The Balrogs of Middle-earth (Updated)

As a child I fought the balrog multiple times in the land I called the backyard

Ecthelion, Glorfindel, Gandalf... If you fight a Balrog, you die. Even if you win.

The way I see the debate about how many Balrogs there were: 7 Great Balrogs who formed Morgoth's personal guard, and numerous lesser Balrogs

Balrogs are one of the coolest creatures in the tolkien universe, unique to his world. I love how Aragorn and Boromir jumped forward to fight Durin's Bane along side Gandalf but Gimli covered his face and Legolas "wailed" (assuming in fear). Always thought that was an interesting decision by Tolkien, your thoughts?

The balrogs were always my favourite evil creatures in Tolkien writings

Wonder how a convo between Gandalf and Glorfindel would go. "So? You sacrificed yourself to save your friends and killed a balrog by tossing it off a mountain peak, getting killed in the process and being reborn later as well?" "Yep."

if Gothmog had lived into the 3rd age, he couldve been Sauron's 2nd in command or even the 3rd Dark Lord as he was considered equal in power to Sauron himself

A Balrog of Morgoth! What did you say? A Balrog of Morgoth! What did you say?

Just imagine that at least 1 or 2 Balrogs are still lurking somewhere in the roots of the earth !

I love thinking about what Gandalf was thinking when he realized it was a Balrog. “Ahh, ahh, why is this here? This freaking thing is from the past! I THOUGHT I WAS DONE WITH THIS!” I also love what Legolas said about it. “Eek, a Balrog!” Just, how poetic.

THIS VIDEO SHALL NOT PASS

2:00 "Balrogs 1000" sound like a cool name for a band

LotR has WELL EARNED its place at the top of fantasy! Holy moly, this guy can write!

"There are older and fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world." "Far, far below the deepest delvingsof the Dwarves, the world is gnawed by nameless things. Even Sauron knows them not. They are older than he."

I love how ominous and feared they are in the writing

Been a LOTR devotee for close to 50 years, had seen the clumsy dorky LOTR movies along the way, figured cinema could never capture the expanse and depth of Tolkien's work - how could you assemble 1000 extras to play the Orc armies? Then Peter Jackson came along, and when I saw the Balrog depicted in the Fellowship of the Ring, I knew someone had finally met the challenge. Like Frodo defeating Sauron, Jackson had taken our imaginations and brought them to life. A thousand thank-yous, Mr. Jackson!👍🤟👏☝️🤙

"it's a Balrog of Morgoth."

Balrogs are so cool that they show up twice in the D&D monster manuals. The Balor (greatest non-unique fiend of chaos and evil) and the Pit Lord (greatest non-unique fiend of law and evil). The Balor is such an on-the-nose copy that I've seen people doing Tolkien videos use D&D Balor art for Balrogs.

Sometimes I find it hard to believe there are no more Balrogs since they were so powerful. Like I know the avalar came and slapped them all up but still there has to be more somewhere

It seems very unlikely that Durin’s Bane was linked to Sauron at all. When servants of Sauron we’re near Frodo, the Ring called to him and he felt compelled to put it on his finger. Twice Frodo was near the Balrog in Moria and twice he did not have that experience with the Ring. This strikes me as compelling evidence that Durin’s Bane was not a servant of Sauron. Morgoth yes, but Sauron no. If anything, this Balrog was likely leaderless and acted of his own accord, confronting what the Balrog may have perceived of as enemies intruding into his domain. Perhaps this Balrog even felt that Moria was his dominion.