So I now know for sure that the Balrog in the movie did have wings. I watched the director/writer commetary and PJ said that it did have wings, that's how he always imagined them and he didn't know why there was such a big fuss about it lol.

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{Beri}

^thanks for providing us with the useful, concrete information like you always do! You're so helpful!

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I think that the wings are mostly for show to intimidate their opponent much like a cobra or other lizards do to make themselves look bigger, stonger, and more intimidating.
Well, I think that the Balrog could fly if it really wanted to, but it's wings are too fragile and too small to keep itself in the air for any length of time. If you consider how big a birds wings are to it its body, the wings are huge!
Now, as for flying back up the chasm when it fell... Due to the speed at which it was falling and the space the Balrog had to spread it's wings (which wasn't very much), one must assume that the Balrog had neither the wing strength nor the space to spread it's wings and fly back up.
One must also remember that the Balrog pulled Gandalf down. There is a posibility that the Balrog wanted to fall and not fly away, along with Gandalf, so that the Balrog would battle Gandalf and kill the Wizard. If you look at the situation from the Balrog's point of view you find yourself as a very powerful being with a great advantage over the members of the Fellowship, possibly even Gandalf. Now, as you fall you want revenge for being mislead and then falling to your possible doom, right? What better way than to use your wip and pull down the one responsible for your fall? When you pull down Gandalf, you may have a more garenteed effect. Meaning you will only have one to battle and not nine. It will also be harder for Gandalf to control where he is going due to the fact that he is lighter. Also, if in fact both of you should reach the bottom, and you perish, your opponent will most likely die also.

Well, I think that just about covers everything. Now that I have dazzled you with my scientific theory (probably not) you may ponder on it and say: Why didn't I think of that? But, I think that is all I have to say for now and I apologize for any grammatical errors, punctuational errors, spelling errors, or words missing. I get a little ahead of myself sometimes.
Enjoy,
Read, Learn, Use, and be Merry...
~Willow~

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Previously Wandering Darkness
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Thanx Elberethsq! You're always very nice to me

Wow Tasare_Taurewen you have quite the theory. It's very interesting. Most of what you've written I never even thought about before. If the Balrog could really fly we would have seen huge wings on film, or if it had wings in the book they would probably be big enough that Tolkien would have bothered mentioning them. Which makes me believe that:

a) Balrogs do have wings, but they're not powerful enough that they can fly, or
b) Balrogs do not have wings

Thank you very much Tasare_Taurewen! You've given me a lot to think about!

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Proud Member of the The Evilishy Nazgûl Alliance for World Domination
{Beri}

Here is the balrog description in FotR:

"Something was coming up behind them. What it was could not be seen: it was like a great shadow, in the middle of which was a dark form, of a man-shape maybe, yet greater; and a power and terror seemed to be in it and to go before it."

"The balrog made no answer. The fire in it seemed to die, but the darkness grew. It stepped slowly onto the bridge, and suddenly it drew itself up to a great hieght, and its wings were spread from wall to wall."

And here is the Encyclopedia of Arda's description:

The Balrogs originated as Maiar, beings of the same kind as Sauron himself. They were primordial spirits of fire that had allied themselves with Melkor in ancient times, and became the most feared of his servants, especially during the Wars of Beleriand in the First Age. Details of their numbers are hard to state with certainty, but there seem to have been relatively few of them - probably no more than seven.

In appearance, the Balrogs were man-like, but fire streamed from them, and they were swathed in dark shadows. They carried whips of flame and induced great terror in friends and foes alike. In the War of Wrath, Morgoth was assailed by the forces of the Valar. Most of the Balrogs were destroyed in that War, but some few escaped over the Blue Mountains and hid in Middle-earth. Durin's Bane, the creature that drove the Dwarves from Moria, was one of these.

Hope some of this helps!!!!!!!!

You're the one who provides us with the information all the time - I just sit back and let people run to get the information for me! So you're the one to thank! Why wouldn't I be nice to you?

As for the information by Larael - we now have even more helpful, concrete information! You're all so helpful! I'm in the middle of reading FotR (rereading) and I don't think I got to that part yet. I just finished The Council of Elrond.

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You are quite welcome for the info!!!!!!

I think you know Elberethsq that I am rereading FotR too and I am now on The Great River, which is chapter 9 of the second part of the book. So I just finished that part.

Oh, you're way ahead of me. I'm still on a Journey in the Dark.

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ooooooooo that chapter is kind of long.

You are very welcome, and I am glad that I got your mind thinking. I had never really thought of that either. My fingers just started typing and wisdom popped out. And also, one must understand that the human mind only sees what the eyes have seen. If you had never seen a dog before but you had see a cat, you might think that a dog might be like a cat. Thats probably not the best comparison, but... *shrugs* Anyways, the human mind may be able to image mythical creatures, but where do they come from? They come from what the creator has seen If you have never seen a fish before, how on earth are going to be able to image a Mermaid? If you have never seen a lizard or snake or reptile before, how are you going to picture a dragon. What I am trying to say here is that mythical creatures are created by mixing a matching what we have seen during our lives. If we haven't seen it, then we can't picture it. Understand?
Here are some examples of mythical creatures that were created by mixing and matching speices:
Mermaid = Human + fish
Dragon = lizard or snake + bat-like wings
Balrog = sheep or goats horns and hooves + bat-like-wings+human
[and probably other speices also]
Unicorn = horse + bird
Fairies and Pixies = human + insect

They not all be exact, but this only the general basis. We can only create things we have seen. I hope that clears a few things up. If you have any questions, ask.
Hannon le for reading.

~Willow~ 8)

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Very good point Tasare_Taurewen!

I'm reading FotR too. You guys are ahead of me though, I'm near the end of "The Ring Goes South".

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{Beri}

Well, I answered to this once but I don't mind doing it again.
I think everyone has an exact vision about how the Balrogs looked, so it's about everyone's opinion... I think they had wings but I don't think they needed them...

That helps a lot!! Thanx so much for the info!!

When Tolkien wrote " its wings were spread from wall to wall." he could have meant it literally or it could have just been wings of shadow or something. It's hard to say...everytime we get more information it all becomes even more complicated!! It's so confusing!!

Another interesting thing that I found out when I reading FotR, was that the Balrog actually had feet and it stood on the bridge. Then Gandalf broke it and it fell. But you'd think that if it had wings it wouldn't have fallen. Then we get back to Tasare_Taurewen's theory.

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Proud Member of the The Evilishy Nazgûl Alliance for World Domination
{Beri}

Yep, all this info is getting kind of confuzzling!!!!!!!!

All this info! I can't keep it straight!!! Noo!!

Hmmm. Interesting conversation. I wish I could also post up long paragraphs of info too but I don't know good sources, unfortunately. I've so far finished reading FotR and TTT, and I'm starting on RotK.

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Wow, you're fast! Just a little while ago you were reading FotR...I just started The Two Towers.

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Proud Member of the The Evilishy Nazgûl Alliance for World Domination
{Beri}