Do Balrogs Have Wings?

[davem]

Narfforc

I'm not sure the Surt connection, which undoubtedly is there, is the whole explanation for Balrogs. I'd say Surt provided part of their origin & Tolkien's experiences on the Somme the rest. If you read Garth's analysis of The Fall of Gondolin you can see that his wartime experiences played a major part in forming that tale.

Orcs & balrogs, however, are not enough to achieve the destruction of Gondolin. 'From the greatness of his wealth of metals & his powers of fire' Melko constructs a host of 'beasts like snakes & dragons of irrisitible might that should overcreep the Encircling Hills & lap that fair plain & its fair city in flame & death'. The work of 'smiths & sorcerers', these forms (in three varieties) violate the boundary between mythical monster & machine, between magic & technology....a third variety, the iron dragons, carry orcs within & move on 'iron so cunningly linked that they might flow... around & above all obstacles before them...

The more they differ from the dragons of mythology, however, the more these monsters resemble the tanks of the Somme....

In 1916, Tolkien was anticipating the dictum of Arthur C Clarke that 'Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.' From a modern perspective, this enemy host appears technological, of futuristic; the 'hearts of blazing fire' of its brazen dragons remind us of the internal combustion engine.But to the Noldoli the host seems the product of sorcery. 'The Fall of Gondolin', in Tolkien's grand unfolding design, is a story told by an elf; & the combustion engine, seen through enchanted eyes, could appear as nothing other than a metal heart filled with flame.

So, I think we have Tolkien seeing the horrors of the Somme 'through enchanted eyes'. Of course his reading of northern myth was mostly responsible for the 'enchantment', but what he 'saw' was tanks, enemy soldiers with flame throwers, poison gas clouds & the wanton destruction of both ancient cities & countryside.

In other words, while I don't think we can explain Balrogs as 'only' German soldiers with flammenwerfers, neither do I believe we can totally account for them by reference to norse fire giants. Certainly Garth shows that Tolkien's pre-WW1 'mythology' was a very 'tame' thing & only began to take on its true depth as a result of his wartime experiences. If Surt is the source of the Balrog it is Surt with his flaming sword in one hand & a flammenwerfer in the other.

Looking forward to Brum....