: I'm not sure how well the "balrog must be man sized to stand on Durin's Bridge" theory could hold up under close scrutiny. I'm a pretty big guy, and while not the most agile person on earth, I know for a fact that I can stride across and maneuver confidently upon a 2 x 8 wood plank (I build decks as a side job) without fear of losing my balance. If the balrog to the bridge were to be roughly the same proportion as I to a plank, that would make the foul beastie considerably larger than Gandalf. Sure hope I haven't confused anyone with that line of reasoning.

That's not precisely the argument I'm making. The wingers I think argue that the "wings" that spread from wall-to-wall, were the Balrog's actual wings and not simply the shadow effect of that shadow-stuff that surrounded the Balrog. If we're talking real wings that spread from wall-to-wall- they would have to be massive - this was a big room. That means the balrog would have to be proportionately massive as well. In order to have physical wings that stretch from wall to wall, we're talking about a 30-40 foot high Balrog here, which to me is absurd.

A 30 to 40 foot high balrog is not going to be able to balance and fight on a bridge meant to hold a single dwarf. That is why I think the Balrog itself was probably 8 to 9 feet high ("man-shape, yet greater"). If he had physical wings (which I don't object to), they were proportional and not the "wings" that strethced from wall to wall. Certainly his penumbra of shadow was much larger and his wings of *shadow* could then be seen to extend wall to wall.

Russ