Does the Silmarillion Contradict Third age History? How Powerful Were Those First age

[R.R.J Tolkien]

Originally Posted by Galin

Yes... so I'll go with three or at most seven Balrogs ever existing, according to Tolkien's note and revision to The Annals of Aman, instead of the possibility that JRRT might have stuck with "hosts" of Balrogs.


Apologies. Couldn't resist!

Eldo's here! Huzzah!


By the way, this notion seemingly arose to Tolkien with respect to the Valarin siege of Utumno, where a host of Balrogs "assailed the standard of Manwe, as it were a tide of flame"... in other words, it's here that JRRT ultimately altered "host" to "his" and noted: "There should not be supposed more than say 3 or at most 7 ever existed."

And also by the way, if someone were arguing that we must accept 3 or 7, I would probably be saying something like: "Maybe, maybe not, Tolkien didn't revise every example of very many Balrogs, and..."

So yes, I'm annoying

I think you are putting to much weight on a unpublished note. You would think he would have revised his sillmarillion on this big change as one of his first chances if he was going to go though with it. Tolkien was a perfectionist in his writings. Nothing hit the press unless revised, reconsidered and then finally published. For example frodo was originally bingo bibbo's son. The hobbits originally met in Bree a “ranger” hobbit named trotter. Even sections that had stayed constant over and over could be drastically changed moments before publication such as the design to minis tirith. Lewis said his friends had “hoped for a final text of an old work, what they actually got was the first draft of a new one.”

“Whole thing comes out of the wash quite different to any preliminary sketch”
-Letters of J.R.R Tolkien

“It will probable work out very differently from this plan when it really gets written, as the thing seems to rite itself once I get going as if the truth comes out then, only imperfectly simple in the preliminary sketch.”
-J.R.R Tolkien letters 91

“Every part has been [re]written many times”
-Letters of J.R.R Tolkien 130


But as i said in my op this post must assume the published sillmarillion as cannon weather i agree with it or not [i need to read the histories of ME in full first] . Plus Tolkiens sillmarillion that included "host" at this time of letters 144, saw no contradiction.

and yes your annoying, but i like it.