What exactly is a Balrog?

In The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf the wizard fights a demon known as a Balrog. In Tolkien’s Elvish language Sindarin, Balrog means “demon of might”. After Sauron, Balrogs were the most powerful and most terrifying of his servants. They are fire spirits, but also shrouded in darkness.

How far did Gandalf and the Balrog fall?

At normal Earth gravity, and ignoring air resistance, it takes only 28.57 seconds to fall 4 km. Gandalf said “Long I fell,” but how long is long? When you’re falling, even four or five seconds feels like a long time. The literature doesn’t provide any definitive material, as others have already stated.

Why didn’t Gandalf pull himself up?

Gandalf intentionally let go of himself, so that he could die and pass the moral test and enhance his powers to become Gandalf the White. Gandalf is a legendary being a Maiar who was sent to Tolkein’s Middle-Earth to serve a purpose by the legendarium. Gandalf died shortly after fighting a fiery ancient demon balrog.

What was the Balrog supposed to look like?

In the movie and most of the media depicting Balrogs, he has a full body and he looks like the classic “demon” of today. In the book it is written that he looks like the shadow of a man, and he draws the fire to himself as a sword and a whip.

What is at the bottom of Moria?

Originally Answered: What lurked deep under Moria that scared Gandalf so much as he fought the Balrog? He is referencing beats such as the Balrogs. Balrogs were created by Morgoth in the First Age, so this is what Gandalf means when he is talking about relics of the Ancient World.

How did Gandalf and the Fellowship escape Moria?

As it fell, the Balrog snagged Gandalf’s leg with its whip of thongs and pulled him after it, sending them both plunging into the abyss spanned by the bridge. The rest of the Fellowship managed to escape Moria and reach Lórien mostly unharmed.

How did the size of Balrogs change over the years?

The size of Balrogs changed as Tolkien evolved his stories; in the Lost Tales they have a very specific size, but then when we next get a detailed description of the appearance of a Balrog, in the first draft of the Moria chapters, things are quite different: A figure strode to the fissure, no more than man-high yet terror seemed to go before it.

How tall is a Balrog?

This gives the height of 16.7 foot. There would of course be a possibility of error based on size of the Balrog’s sword, if they had to do a full stride etc.; adding 20\% error either way gives a range between 13.36 foot and 20.04 foot.

How tall is Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings?

Gandalf stood in the middle of the 50 foot bridge, therefore he is 25 foot from the end of the bridge. The Balrog stops before stepping onto the bridge, putting it 25 foot from Gandalf. The Balrog steps onto the Bridge before swinging his sword at Gandalf (user Balfrog argues that this is just one step). This gives the height of 16.7 foot.