More comics I host: The Prisoner of Monty Hall | Lightning Made of Owls | Square Root of Minus Garfield | iToons | Comments on a Postcard | Awkward Fumbles My blogs: (daily updates) | 100 Proofs that the Earth is a Globe (science!) | Carpe DMM (long form posts) | Snot Block & Roll (food reviews) ![]() My comics: Irregular Webcomic! | Darths & Droids | Eavesdropper | Planet of Hats | The Dinosaur Whiteboard | mezzacotta This material is presented in accordance with the LEGO ® Fair Play Guidelines. Which does not sponsor, authorise, or endorse this site. LEGO ® is a registered trademark of the LEGO Group of companies, Next question: Do Balrogs put cream on their scones first, or jam? One might point out that the last comment by Tolkien-"The Balrog never speaks or makes any vocal sound at all."-directly contradicts the text of The Fellowship of the Ring itself, which states that, "With a terrible cry the Balrog fell forward." - and quite possibly the text of The Silmarillion stating that Gothmog mocked Hurin. Z may think that he knows more about Balrogs than I do, but he cannot expect me to agree with him. The Balrog never speaks or makes any vocal sound at all. Of course, whether the Balrogs would have retained this ability when locked in their incarnate forms is a question we cannot answer. That being said, it's possible that they didn't need the ability to speak there's evidence that the Ainur were able to communicate telepathically with other creatures. It seems somewhat unlikely to me that Maiar spirits, even ones locked in an incarnate form, would be completely unable to speak, especially given their position within Morgoth's forces even Huan was capable of it, though only on special occasions. With a terrible cry the Balrog fell forward, and its shadow plunged down and vanished.įellowship of the Ring Book II Chapter 5: "The Bridge of Khazad-dûm" Right at the Balrog's feet it broke, and the stone upon which it stood crashed into the gulf, while the rest remained, poised, quivering like a tongue of rock thrust out into emptiness. A blinding sheet of white flame sprang up. The staff broke asunder and fell from his hand. Gandalf lifted his staff, and crying aloud he smote the bridge before him. They were, however, definitely able to communicate verbally in some fashion at the very least, they were capable of making sounds, as Durin's Bane does in the text: There are no instances in any of Tolkien's writings of a Balrog speaking, so it's not clear whether they could, or what language they would have spoken. Given those things, I don't see any compelling reason to believe balrogs can't speak. The most straightforward interpretation is that it was verbal. When Gothmog captured Hurin, the text says he "bound him and dragged him to Angband with mockery." So he was mocking Hurin.Yes, it's possible that Gothmog communicated telepathically, but since there was a spoken language used by Morgoth's servants ( Melkian), it's simpler to assume that Gothmog communicated via speech. Gothmog is called "high-captain of Angband".If balrogs can't speak, it would mean they lost that ability in their transformation, which there would need to be evidence of.ĭurin's Bane not speaking can definitely be taken as circumstantial evidence, but it needs to be weighed against the other things we know about Balrogs. They almost definitely could talk, probably Melkian.īalrogs are corrupted Maiar. Rerun commentary: A more recent discussion of the topic of whether Balrogs can speak or not also fails to reach any consensus. In fact it's not clear to a lot of people whether Balrogs can speak or not. But I'm guessing they can at least roar terrifyingly.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |