Here's the result of my research. The primary Dragons and Serpents are:
1) Fafnir (not of the Nibelunglied, but the Volsunga saga - sorry, my mistake)
2) Beowulf's Dragon
3) Lemmenkainen's Serpent
1) Fafnir is without wings, and spits poison. He doesn't begin to speak until after Sigurd has dealt the death blow. But from thereon he proceeds to prophesy, warn, and curse Sigurd (for going after his hoard), revealing an uncanny intelligence and 'fea' of mythic proportion. To save space and prevent boredom for those not so keen on this, I refer you to the website:
The Story of the Volsungs
2) Beowulf's Dragon does not speak, but it flies and vomits fire. It is ferocious. I have the book, so I didn't look up a website for this one.
3) Lemmenkainen's Serpent. For info on this one, see
Rune XXVI. Origin of the Serpent I'll quote from it briefly so you can get a sense of its proportions:
Quote:
Longer than the longest rafters,
Larger than the posts of oak-wood;
Hundred-eyed, the heinous serpent,
And a thousand tongues, the monster,
Eyes as large as sifting vessels,
Tongues as long as shafts of javelins,
Teeth as large as hatchet-handles,
Back as broad as skiffs of ocean.
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Its size is comparable to the other two. It has no wings and does not speak, and it spits poison. I would think Tolkien knew of this Serpent, though it's at odds in some ways with his mythos, especially in how it is defeated. Lemmenkainen does not slay it, but says the right words to make it go away. The right words are the naming of its origins. Would that such a thing worked to get rid of our own opponents, eh?
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There's probably more in the tradition, but I wanted to get back to this thread before too much time passed.
Anyway, I see similarity between Fafnir on one hand and Glaurung & Smaug on the other, especially Glaurung (both Turin and Sigurd are heroes who face tragic ends).
The sheer ferocity of Beowulf's Dragon sets it apart. It's the only fire-breathing Dragon I've found so far.
As to Balrogs versus Dragons, my initial sense upon doing this brief research is that:
1) there are levels of power among Dragons/Serpents. Intelligence that allows for speech may play a factor in this.
2) it's anybody's guess whether poison would be any more effective against Balrogs (spirits of fire) than firey breath.
3) Gandalf used words against the Balrog, not unlike Lemminkainen against the Serpent. But there was a physical battle between Gandalf and the Balrog, as has been said here already.
A lot more can be said, but I'll let it go at this for now.