Siege of Mirkwood went live yesterday! That said, I'm still annoyed with them for giving the fell beasts mouths instead of beaks. And they gave the balrog wings in the wakening of Durin's Bane flashback quest. Heresy!

Balrog wings reminds me of this hilarious Fanfiction I read once. It's clean, yall should read it... comes in three parts.

1. The Great Balrog Conspiracy

2. Among the Mumakil

3. Wyze Lies

They'll have you rolling on the floor. So, do Balrogs really have wings?

Oh the Great Winged Balrog Debate rears again . Personally I'm in favour of Wings. They just look cooler . And there is some evidence to support Winged Balrogs:

"His enemy halted again, facing him, and the shadow about it reached out like two vast wings." At first glance this is just a metaphor but further along the Balrog "drew itself to a great height, and its wings spread from wall to wall". Is this still just a metaphor? Or are the Wings just now more clearly visible? Or does it actually have Real Wings that just happen to made out of Shadow?

These are the three possibilities. I'm leaning towards the latter at this point. In part because it seems Balrogs do indeed fly.

From the Silmarillion:"Then Morgoth "sent forth a terrible cry" which the Balrogs beneath the ruins of Angband heard, and they came forth and "passing over Hithlum they came to Lammoth as a tempest of fire." I doubt that JRR would have used that that particular phrasing if they were in fact NOT flying. He probably would have said "passing through Hithlum.."

Anyway, that's the best I've got, real Wings of Shadow, suitable for flying.

GB

You're right, they do look cooler. And I had always assumed they had wings, because of those certain references.

well i saw the movie before reading the book, which really destroyed all the excitment, but i always saw the balrog as a fiery wierd horned animal thing.

I think that line is just a metaphor because "its wings spread from wall to wall" sounds really figurative, but then again thats my opinion...

ohh and im (trying) to learn elvish and its really hard for me especially the pronunciations.

Yes, but don't forgot Gandalf's description of Balrogs as Creatures of Flame and Shadow. This implies that they were actually made of Flame and Shadow. In which case the Wings of Shadow is no mere metaphor, but an accurate description .

GB

Oh the Great Winged Balrog Debate rears again .

I didn’t even know there was a debate. I’ve never thought about whether they have wings or not. I don’t think I really tried to picture them. This is random but I’ve always pictured the “steers” the Ring Wraiths ride as being like giant flying stingrays.

Isn't he too old for the part now?

I guess he might be. I thought it would be weird not to use him since they have that scene in one of the movies where he finds the ring. I think they made the actor look young for that scene (although since he wasn’t suppose to have aged that doesn’t make sense).

There most certainly is a difference in the characters, especially the elves. The only big problem this would cause that comes to mind is when Bilbo gets the Dwarves out of the dungeon in Mirkwood. In the book, Bilbo waits until the Elves downstairs are drunk. But in the movie Legolas and Gimli have a drinking contest and at the end Legolas says he feels a slight tingling sensation in his fingers and that's all. I can see it now: the Elves drink so much that they start to feel tingly and while they have an intellectual conversation about what could have caused this Bilbo sneaks the keys off one of their belts, frees the Dwarves, and stuffs them all into barrels and then they take a grand ride down the river and the Elves notice nothing. Right. I don't know how they'll work around that one. Unless they choose to ignore the drinking contest which only appears in the extended anyway.

It would be funny if it happened as you described, but like GB said (see below) the elf wine would have a higher alcohol content. In the book, the wine that put them to sleep was very strong wine and only meant for the king to drink and in smaller amounts than they were drinking it. From that, it can be inferred that the king was better able to tolerate alcohol than his subjects. I assume that as the King’s son Legolas would also have that ability. If I’m remembering correctly, the King of the Mirkwood Elves was a different kind of Elf than his people. I think, but I’m not sure (please correct me if I’m wrong), that they were Dark Elves (Elves that had never been to Valinor) and their King was from one of the Elf Kindreds that had been to Valinor.

I don't think there are really too many continuity issues with the Elves. They have their own Elf-Made Wine which no doubt has a far higher alcohol content than the Ale Legolas and Gimli were drinking . And the Mirkwood Elves are a little more inclined to Mirth and Merriment than the normally Vulcan-like Elves of other communities .

I’m actually a little more worried about the Rivendale Elves. I’m having trouble seeing the Elves in the LotR movies sing silly songs and teasing the dwarves and hobbit.

Maybe when they're all boozed up they let their hair down and relax a little . Apparently their superiority complex is expressed in a more teasing manner under those circumstances . I expect it will just expand on the kind of humourous banter exchanged between Legolas and Gimli.

And Drunken Singing might seem a little out of place, but clearly it's a side of themselves they would be embarrassed to show in public. I'm actually looking forward to seeing the Elves show their more "human" side . Again, I don't see at as a real continuity problem. It's like finding out Vulcans have emotions after all but hide them very well.

GB

I've always pictured the balrog as having wings, but really anything is better than the abomination in that horrible excuse for a movie - Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings. Ick.

Patterwig's Pal, I've always pictured the Ring Wraith's steeds as something a bit dragon/bird of prey-like. The giant flying sting-ray interpretation is a new and interesting one.

Okay, Here it is. The next Fantastic and Heartbreaking Film from some of the folks that brought us The Hunt For Gollum:

Born of Hope

It's about the parents of Aragorn and how he came to be. It really is Beautiful and very professionally filmed. If you liked Hunt for Gollum, your'e going to love this.

http://www.bornofhope.com

GB

Ooooh! Oooh! Oooh! Exciting! I hope I'll have time to watch Born of Hope this weekend. *needs a bouncy smiley*

In the meantime... Tricksy-Hobbits comic

Funny comic Mel! Poor Sauron, I almost felt sorry for him .

Born of Hope is longer than The Hunt for Gollum, but it only clocks in at about 1:10 hrs, so you should be able to fit it in .

GB

I saw "Born of Hope" last night! And I think it was way better than "Hunt for Gollum". It was sweet,and the effects were better. The fighting seemed less random,and I'm a sucker for good romance.

I got to see most of it today. Except for the last 10 min, when my internet decided it wasn't going to play the rest. So now I'm left hanging...

however, I'm going to try to download it asap.

I loved it, it was done very well.

I just found out the library here has LotR so I'm going to borrow them all and have a marathon night someday soon.