: However, you are missing my point, which is 'what would the Balrog of Moria have done with the Ring had he gotten his grubby little corrupted Maiar paws on it'? I resist the notion that the Ring would have instantly overwhelmed it's mind with an urge to return it to Barad-Dur. Can you say 'Gollum'?

Gollum is an excellent example. Since he was basically a good creature gone bad. He resisted complete corruption by the Ring for 500 years, and apparently held a kind of dominion over the Ring for that long, since the Ring could have as easily found a wandering Goblin to attach itself to and thus far more easily reached Sauron. I think we tend to underestimate Gollum on a number of counts. Gandalf always held out hope that he could be cured, and that given time he would be. Bilbo, by contrast had already started to fade after only 50 years of possessing the Ring, and he was, if anything, as basically good as Gollum.

The Balrog, on the other hand, made a career out of being evil, and thus the ease for the Ring to corrupt such a creature would be much simpler. And since the Ring did seem to have a conscious mind of its own, attempting to be found and brought to its master, it would have (IMHO) had an almost willing ally in the Balrog.

-RR