Do Balrogs have wings? What Color is Legolas's Hair? What is Tom Bombadil? Entwives?

[Nerwen]

Personally, I thought this long-gone Downer had it right:

Originally Posted by Birdland, whoever Birdland may be

Yes, the Balrog was blond.

Tom Bombadil did have wings, but they were for ornamental purposes only.

Legolas is an enigma.

And entwives had beards, so most people couldn't tell them from Ents.

I'm glad I was able to clear this up for everyone.

[Mithalwen]

Nice find Nerwen! That has to be the definitive set of answers ...

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

Personally, I thought this long-gone Downer had it right:

Originally Posted by Birdland, whoever Birdland may be

Birdland was a witty and clever, gentle, wonderful woman who graced the pages of the Downs when I joined, as you might well guess from her reply that you quote. She was never redundant, pompous, or boring--a read through her posts is well-rewarding. She's one of the lost greats of the Second Age of the forum.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

Birdland was a witty and clever, gentle, wonderful woman who graced the pages of the Downs when I joined, as you might well guess from her reply that you quote. She was never redundant, pompous, or boring--a read through her posts is well-rewarding. She's one of the lost greats of the Second Age of the forum.

May she walk (as opposed to rest) in peace.

[Almesiva Moonshadow]

1.Did Balrogs have wings? First and foremost, I dont understand why is this question so important,and popular on almost any tolkien related forum.
Second,I beleive that there could have been many types of balrogs,just like there were many types of elves (sindar,noldor,vanyar,etc)...so for example,some lower ranked balrogs didnt have wings,while the higher ranked ones had them. So it all could have been the matter of species or something...But this is just a speculation of mine, so...

2.What is the color of Legolas' hair? I have always been convinced that Legolas was dark haired. After all, he was of sindarin heritage, and almost all the sindar elves mentioned in Tolkiens works were dark-haired (Thingol,Luthien,Daeron,etc) so Legolas must have dark haired as well, unless his mother (who is a complete mystery to us) was of vanyarian origin, or at least had an ancestor who was. I dont know, its complicated...

3.What is Tom Bombadil? Its enough to know Golberry's quote from the book, to know the answer to this question:"He is." and some other quotes like "Tom remembers the first raindrop and the first acorn... he knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless — before the Dark Lord came from Outside." The dark lord, could have easily been Sauron after the fall of Numenor, but if that were the case, Tom Bombadil wouldnt have been "the eldest" as mentioned in this quote "Eldest, that's what I am". So the dark lord must have been Melkor and not Sauron,thus leaving me convinced that Tom is acctually the incarnation Iluvatar.

As for the entwies...I dunno...they got cought by Greenpeace?...
Okay...I know...a very bad joke...

[Galadriel55]

Did Balrogs have wings: Who cares? They can't fly anyways.

Or they could have pocket mini-wings.

Legolas' hair colour: He dyes it a different colour every other week.

Who is Tom Bombadil: The guy who's singing nonesense all the time.

Entwives: They are trying to figure out where they are. They're lost, aren't they?

[Galadriel]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

Did Balrogs have wings: Who cares? They can't fly anyways.

Or they could have pocket mini-wings.

Doesn't make much biological sense Unless they evolved from birds of flight. What an interesting story that would make...

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Galadriel

Doesn't make much biological sense

Hmmm...but then again, demonic creatures of flame and shadow are, by their very nature, biological anomalies.

[Galadriel]

Originally Posted by Almesiva Moonshadow

2.What is the color of Legolas' hair? I have always been convinced that Legolas was dark haired. After all, he was of sindarin heritage, and almost all the sindar elves mentioned in Tolkiens works were dark-haired (Thingol,Luthien,Daeron,etc) so Legolas must have dark haired as well, unless his mother (who is a complete mystery to us) was of vanyarian origin, or at least had an ancestor who was. I dont know, its complicated...

I thought Thingol had silver hair? And Thranduil clearly does have golden hair.

[Galin]

Originally Posted by Galadriel

I thought Thingol had silver hair? And Thranduil clearly does have golden hair.

Yes but the Sindar are rather sweepingly described as dark-haired, both in Appendix F (included as Eldar), and in Quendi And Eldar where compared generally to the Noldor.

There will be exceptions, but the usual colour -- or at least the colour Tolkien employs in very general descriptions of the Noldor and Sindar as a whole (the Eldar of Middle-earth) -- is dark-haired.

[blantyr]

Originally Posted by Almesiva Moonshadow

1.Did Balrogs have wings? First and foremost, I dont understand why is this question so important,and popular on almost any tolkien related forum.

Second,I beleive that there could have been many types of balrogs,just like there were many types of elves (sindar,noldor,vanyar,etc)...so for example,some lower ranked balrogs didnt have wings,while the higher ranked ones had them. So it all could have been the matter of species or something...But this is just a speculation of mine, so...

I've a highly non canon story to add. My sister was down in Florida, in a costume store associated with Walt Disney World, when a family wandered in. The father, a pirate, was managing a small herd of very small princesses. The mother, in a backless evening dress, was at the store to acquire a set of wings.

"Oh! Mother! Now you can fly!"

Originally Posted by Almesiva Moonshadow

3.What is Tom Bombadil? Its enough to know Golberry's quote from the book, to know the answer to this question:"He is." and some other quotes like "Tom remembers the first raindrop and the first acorn... he knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless — before the Dark Lord came from Outside." The dark lord, could have easily been Sauron after the fall of Numenor, but if that were the case, Tom Bombadil wouldnt have been "the eldest" as mentioned in this quote "Eldest, that's what I am". So the dark lord must have been Melkor and not Sauron,thus leaving me convinced that Tom is acctually the incarnation Iluvatar.

I will note that "He is" is the third person form of "I am."

This conjecture suggests that the intent and purpose of Ilúvatar in creating Eä can at last be known. He wanted to shack up with Goldberry.

"Shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him?"