Quote:
Originally Posted by Kuruharan
Whatever else might be said about the Balrog, he was either mostly dormant or had become profoundly reclusive. I think it was a little bit of both.
He and the orcs had to be aware of each other and through the orcs awareness, Sauron must have been aware of him too. Unlike Smaug, who Sauron wanted to utilize, the Balrog was in Moria with Sauron's servants and yet the Balrog never left Moria. Was Sauron not interested in utilizing the Balrog in the war, or did the Balrog just refuse to participate?
Personally I think the Balrog's primary motivation was a desire to be left alone. He may have found being on the losing end of the War of Wrath a scarring experience. He may have slept through Balin's occupation, or perhaps he had no desire to meddle with them and possibly alert the world to his presence. Sauron's orcs returning to destroy the colony may have roused him in some way.
Then here comes the Fellowship causing noise and bother. It must have been annoying.
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Maybe the Balrog wanted to be left alone. But I find this situation to be confusing anyway. IIRC the Book of Marzabul explicitly tells us that the Dwarves of Balins colony found mithril. Since the easy to reach mithril oreveins were exhausted for thousands of years they probably used the newest and deepest abandoned mine shafts. Exactly those mine shafts which were the reason the Balrog attacked Khazad Dum in the first place. This surely was (from the Balrogs point of view) an absurd, presumptuous affront.