Posted: July 19, 2000 at 09:08:28: by Thentaran
: : : 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. : There is no indication that they ever identified it as a Balrog. They only knew it as a creature of darkness which emanated great terror. A dwarf would probably not share the details of the horrifying creature which had destroyed his civilization with anyone other than another dwarf. What's curious about the whole deal is that Amroth's people were sufficiently concerned that they mostly left Lothlorien, but they never knew it was a Balrog. I think that they did know that a balrog was Durin's Bane. Gimli, upon seeing it immediately called it Durin's Bane he sounded positive. Also when Celeborn(?) heard about it he said that he wouldn't have let a dwarf in if he had known they had AGAIN awoken it. So it is clear that the dwarves had told some people and that they probably knew it was a Balrog. : : : 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" : Maybe. But I suspect Tolkien didn't dwell on the motivations of dwarf and balrog very much where Balin was concerned. Could be
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