Comments on: The final word on balrog “wings”

By: Periannath.com » Blog Archive » Ten reasons why Gandalf is the greatest wizard EVAR

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 05:54:58 +0000

[...] any fear towards in the whole story. It’s clad in a 20-foot-tall fiery horned demon body with penguin wings, and carries a long fiery [...]

By: David Pirtle

David Pirtle — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 21:13:24 +0000

When he says ‘shadow about it reached out like two vast wings’ it means just what it says. The Balrog was cloaked in shadow, not cloaked in wings. When it entered the cavern it spread its shadow out on either side to fill the room, and Tolkien used the simile ‘like two vast wings’ simply meaning that the shadow spread out from either side of the middle (kind of like the wings of a library, that is to say a feature projecting out in one direction from the center structure, according to websters). Balrogs did not have physical wings. Balrogs did not fly. In point of fact balrogs seem to die every time they are tossed from mountain tops, which is strange behavior for a winged being. They were cloaked in shadow, and in one instance a balrog spread that shadow out to fill a room, and suddenly a really stupid controversy is born.

By: Periannath.com » Blog Archive » Tolkien 101: Tom Bombadil

Periannath.com » Blog Archive » Tolkien 101: Tom Bombadil — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 18:24:27 +0000

[...] generates more pages of academic and fan speculation than even the absurd Balrog Wing Controversy. Here’s a quick rundown of what we do know about this enigmatic and mildly annoying literary [...]

By: Periannath.com » Blog Archive » Roto-Orcs & Invincible Doors: Ralph Bakshi’s 1978 ‘JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings’ Reviewed

Sat, 11 Sep 2010 23:29:22 +0000

[...] (And let’s be clear – whatever some idiots on the Internet may tell you, Tolkien never wrote that Balrogs had wings. Not once. Not ever. And this Balrog’s plummet to the deepest pits of Moria 14 seconds later helps to belie the ridiculous Balrog Wing Hypothesis.) [...]

By: Eliana

Eliana — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 01:31:57 +0000

I believe the phrase ‘wings of shadow’ is written and intended metaphorically speaking, not actual wings, but wing-like shadows stretching out and up behind the Balrog. so we all actually agree. But flying Balrogs, I don’t think so.

By: solecize

solecize — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 23:26:22 +0000

So a Balrog has the wings of a library hunh? Tolkien wanted us to think of the balrog as being cloaked in darkness with wings of shadow. So tell me if you had to visually represent something described as having wings of shadow how would you draw it? It is preposterous to expect people to think of something other than wings of shadow when that is what was described. The wings don’t have to function in any way other than to give us a visual impression, but if you have to render that impression it’s just dumb to expect “not wings” of shadow. The non-wingers can’t even describe the object of discussion without using the word wings, and in doing so go against the actual writing.

By: Eliana

Eliana — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:06:46 +0000

Yes, and mountains, according to Tolkien’s writings , frequently are expressed as ‘arms’, meaning their outlying lower regions. That doesn’t mean that Middle Earth mountains have real arms, hey! Hello, what’s happened to the understanding of metaphor? Please, let’s understand this. If a balrog had wings and could fly, the whole history of Middle Earth would have been completely different, and perhaps quite short, with something like a nuclear holocost to finish it off. Tolkien’s invention of the balrog is to demonstrate another manifestation of evil, as we are told, ancient, cunning and powerful. But without wings.

By: Kunochan

Kunochan — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:44:51 +0000

Sigh. Libraries have wings — I suppose you would compare them to Emus.

By: solecize

solecize — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:45:49 +0000

Seems like a really long angry post- it’s a shame you are wrong after all that work. You yourself said they are “Wings of darkness, not wings of a bat or a bird or a fairy.” So even you who claim them not to be wings still can’t describe the objects in question without using the word wings. Tolkien wrote wings and meant wings regardless of a Balrog’s capability of flight. And so what of they don’t fly- they are the emus of middle earth. Consider this- Gandalf has a penis even though it is never mentioned nor used, no one would refute that he has one (except maybe you). Gandalf’s penis is as much a fact as a Balrog’s shadow wings, except there is more evidence in the case of the Balrog.

By: google games

google games — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 18:30:08 +0000

Powerful post.