June 13, 2002

Balrogs
Danny

To the argument that the Balrog would have attacked somewhere like Lothlorien or Gondor were it able to act independantly I have to strongly disagree.

Don't forget that Galadriel had one of the elven rings, had dwelt in the blessed realm. She would clearly be one whose strength was great enough to withstand. Remember they spoke that places like Lothlorien and Rivendell (where two of the rings dwelt) would be like islands that would be last to fall to Sauron. If they would be last to fall to all of Sauron's power, I don't think one Balrog with a band of Orcs from Moria could have done much.

Furthermore Gondor is a fairly long journey from Moria, and I don't think the Balrog would have felt there was much to gain. The forces in Moria were not nearly as large as the force that attacks in ROTK, where the majority of if not all the nine were present and still failed.

I think the Balrog was inteligent, and in an evil way wise. I also beleive that if it had captured the ring, it could have replaced Sauron. Gandalf said that he would have become a new Dark Lord with the ring, and if anything is clear in their battle, it is that they were very evenly matched. I think the Balrog was in Moria looking for an opportunity to move up the ladder so to speak. Furthermore, the ring wouldn't have taken time to twist the Balrog to evil. Gandalf would take the ring for good, but the Balrog would not have, and would have had a more immediate ability to harness the ring's full power for evil. Also remember that Sauron poured much of his power into the ring in order to make it powerful enough to rule the others. Without the ring, he is greater than Gandalf, Saroman or the other Istari still. However, Even Galadriel knew she would become a dark queen in Sauron's place with the ring.

I agree that the Balrog wouldn't have deliberately yielded to Sauron unless Sauron laid the smack down, but it seems clear that his plans being evil tended to aid Sauron.