Do Balrogs Have Wings?

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by obloquy

Is it fine with you that some people insist that Sauron was a disembodied eyeball during the War of the Ring? Or that the Witch-King's proper name is Angmar?

Well, I do not presume to dictate how anyone should approach the book. Although, on a discussion board such as this, I would expect participants in any discussion on such issues to accept, for the purposes of the dicussion, the "stated" facts as we know them.

The question is "Did Balrogs have wings" and not "Do you think Balrogs would look nice with wings?" or "Would you like Balrogs to have wings" Silly!

Since it is clear from this thread that there is (as yet) no definitive answer either way by reference to the published materials, then I see no problem in people answering the question on the basis of personal preference. I did.

I will accept non-winged Balrogs if the proposition can be established beyond all reasonable doubt (in the way that it is beyond all reasonable doubt that Aragorn was not a Hobbit). If, despite such rigorous proof, anyone wants to continue imagining Balrogs as winged, then that's fine by me. Although, in those circumstances (and assuming that they were acquainted with all the relevant facts), I would expect them to answer "No" to the question posed by this thread.

Backatcha!