In the early years of Arda, before the awakening of Elves and Men, The Valar, 14 powerful Ainur
who descended from the timeless halls, helped shape the world, and defend it from the corruption
Melkor, a fellow Ainur who stood apart from the Valar, and sought Kingship in defiance
of the will of their creator.
Yet Melkor did not stand alone.
As he had turned a number of Maiar, lesser Ainur who had entered the world alongside
the Valar, but now fought against them as servants of the Dark Lord.
Some of these Maiar became known as the Valaraukar or Balrogs, large creatures of flame and shadow
with streaming fiery manes, who carried whips of fire and roughly resembled the form of
men.
However it is uncertain exactly how many Balrogs existed, as conflicting accounts estimate
anywhere from 3 or 7 to dozens, if not hundreds or thousands.
After Melkor broke the Two Lamps of Arda, and the land fractured into continents, the
Valar came to reign in valinor, upon Aman, while Melkor reigned in Middle Earth from
the fortress of Utumno.
There, the Balrogs served their master, his will unchecked upon the eastern lands.
Among the fiery creatures, Gothmog was raised as Captain of the Balrogs, and Lieutenant
of the Dark Lord, equal in power only to Sauron, another powerful Maia who came to serve Melkor.
But then came the awakening of the Elves in Cuivienen, and with them the War for Sake
of the Elves, where the Valar fought the Dark Lord to protect the children of Iluvatar from
his corrupting influence.
And while Melkor’s forces fought viciously to protect their master, they were ultimately
defeated, with the Dark Lord chained and taken to Valinor.
The Balrogs who survived the war, retreated to the fortress of Angband, and there remained
in its fiery depths, awaiting the return of their master.
Melkor was imprisoned in the Halls of Mandos for three ages, but was eventually released
by his brother Manwe, who believed him reformed.
Yet the Dark Lord was only feigning repentance, soon allying with the Ungoliant to destroy
the two trees of valinor.
Then travelling north to Formenos, killing the Noldor elf Finwe and stealing the Silmaril
jewels crafted by Finwe’s son Feanor before escaping into Middle Earth.
However, when they reached the eastern continent, Ungoliant demanded the Dark Lord give up the
three Silmarils to satiate her hunger, then attacking when he refused, causing him to
yell out in pain as they neared Angband.
Upon hearing their master’s voice, the Balrogs awoke from the slumber and charged out to
protect him, chasing Ungoliant away.
The Dark Lord now known as Morgoth to the Elves of the West, immediately began rebuilding
his armies and defenses to fight the War of Great Jewels, which saw the Noldor Elves following
Feanor and his brother Fingolfin make their way into Middle Earth, chasing their enemy
to destroy him and take back the precious silmarils.
After engaging the local Sindarin Elves in the First Battle of Beleriand, Morgoth’s
forces were defeated at the Dagor-nuin-Giliath, when Feanor’s forces arrived in the North
West of the continent and sought to establish a settlement.
Yet Feanor was consumed with rage as he fought against them, continuing to press the attack
after their victory, charging all the way to Angband where he was surrounded and killed
by Gothmog and his Balrogs.
The forces of Morgoth continued to wreak havoc on the Elves of Middle Earth and their allies,
with the Valaraukar participating in the capture of Feanor’s eldest son Maehdros.
And at the Nírnaeth Arnoediad killed Fingon eldest son of Fingolfin then seizing the human
warrior Hurin for torture and interrogation.
In the year 510 of the First Age, the armies of the Dark Lord attacked the Elven city of
Gondolin, seeing Balrogs ride upon the back of Dragons, pouring into the city and killing
everything in their path.
In the great battle that erupted, the Noldor Elf Ecthelion, Lord of the House of the Fountain
engaged Gothmog, killing him though at a cost of his own life.
Then seeing Glorfindel, Lord of the House of the Golden Flower making a similar sacrifice,
casting a balrog off a cliff but falling with him to his death.
Although the Elves fought valiantly and some managed to escape the slaughter, they were
ultimately defeated and the city lost.
The Armies of the Dark Lord continue on until their final defeat in the War of Wrath, when
Morgoth at last was banished from the world, seeing his forces scattered or destroyed.
The Balrogs who survived the fall of their master, then retreated into the depths of
Middle Earth, and as the years went on were mostly forgotten, becoming legends from an
earlier age.
And while the Balrogs did not return to serve Sauron as the Second Dark Lord, it is possible
he was at least aware of the Balrog in Moria, who was awakened after the Dwarves of Durin’s
Folk mined too deeply into the misty mountains, waking the creature and releasing it into
Khazad Dum.
This horrifying beast, the last known Balrog of Morgoth, killed King Durin VI, earning
the nickname Durin’s Bane, then wiping out the Dwarven kingdom, forcing them to out of
their ancestral home.
Sauron’s Orc armies then began to populate the area, suggesting a possible relationship
between the Dark Lord and the creature of flame, though any specific connection between
them cannot be certain.
At the end of the War of the Dwarves and Orcs, the united armies of the Dwarven Clans had
a chance to retake Moria but chose not to continue on after Dain Ironfoot II made it
clear they could not defeat Durin’s Bane.
And when the Dwarf Balin led an army into the mountain many years later, finally making
the attempt to reconquer their homeland, they were ultimately defeated and killed.
And so it would not be until the Fellowship of the ring passed through the Mountains during
their quest to destroy the one ring of power that the Balrog in Moria was finally cast
down, engaging the wizard Gandalf the grey in an epic battle ending with the creature’s
death and wizard’s rebirth as Gandalf the White.