Posted: July 18, 2000 at 07:21:47: by Mordomin
: : : It is very odd that nobody seems to have known what Durin's Bane really was, prior to the Fellowship passing through. Gandalf's words after his spell contest with it clearly indicates he didn't know who or what his opponent was {..."slipped his mind", indeed!}: : People knew what Durin's Bane was...What makes you think that they didn't know what Durin's Bane was? Gandalf didn't see the Balrog so for all he knew it could have been anything. :
: No Balrog had been seen in over 5000 years. Why should anyone no that Durin's Bane was a Balrog. It would seem likely that all would have been thought destroyed in the War of Wrath. "Gandalf didn't see the Balrog so for all he knew it could have been anything"? Huh??? Gandalf the Maiar was matched in power by some unseen being. How many creatures of Arda could have been? At first, after the spell-contest at the door, Gandalf tells the Fellowship that he does not know what it was he was up against ("What it was I cannot guess" he says). When he finally sees it at the Bridge he says "A Balrog! Now I understand. What an evil fortune." Are those the words of someone who knew in advance that a Balrog was there? Gimli didn't know that the creature was called a 'Balrog' when he saw it. He made a simple leap in logic and decided this fearsome thing must be 'Durin's Bane'. Legolas' reaction is also telling. He says "Ai ai! A Balrog! A Balrog is come". He recognizes it for what it is because of the long wars between the Elves and Morgoth, and the lore of his people regarding those wars, but does that sound like he expected there might be a Balrog in this place at this time? Furthermore, would Balin's expedition to re-take Moria have ever set out if they knew that there was a Balrog there? Hard to believe, and their journal in the Chamber of Records shows no indication that they are even concerned about meeting a Balrog, or Durin's Bane. Finally, both Aragorn and Gandalf had travelled through Moria before. Do you think that either of them would have attempted the journey if they had a notion that a Balrog was roaming around? Or, if they did know and made the journey themselves despite the hazard, that they would knowingly have brought the One Ring within reach of the Balrog? Admittedly, it is strange that the dwarves of Durin's time, or Dain, should not recognize the Balrog for what it is. I can only think of two reasons for this. In the first place, the dwarves did not participate in the wars of the First Age to any great extent, so their encounters with Balrogs would have been rare. Combining that rare experience with their (comparatively) shorter lifespans, and the memory of Balrogs may have faded from their lore. Secondly, the Balrog of Moria seems to have been able to cloak itself in darkness, so it may be that they never got a clear look at it. And there may not have been many, after Durin and Nain were slain, who had the heart to stand and try and get a good glimpse. Or, maybe as Tar-Elenion suggested above, everybody believed that all the Balrogs were destroyed in the War of Wrath.
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