Quote:
Originally posted by Farael
At that time, Morgoth was still very much a "spiritual" being, he was not yet confined to his earthly form, therefore I'd speculate that "punches and stabs" wouldn't do much damage to him.
I don't have my books handy, but I believe that Ungoliant fought Morgoth with the darkness she could spew and so I'd speculate that the battle was more of a spiritual struggle than a physical one. Of course, the spiritual struggling might have had physical expressions (such as darkness and light, or perhaps cold and fire) yet this fight might have raged on for a long time on planes other than the physical one until the Balrogs finally came to the rescue.
|
The way it is described in the Silmarillion I didn't think that Morgoth was putting up much of a fight, either physical or spiritual. Ungoliant had "
grown great, and he less by the power that had gone out of him" and so her "
cloud closed about him, and she enmeshed him in a web of clinging thongs to strangle him" (Silmarillion,
Of the Flight of the Noldor). My impression was that Morgoth, weakened, was overcome and couldn't fight back, only struggle against the darkness that Ungoliant spewed forth and the physical constraints of her webs and that if he had to be rescued, his rescuers needed to show up quickly. At this point he lets out his 'terrible cry' which summons the Balrogs.
Quote:
Originally posted by Farael
So perhaps, at the time of Morgoth's fight with Ungoliant, balrogs were still able to become wholly spiritual and as such they might have been able to travel great distances at amazing speeds.
|
I agree. When Arien, spirit of fire, undertakes the guidance of the vessel of the Sun it is said that she abandoned her physical form and thereafter was "
as a naked flame, terrible in the fullness of her splendour" (Silmarillion, Of
the Sun and Moon). The Balrogs are described as coming to Lammoth "as a tempest of fire" which suggested to me that they had journeyed in spirit form.