February 21, 2002

Balrogs With Wings
Lisa C.

Well, here we go again, the old Balrog has/hasn't Wings theory. Okay, I am one believer that these beasties have wings. Like it was quoted in the book, "It spread its WINGS" it does not say, "It spread its shadowy wings."

However, it does say earlier in the text, "two wing shaped shadows". I think Tolkien was trying to give us a pictoral image of how the Balrog appeared as the group saw it for the first time. Indeed, the wings would make two huge shadows behind it on the wall. Then as it draws closer, they can actually see that it does have wings. It is really hard to put imagery into words on paper and have them interpeted the way that your imagination sees them.

It could very well be that in describing the scene Tolkien may have tried to make the wings seem like they are hidden in shadows. But the fact that he comes right out and says that "It spread its Wings" seems to imply that it does actually have wings. I also believe that given the immense size of the Balrog, for its Wing-span spread to either side of the Passageway, that it could not manuever around to actually fly, hence Gandalf saw his one and only chance to make it fall into the chasm.

Anyway, I think it is one of those things that the reader should interpet for himself, some of us see the creature with wings and others do not. Is it such a Big deal? Cheers! Lisa the Wing-Supporter