Balrogs () are a species of powerful demonic monsters in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. One first appeared in print in his high-fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings, where the Company of the Ring encounter a Balrog known as Durin's Bane in the Mines of Moria. Balrogs appear also in Tolkien's The Silmarillion and his legendarium. Balrogs are tall and menacing beings who can shroud themselves in fire, darkness, and shadow. They are armed with fiery whips "of many thongs", and its early drafts speak frequently of the whips of fire. The Lays of Beleriand describe Morgoth's prisoners tortured by Balrogs with scourges; and the Balrog in Moria (The Fellowship of the Ring, "The Bridge of Khazad-dûm") is armed explicitly with a "whip of many thongs" or strands. and occasionally use long swords.
In Tolkien's later conception, Balrogs could not be readily vanquished—a certain stature was required by the would-be hero. Only dragons rivalled their capacity for ferocity and destruction;, "Turambar and the Foalókë", p.85: "yet of all are they [dragons] the most powerful, save it be the Balrogs only." during the First Age of Middle-earth, they were among the most feared of Morgoth's forces. Their power came from their nature as Maiar, angelic beings like the Valar, though of lesser power. Tolkien invented the name "Balrog", providing an in-universe etymology for it as a word in his invented Sindarin language. He may have gained the idea of a fire demon from his philological study of the Old English word Sigelwara, which he studied in detail in the 1930s. Balrogs appear in the film adaptations of The Lord of the Rings by Ralph Bakshi and Peter Jackson, in the streaming series The Rings of Power, and in computer and video games based on Middle-earth.
Context
According to the mythology in The Silmarillion, the evil Vala Melkor, later called "Morgoth", corrupted lesser Maiar (angelic beings) to his service, as Balrogs, in the days of his splendour before the making of Arda., "Valaquenta", ch. 3 "Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor" After the awakening of the Elves, the Valar captured Melkor and destroyed his fortresses Utumno and Angband. But they overlooked the deepest pits, where, with many of Melkor's other allies, the Balrogs fled into hiding. When Melkor returned to Middle-earth from Valinor, he was attacked by the evil giant spider Ungoliant; his scream drew the Balrogs out of hiding to his rescue.
Characteristics
Tolkien's conception of Balrogs changed over time. In all his early writing, they are numerous. A host of a thousand is mentioned in the Quenta Silmarillion,, p. 312, "there came Balrogs one thousand". while at the storming of Gondolin Balrogs in the hundreds ride on the backs of the Dragons., p. 170. They are roughly of twice, p. 194: "... it pierced the Balrog's belly nigh his own face (for that demon was double his stature) ...". For comparison, other Maiar are of human size: Olórin (Gandalf), Melian. In , p.69, a note by Tolkien states: "The Valar.... most often used shapes of 'human' form, though taller (not gigantic) and more magnificent." human size,, p. 197. and were rarely killed in battle., p.179 "the number of Balrogs that perished was a marvel and a dread to the hosts of Melkor, for ere that day never had any of the Balrogs been slain by the hand of Elves or Men." They were fierce demons, associated with fire, armed with fiery whips of many thongs and claws like steel, and Morgoth delighted in using them to torture his captives., p. 169.
In the published version of The Lord of the Rings, however, Balrogs became altogether more sinister and more powerful. Christopher Tolkien notes the difference, saying that in earlier versions they were "less terrible and certainly more destructible". He quotes a very late marginal note, p.80. that was not incorporated into the text saying "at most seven" ever existed;, "The Fall of Gondolin", pp. 212–213. though in the Annals of Aman, written as late as 1958, Melkor still commands "a host of Balrogs"., pp. 75, 79 In later writings they ceased to be mortal, but are instead Maiar, lesser Ainur like Gandalf or Sauron, spirits of fire whom Melkor had corrupted before the creation of the World. Power of the order of Gandalf's was necessary to destroy them, as when Gandalf at the Bridge of Khazad-dûm tells the others "This is a foe beyond any of you.", book 2, ch. 5 "The Bridge of Khazad-dûm"
As Maiar, only the physical form of a Balrog could be destroyed. Tolkien says of the Valar and the Maiar that they can change their shape at will, and move unclad in the raiment of the world, meaning invisible and without form., "Ainulindalë", p. 21. However, it seems that Morgoth, Sauron, and their associated Maiar could lose this ability: Morgoth, for example, was unable to heal his burns from the Silmarils or wounds from Fingolfin and the eagle Thorondor; ch. 18 "Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin" and Sauron lost his ability to assume a fair-seeming form after his physical body was destroyed in the downfall of Númenor., Appendix A, Part I, Section (i).
Tolkien does not address this specifically for Balrogs, though in his later conception, as at the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, the Balrog appears "like a great shadow, in the middle of which was a dark form, of man-shape maybe, yet greater". Though previously the Balrog had entered the "large square chamber" of Mazarbul, at the Bridge of Khazad-dûm it "drew itself to a great height, and its wings spread from wall to wall" in the vast hall. The Balrog's size and shape, therefore, are not given precisely. When Gandalf threw it from the peak of Zirakzigil, the Balrog "broke the mountain-side where he smote it in his ruin"., book 3, ch. 5 "The White Rider" Whether Balrogs had wings (and if so, whether they could fly) is unclear. This is due both to Tolkien's changing conception of Balrogs, and to the imprecise but suggestive and possibly figurative description of the Balrog that confronted Gandalf.
The Balrog of Moria used a flaming sword ("From out of the shadow a red sword leapt flaming") and a many-thonged whip that "whined and cracked" in its battle with Gandalf. In The Silmarillion, they also used black axes and maces., "Of the Fifth Battle", pp. 193-4. Earlier writings also speak of steel claws and iron mail., pp. 169, 181, 194.
