People always talk about the eagles in LotR (spoilers)

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Current Events » People always talk about the eagles in LotR (spoilers)
But why didn't the Balrog just fly when Gandalf broke the bridge? Is it stupid?
You've buttered your last biscuit, pardner.
It doesn't really have wings
http://i.imgur.com/QfpP05s.png http://i.imgur.com/vdnZ1o6.png
http://i.imgur.com/zTgf822.png
Because Balrogs dont have wings. The line in the book is that the shadows are like wings. The wings are a visual metaphor describing the shadows.
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never did Tolkien mention that the balrogs could fly, during all the times they appear in armies for the first age wars, they are just giant fucking monsters wrecking havok but one also fell to his death in gondolin or whatever other majestic city siege and died by glorfindel's hand.
"Warwick are you jungling"
"No I'm standing by the wolves because I miss my family"
You mean Peter Jackson lied to me AGAIN
You've buttered your last biscuit, pardner.
Next you'll suggest the Balrog could have just jumped across.
"I dreamt I was a moron."
Maybe if Gandalf wasn't such a fuckin' noodle-armed wizard he could have had the upper body strength to lift himself the, like, six inches he needed to climb.
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Touch posted...
You mean Peter Jackson lied to me AGAIN

to be fair, this has been a topic of immense discussion since the books release. Poor media literacy has existed for a long, long time.
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VRX3000 posted...
to be fair, this has been a topic of immense discussion since the books release.
Peter Jackson has been lying to us since the 60's
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Grandelf and the balrog are cousins btw
instagig
DrizztLink posted...
Maybe if Gandalf wasn't such a fuckin' noodle-armed wizard he could have had the upper body strength to lift himself the, like, six inches he needed to climb.

He int'd on purpose to get the big Eru buff.
"You're made of spare parts, aren't ya, bud?"
DrizztLink posted...
Maybe if Gandalf wasn't such a fuckin' noodle-armed wizard he could have had the upper body strength to lift himself the, like, six inches he needed to climb.
I was watching a video about this since I haven't read the books and apparently Gandalf and DB were having an epic magic off before they even met face to face and it tired out Gandalf or something
You've buttered your last biscuit, pardner.
Touch posted...
I was watching a video about this since I haven't read the books and apparently Gandalf and DB were having an epic magic off before they even met face to face and it tired out Gandalf or something
Is that how he escaped the plane?
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Touch posted...
You mean Peter Jackson lied to me AGAIN
This is actually one of the longest-running debates in LotR fandom. The problem is that there's two paragraphs - both almost back-to-back - that seem to provide conflicting information.

The first passage describes the shadows gathered around it "like two vast wings", suggesting that the balrog actually has no wings but kind of looks like it does; the second passage (taken from when it actually confronts Gandalf) includes the line "its wings were spread from wall to wall", which suggests that it does have wings. This has led to a number of interpretations:
1) It has shadows that look like wings, but aren't.
2) It has wings, but they are covered in shadow most of the time.
3) It has control of the shadows that surround it and can form them into wings, or at least wing-like shapes.

And it's maddeningly unclear which one Tolkien was going for, because circumstantial evidence abounds.
-Balrogs are never depicted as unambiguously flying (one passage does describe Balrogs as "flying" from Morgoth's fortress of Angband, which was located in a mountain range suitable for flying, but context suggests it was almost certainly intended to be "fleeing" rather than in-air flight, the same way Gandalf says "Fly, you fools!" and doesn't seem to intend for Boromir and Aragorn to start flapping their arms and take to the air). However, it's worth keeping in mind that wings do not necessarily translate to a capability for flight, as birds like the ostrich and the penguin can helpfully demonstrate.
-Two balrogs are depicted as falling from great heights - Durin's Bane, the one fought by Gandalf in Moria, and one named Gothmog, killed by Glorfindel during the fall of Gondolin. That said, both balrogs were engaged in combat with powerful foes at the time, which may have hindered any ability for flight they once had.
-Speaking of Gondolin, the balrogs got there by riding on the backs of dragons, which would be odd to do if they could just fly there themselves. That said, it's not proof of anything - humans can walk and run just fine, yet we still rode horses to battle for thousands of years.
-Finally, there is a passage where a Nazgul flies overhead on a fell beast and Gimli comments that the shadow reminded him of the balrog, as though he expected it to be one. That would be an odd expectation if the balrog didn't have wings and/or was inpacable of flight.

Reading between the lines, it *seems* that balrogs probably didn't have actual, functional wings, but probably had something that looks a lot like them. Most visual depictions of balrogs have wings simply because wings look really cool on a fire-and-shadow demon.
Kill 1 man: You are a murderer. Kill 10 men: You are a monster.
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Despised posted...
Grandelf and the balrog are cousins btw
They are both Maiar, so basically yes
I'm...the...master...of...ellipses...
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Post #16 was unavailable or deleted.
Charged151 posted...
They are both Maiar, so basically yes
Yup that's why I said it
instagig
Man what I would give to see a huge ass battle of first age elves vs an army of Balrog (done right)

Also thank you for the indepth @darkknight109 . I did remember a few things from a video explaining the event especially the "wings spreading from wall to wall".
You've buttered your last biscuit, pardner.
Arent they like fallen angels or something? So it could be symbolic, they have wings but even their wings cannot hold up their hubris
Touch posted...
Man what I would give to see a huge ass battle of first age elves vs an army of Balrog (done right)
So basically the battle that Fanor received lethal injuries from. It would be great to see.
I'm...the...master...of...ellipses...
Currently Playing: Octopath Traveler 2
Charged151 posted...
So basically the battle that Fanor received lethal injuries from. It would be great to see.
And the Fingolfin vs Morgoth battle. Hearing about it makes me think of Achilles vs Hector in Troy, except if it was Hector rolling up on Achilles and 10x more epic lol
You've buttered your last biscuit, pardner.
Balrogs can't fly. Gandolf kills Durin's Bane by tossing him off a mountain.

Seaman_Prime posted...
Arent they like fallen angels or something? So it could be symbolic, they have wings but even their wings cannot hold up their hubris
Basically, yeah. Balrogs, Sauron, and the wizards are all Maiar. Think angels, basically. Some joined with the fallen Valar (think small-g gods) Morgoth and fell from grace.

And yes, there's a big-g God ruling over everything: Eru Illuvitar.
Time is a funny thing, you know? I guess in the big picture of my life, you were only a blip. But oftentimes, those "blips" make the biggest impacts.
Touch posted...
You mean Peter Jackson lied to me AGAIN

Ostriches have wings, but they can't fly
Same could be the case for the Balrog, theoretically
Kremlin delenda est
ROBBAN posted...
Ostriches have wings, but they can't fly
Same could be the case for the Balrog, theoretically
"That doesn't look very scary. More like a twenty-foot turkey."
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What darknight said. It's not confirmed either way and there's contradictory info. Tolkien himself probably went back and forth on it like other things.

DrizztLink posted...
"That doesn't look very scary. More like a twenty-foot turkey."

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/62dd4b04.jpg
Fix your hearts or die.
When I sin I sin real good.
So I was watching this video and there's talk about how the early days Glorfindel might be different than Fellowship days Glorfindel?

Wonder how the journey would've gone if he was in the Fellowship <__<
You've buttered your last biscuit, pardner.
Current Events » People always talk about the eagles in LotR (spoilers)