[Thingol]

The Balrog had been cohabiting with Sauron's orcs for several hundred years, so they at least had an understanding. However, it is doubtful that the Balrog was actually under the control with Sauron. Sauron let much of his own power pass into the ring, and without it Sauron's power to dominate others was severely weakened. The Ring gave power according to the stature of the possessor; Sauron's power to dominate others was greatly enhanced by the Ring (it was after all made to dominate the 3 elven rings). I believe in the Unfinished Tales (maybe the Letters) it says at the end of the Second Age (Sauron has possession of the Ring) that Sauron gathered to himself all of the fell creatures that were under the dominion of Morgoth. So it is possible that Sauron did control the Dragon's during the Second Age, and they are just not mentioned. However, it is more likely that the shock of losing the will of Melkor put the Dragon's out of commission for most, if not all of the Second Age. They would have started to recover and gain some independence of their own by the time of the third age, but by this time Sauron no longer controlled the Ring. It would be very unlikely that without the Ring, Sauron would have had the power to dominate a creature as powerful as a dragon, and equally if not more unlikely that he could compel the Balrog to obey him. This also raises the question of what type of a Fea (spirit) inhabits a dragon and how independent the dragons actually were.

[ May 01, 2002: Message edited by: Thingol ]