In earlier drafts of The Lord of the Rings, some further indications of Tolkien's evolving conceptions appear, as when
At this writing Tolkien contemplated an edict of the Valar concerning Balrogs, having Gandalf challenge the Balrog by saying "It is forbidden for any Balrog to come beneath the sky since Fionwë son of Manwë overthrew Thangorodrim."
Individual Balrogs
Gothmog
Gothmog is developed in successive versions of Silmarillion material. He is physically massive and strong, and in one version he is some 12 feet tall., p. 194: "... it pierced the Balrog's belly nigh his own face (for that demon was double his stature) ..." He wields a black axe and whip of flame as his weapons. He holds the titles of the Lord of the Balrogs, the High Captain of Angband, and Marshal of the Hosts. In the Second Battle, Dagor-nuin-Giliath, he leads a force that ambushes Fëanor and wounds him mortally., ch. 13 "Of the Return of the Noldor" He leads Balrogs, Orc-hosts, and Dragons as Morgoth's commander in the field in the Fifth Battle, Nírnaeth Arnoediad, and slays Fingon, High King of the Noldor. In that same battle, he captures Húrin of Dor-lómin, who had slain his personal guard of Battle-trolls, and brings him to Angband., ch. 20, "Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad" As Marshal of the Hosts, he is in command of the Storming of Gondolin. He is about to kill Tuor when Ecthelion of the Fountain, a Noldorin Elf-lord, intervenes. Gothmog fights Ecthelion in single combat, and they kill each other., ch. 23, "Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin"
In The Book of Lost Tales, Tolkien describes Kosomot, the original version of Gothmog, as a son of Morgoth and the ogress Fluithuin or Ulbandi., Part I, p. 93. Gothmog is Sindarin for "Dread Oppressor"., "The Etymologies", p. 359, 372. Kosomot is often considered Gothmog's Quenya name;, p. 216. however, in the Quenya name-list of The Fall of Gondolin another version appears, Kosomoko.Parma Eldalamberon, No. 15, p.26, the 'Name List to The Fall of Gondolin'.
In Tolkien's early Lay of the Children of Húrin is "Lungorthin, Lord of Balrogs". This might be another name for Gothmog, though Christopher Tolkien thought it more likely that Lungorthin was simply "a Balrog lord"., p. 102.
Durin's Bane
This Balrog appears in The Lord of the Rings, encountered by the Company of the Ring in the Mines of Moria. It survived the defeat of Morgoth in the War of Wrath, escaping to hide beneath the Misty Mountains., Appendix A (III). For more than five millennia, the Balrog remained in its deep hiding place at the roots of Caradhras,, book 2, ch. 4 "A Journey in the Dark" one of the Mountains of Moria, until in the Third Age, the mithril-miners of the Dwarf-kingdom of Khazad-dûm disturbed it. The Balrog killed Durin VI, the Dwarf-King of Khazad-dûm, whereafter it was called Durin's Bane by the Dwarves., Appendix B, "The Tale of Years", "The Third Age" entry for 1980. Avarice, principally for mithril, drove the dwarves to go too deep and awaken the Balrog.
The Dwarves attempted to fight the Balrog, but its power was far too great for them. In their efforts to hold Khazad-dûm against it, many Dwarves were killed: Durin's successor Náin ruled for only a year. The survivors were forced to flee. This disaster reached the Silvan Elves of Lothlórien, many of whom fled the "Nameless Terror". From this time Khazad-dûm was known as Moria, Sindarin for "Black Pit" or "Black Chasm"., book 2, ch. 3 "The Ring Goes South", Appendix F, Part II
For another 500 years, Moria was left to the Balrog; though according to Unfinished Tales, Orcs crept in soon after the Dwarves were driven out, leading to Nimrodel's flight., "The Tale of Galadriel and Celeborn", p. 241. Sauron began to put his plans for war into effect, and he sent Orcs and Trolls to the Misty Mountains to bar the passes.
During the reign of Thráin II, the Dwarves attempted to retake Moria in the War of the Dwarves and Orcs, culminating in the Battle of Azanulbizar before the eastern gate of Moria. This was a victory for the Dwarves, but the Balrog prevented them from reoccupying Moria. Dáin II Ironfoot, having slain the Orc Azog near the gate, perceived the terror of the Balrog within and warned Thráin that Moria was unachievable until some greater force could remove the Balrog. The Dwarves departed and resumed their exile. Despite Dáin's warning, Balin made another attempt to retake Moria. His party managed to start a colony, but was massacred a few years later.
The Fellowship of the Ring travelled through Moria on the quest to destroy the One Ring in Mount Doom. They were attacked in the Chamber of Mazarbul by Orcs. The Fellowship fled through a side door, but when the wizard Gandalf the Grey tried to place a "shutting spell" on the door to block the pursuit behind them, the Balrog entered the chamber on the other side and cast a "terrible" counterspell. Gandalf spoke a word of Command to stay the door, but the door shattered and the chamber collapsed. Gandalf was weakened by this encounter. The company fled with him, but the Orcs and the Balrog, taking a different route, caught up with them at the Bridge of Khazad-dûm. The Elf Legolas instantly recognized the Balrog and Gandalf tried to hold the bridge against it. As Gandalf faced the Balrog, he proclaimed, "You cannot pass, flame of Udûn!", and broke the bridge beneath the Balrog. As it fell, the Balrog wrapped its whip about Gandalf's knees, dragging him to the brink. As the Fellowship looked on in horror, Gandalf cried "Fly, you fools!" and plunged into the darkness below.