Posted: July 13, 2000 at 11:57:48: by Michael Martinez
: In Gothmogs case, I would say that he would prefer to kill
: than to command. All Balrogs were tough foes because their
: only talent (if it can be called so) is in fighting - whereas
: Sauron, Saruman, and Morgoth all had skills in forgery,
: spellcasting and other areas, but not much in fighting.
: Gothmog was sutable to be given leadership of the Balrogs
: because it would be most acceptable to the Balrogs that their
: commander was like them. Also keep in mind that Gothmog was
: more powerful than the average Balrog, so he probably used
: some of this power in a sense of command. Not to mention that
: Balrogs took a form that would be benifitial in fighting, as
: opposed to commanding.The depiction of the Balrogs in THE SILMARILLION is largely based on the pre-LOTR conception of hordes of frightening shock troops, whereas the Balrog of Moria is an intelligent and cunning individual which acts with dreadful (if not fully explaiend) purpose. The Balrogs should be viewed, however, as especially powerful Maiar who had (for whatever reason) attached themselves to Morgoth and become so like him in his darkness they may have seemed like lesser images of him. Morgoth became totally nihlistic, meaning he wanted to destroy whatever he could not control. Never really having been in control, the Balrogs may simply have become destroyers who tolerated the presence of orcs and trolls and other former servants of Morgoth.
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