

So if Sauron himself stayed out of it, the Balrog could be more powerful than the Nazgul? And beat them in a streight fight? That is an interesting idea

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

Perhaps it wasn't an everyday practice, but since we see them threatening one another with cannibalism, there was probably some truth to it.

Yes, but it can't really be the answer to the question, "What do they eat?" I mean they couldn't have been each other's staple diet.

By the way, how many of these "Balrog vs x" topics have we had now?

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

Yes, but it can't really be the answer to the question, "What do they eat?" I mean they couldn't have been each other's staple diet.

No, I think the cannibalism was an occasional aberration; uncommon, but not unheard of.
I still say dried meat was likely the mainstay, with maybe fish from the nearby rivers and wild greens.
The latter wouldn't be a preferred foodstuff probably, but I can see the leaders forcing them on the troops for their own good, like ship captains ensuring fruit and juice consumption to prevent scurvy.

Originally Posted by Nerwen

By the way, how many of these "Balrog vs x" topics have we had now?

Might as well ask what a group of Balrogs flying in formation was called.

[Nerwen]

Might as well...