Were Balrogs winged?

[Mithadan]

Nice Olog Hai article Sir Underhill, though you didn't address all the arguments made in that long thread. There, as here, I don't have an ax to grind so I'll leave well enough alone. Honestly, it never occurred to me that Balrogs might not have wings until I started seeing threads debating the subject. As the LoTR quote states, JRRT says they (or at least it) had wings. I'm aware the prior paragraph says "shadow like wings" or something to that effect. But the text says what it says. JRRT chose his words carefully. If he meant to say "Its wing-like shadow stretched wall to wall" he would have said so.