Posted: June 25, 2000 at 15:37:49: by Tony Gustafson
: Actually, the text states, "The Balrog made no answer. The fire in it seemed to die, but the darkness grew. It stepped forward slowly on to the bridge, and suddenly it drew itself up to a great height, and its wings were spread from wall to wall; but still Gandalf could be seen, glimmering in the gloom; he seemed small, and altogether alone: grey and bent, like a wizened tree before the onset of a storm.": There is no indication before this that the Balrog was "hunched or sittng slouched" and indeed, it would seem that the term "great height" would indicate something out of the ordinary, rather then the coined term "full height". A very valid point, but on the other hand there's nothing to indicate it wasn't hunched over either, and as Jan has pointed out, the words "drew itself up to a great height" could mean that the balrog did indeed stand fully erect. Who's to say that Balrogs weren't knuckle draggers (so to speak)? :) : Further, why would the Balrog be "hunched of sitting slouched" after having chased the Company. I would imagine having the Chamber of Mazarbul recently dumped on your head could make you slouch for a while ;) : Instead, as Mr. Martinez has suggested, the Balrog has some power to either change its shape or appear to change. Could be. : In either case, I don't believe we are talking about the Balrog simply unbending his back. ;) That's a wonderful part of reading, eh? The individual visions that readers construct by reading the same text. :)
|
