[Thingol]

Well, the Balrogs do survive the death of their hroa, the Fea of any being cannot be destroyed by anyone except Iluvatar. If the dragons are merely beasts then they would not survive the destruction of their hroa, but as has been stated we are not certain what the dragons were. I find it difficult to accept that Iluvatar would provide a fea for all of the dragon children. I find it equally difficult to believe that Melkor had enough Maia at his disposal to invest all of the dragons with Maia (I’ve always imagined there to be around 80 dragons, I don’t know why, just feels right). So in conclusion, even though the Balrogs were permanently bound to their bodies their fea could not be destroyed; the fea were doomed to wander the Earth in a weakened state, unable to take shape again. What I believe Obloquy was trying to point out is that there is ample evidence (although, like your evidence, his evidence is also merely drawing parallels; in his case between orcs and dragons) to support several theories on the type of beings dragons were. I offer a compromise that perhaps the original dragons contained maia spirits, but not the rest of their brood. Like the orcs, the majority of dragons would only be semi sentient.