The Letter of the Law

[Huinesoron]

Originally Posted by Morsul the Dark

I mean.

Exactly! So "the War of >>>the Jewels<<<", or "It came then into Beren's mind that he would go beyond his vow, and bear out of Angband all three of >>>the Jewels<<< of Fëanor" - exactly the same thing! The initial 'as', like the initial 'like' in "the shadow about it reached out like two vast wings", completely negates any later assertions that they're the same thing. I'm so glad we agree.

hS

[Morsul the Dark]

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

Exactly! So "the War of >>>the Jewels<<<", or "It came then into Beren's mind that he would go beyond his vow, and bear out of Angband all three of >>>the Jewels<<< of Fëanor" - exactly the same thing! The initial 'as', like the initial 'like' in "the shadow about it reached out like two vast wings", completely negates any later assertions that they're the same thing. I'm so glad we agree.

hS

I remain in the seen from afar seen from close argument. “That Looks like frank!” “It IS Frank.” The follow up is a confirmation of the previous supposition.

[Huinesoron]

Originally Posted by Morsul the Dark

I remain in the seen from afar seen from close argument. “That Looks like frank!” “It IS Frank.” The follow up is a confirmation of the previous supposition.

So, wait, you're trying to argue that my proof that the Silmarils aren't jewels is... somehow... WRONG? I think I shall faint.

Tell you what might be fun, and entirely on-topic for this thread: figuring out whether there's anything else it's possible to argue balrogs have in the text.

The obvious ("obvious") one is that Durin's Bane isn't actually humanoid! It's described as "of man-shape maybe", but it's clear they couldn't see all that well and just didn't get around to giving a better description. As becomes clear from "Its streaming mane kindled, and blazed behind it", and the way it keeps jumping around - it's actually a centaur.

A winged one.

hS

[Morsul the Dark]

Obviously the balrog did track and field in high school sprinting and long jumping. Mane is clearly describing long locks the balrog is Fabio

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

When I hear "mane", the first thing I think about is a lion.

Which makes me wonder... I would not be susprised if someone somewhere (like in the 80s) depicted the Balrog as a manticore! (Ahem, obviously including, ahem, wings.)

[Morsul the Dark]

Ralph Bashkis Balrog is pretty close to be honest.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Morsul the Dark

Ralph Bashkis Balrog is pretty close to be honest.

Errr...no. As much as I like (in some ways) Bakshi's film, I agree with this classic website's take on the matter:

The Balrog.(still: a really silly-looking Balrog)
- It has big red-and-black wings, kind of like a Monarch butterfly.
- It has the head of a big stuffed lion.
- It has big silly-looking feet. In fact, the Balrog is clearly wearing oversized fluffy bedroom-slippers.
...It's also noisy as hell, and makes a lot of big roaring Balrog-style noises. Obviously Bakshi had no access to Tolkien's Letters, particularly #210 to Forrest Ackerman:
"The Balrog never speaks or makes any vocal sound at all... [he] may think he knows more about Balrogs than I do, but he cannot expect me to agree with him."

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Morsul the Dark

Ralph Bashkis Balrog is pretty close to be honest.

So hey, I was actually essentially correct with the assumption that somebody might have made something like that in the 80s...