September 9, 2003

Of Wings Both Good and Evil
derekbessette

The Balrog wings argument has been going on longer than most of us have been alive. I'm not going to argue for either side, but rather prove that because Tolkien was so nebulous about it, you can choose either in your own imagination while reading.

The argument that the Balrog would have flown out of the abyss is flawed. Have you ever tried to jump up while you were falling? You can't; you need a surface to jump from. A creature the isze of the Balrog would need a good leap to take to the air. Furthermore, it would also need lots of space to use it's wings; the kind of room not to be found in chasm, even yawning spacious ones.

As far as the Eagles taking the One Ring to Mount Doom...well, Frodo and Sam were able to hide once inside Mordor, but an eagle doesn't have that ability in the sky. I'm sure that approaching Mordor from the sky would be suicidal. Don't forget, the eagles entered Mordor AFTER Sauron was destroyed.