Of Bombadillos and Balrogs - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Elenhin · 09-05-2001, 08:03 AM

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Re: Of Bombadillos and Balrogs

I don't think that the Balrogs could freely change their forms.

1. We know that some Ainur, particularly the evil ones (Morgoth and Sauron for example), may become so dependent on their bodies that they can no longer function without them or change them.

2. All the Balrogs, during all the ages, are described as being similar and no distinction between different kinds of Balrogs is ever made.

3. The reasoning Tolkien used to put Balrogs into the stories wasn't "Melkor must have some Maia servants (usually they're fiery demons)" but "Melkor has fiery demons as his servants (they could be corrupted Maiar)". In Tolkien's mind the Balrogs existed long before the Maiar did, and so the Balrogs may not have gained all the "Maia-abilities" when they were changed from Melkor's creations into Ainur.

--
Elenhin

"My god, it's full of stars!"</p>

09-05-2001, 08:03 AM	#11
Elenhin Wight Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Vantaa, Finland Posts: 205	<font face="Verdana"><table><TR><TD><FONT SIZE="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Animated Skeleton Posts: 50</TD><TD></TD></TR></TABLE> Re: Of Bombadillos and Balrogs I don't think that the Balrogs could freely change their forms. 1. We know that some Ainur, particularly the evil ones (Morgoth and Sauron for example), may become so dependent on their bodies that they can no longer function without them or change them. 2. All the Balrogs, during all the ages, are described as being similar and no distinction between different kinds of Balrogs is ever made. 3. The reasoning Tolkien used to put Balrogs into the stories wasn't "Melkor must have some Maia servants (usually they're fiery demons)" but "Melkor has fiery demons as his servants (they could be corrupted Maiar)". In Tolkien's mind the Balrogs existed long before the Maiar did, and so the Balrogs may not have gained all the "Maia-abilities" when they were changed from Melkor's creations into Ainur. -- Elenhin "My god, it's full of stars!"</p>