Couldn't the Balrog's shadow have been enormous, say 50 feet, and his actual pysical body only 8-10 feet? This would allow him to draw himself up in a "huge" way, but still be "small" enough to manuver within Moria.
Also, existing in Moria doesn't necessarily entail small size. We don't know whether or not the passages in the abyss are 20 feet high/wide, and there may just be a passage that large leading to the upper halls. Plus if his shadow was huge and his physical body not so huge, his mass would not be that great (assuming shadow has no mass), and he'd be able to stand on the bridge without crumbling it.
Furthermore, it seems to me that JRRT was more concerned at this point in the story with giving the reader a SENSE of the Balrog's size and by describing how large he LOOKED (not actually was). So, again, shadow could have been 50 feet and body still 8/10/15 feet.
...and another thing: Some folks here have suggested that IF the Balrog was huge (30-50 feet), then it could have wasted Gandalf or, as I have said, it would have crushed the bridge. First of all, we're talking Gandalf here. I mean if we have to push the Balrog's size down to 8-10 feet to make him handleable by Gandalf, then it seems we have to view a cave troll as mpossible for old G to handle. Secondly, this bridge wasn't made by Hobbits. It was Dwarf work, and I think we all know how strong that is!
[ February 05, 2002: Message edited by: Rhudladion ]
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