Posted: July 18, 2000 at 20:50:53: by Thentaran
: : 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.: The Dwarves of Nogrod and Belegost did indeed participate to a great extent in the wars of Beleriand. But most of the Nogrodrim were dead by the end of the Age. Most of the Belegostrim migrated to Khazad-dum in the Second Age, so there should have been records of the wars there. : However, the Balrog destroyed the Longbeard civilization in TA 1980-1. The Dwarves lost most of their people, and a great deal of their ancient lore. The survivors started over in the north and east, but the dragons ran them ragged, and eventually Smaug destroyed their largest settlement at Erebor, and once again a great deal of lore was lost. : So by the time Thrain was leading an army of Dwarves against Azog's last army, there shouldn't have been much chance of the Dwarves knowing what a Balrog was -- especially Dain Ironfoot, who was then very young. He would have recognized Durin's Bane because the terror it emanated would have told him what it was. But he needn't be expected to know what a Balrog was. But the dwarves KNEW what Durin's Bane was...all of the dwarves were obsessed with Moria...I doub they would forget the name and look of the creature that forced them to leave. : I find it curious he permitted any of his people to return to Moria, but I suppose Balin was simply taking an optimistic point of view, and had decided that Durin's Bane probably had no reason to hang around. Perhaps he hoped it had gone back "to sleep"
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