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#1 |
Gruesome Spectre
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Heaven's doorstep
Posts: 8,039
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Going back to something Pitchwife said, it seems rather odd to me that the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm allowed themselves to be ousted from their most famous, greatest mansion in the first place.
Granted, the Balrog was a creature the likes of which they'd not met before, but still: they didn't know precisely what the Necromancer was either, but that didn't stop Thorin from entertaining ideas about trying to take him out. And when I think about it, was it really beyond the powers of a large force of Dwarves, say the size of the army at the Battle of Nanduhirion, to have destroyed one Balrog? After all, one Elf accomplished just that twice in Gondolin.
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#2 | |
Regal Dwarven Shade
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: A Remote Dwarven Hold
Posts: 3,593
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![]() Quote:
Elves, particularly the powerful elves, had greater innate spiritual strength. Not to say it couldn't have been done but it wasn't very likely.
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#3 | |
Gruesome Spectre
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Heaven's doorstep
Posts: 8,039
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Quote:
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#4 |
Itinerant Songster
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: The Edge of Faerie
Posts: 7,066
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#5 | |
Blossom of Dwimordene
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: The realm of forgotten words
Posts: 10,512
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Quote:
Also, it was one desparate Noldo with nothing to lose but everything on stake, and a thousand confused scared Dwarves.
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#6 | |||
Gruesome Spectre
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Heaven's doorstep
Posts: 8,039
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Quote:
![]() In support of the "Erebor or nothing" theory, there's yet more UT quotes from Gandalf: Quote:
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x/d with Puddleglum.- I didn't really mean to go into here the ease of which the Dwarves were kicked out of Moria; I was mainly being facetious.
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#7 | ||
Blossom of Dwimordene
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: The realm of forgotten words
Posts: 10,512
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Quote:
![]() No, really. A Balrog has a presense that no orc - with or without a mind - can duplicate: its willpower. My theory is that most "Balrog duels" (or any Ainu battles, for that matter) involve a contest of wills as much as physical prowess. I think that a jig-saw puzzle is another way to visualise the Balrog/Elf/Dwarf triangle. If the pieces match, you have an "equal chance battle". If they don't, then... Well, let's put it this way. You need to have the right protection for an enemy's weapon. A shield will not hide you from poisonous gasses, and a gas mask won't protect from swords (to give a crude example). Saying this, the elves have a matching defense against at least one of the Balrog's weapons: their own spiritual/will power. That way, the victory is left to the better swordsman. Dwarves have a willpower of their own, but on a different level and in a different direction, if you get my meaning. The pieces don't match. Quote:
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You passed from under darkened dome, you enter now the secret land. - Take me to Finrod's fabled home!... ~ Finrod: The Rock Opera |
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#8 |
Wight
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 145
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Not as such. I think it's more a matter of match-ups. The greatest of the Eldar had the particular skill/talent/whatever to match up with a Balrog's particular strengths and weaknesses (whatever they may be), the Dwarves apparently didn't (at least in the setting of the Mines). That doesn't mean that an Elf hero would match-up so well against the strengths/weaknesses of an army of Dwarves.
It may be as simple as the Elves having a defense (lacked by Dwarves) against the Balrog's primary attack methods. Or, to use a slightly wacky illustration,
Of course, don't read too much into this illustration. In reality, Elves (esp Noldor) hold their own pretty well against Dwarves also. |
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