and Callaghan the black Smaug the
impenetrable
Durin's Bane dragons and Balrogs well
there are many creatures and species
within Tolkien's legendarium perhaps
none are more impressive or more iconic
than dragons or Balrogs even though
throughout tokens stories they make very
scarce appearances they've both cemented
their place within fantasy literature
first we will discuss dragons only four
dragons are named by Tolkien although we
know there was quite a few more than
that there were a number of different
types of dragons including
fire-breathing dragons cold Drake's that
could not breathe fire stone dragons
wingless Dragons and more during
morgoth's war with the elves in the
first age he realized that his orc
armies alone would not be enough to
combat the elves through means unknown
he created the first dragon Glau rule
glowering was noted for not only having
great physical might but also a fearful
intelligence and a hypnotic gaze after a
century of growing beneath Morgoth
stronghold Glau room burst forth against
his creators wishes although glowering
lacked the wings of his descendants he
was still noted as the greatest terror
of his time and pushed the elves back
unfortunately since he was still growing
his hide was weak and he was forced to
flee by elven archers two centuries
later he emerged again and now with his
full strength he led an army of Balrogs
and orcs against the enemy slain tens of
thousands of elves and men growl room
continued on to take over an elven
stronghold where he kept the great horde
while attacking a nearby region glow
rune was ambushed by a man named turin
who slew the dragon by stabbing him in
the belly in the years to come more goth
on leashed more wingless dragons
including the beasts of Gondolin who
carried Balrogs upon its back during the
fall of Gondolin
during the final battle the first age
against Morgoth it seemed that the Valar
were approaching victory Morgoth then
unleashed his greatest force the winged
dragons led by an Callaghan the black
the greatest of all dragons and
Callaghan and the other dragons drove
the host of the Valar back swinging the
battle back into morgoth's favor however
a half elf named er indid approached
with his flying ship and along with the
great Eagles they fought with the
Dragons
yarned is specifically dueled with an
Callaghan for 24 hours finally slaying
the Great Beast it's unclear how exactly
er deal accomplished this though he did
have the power of a silver L with him
regardless and Callaghan fell upon the
three highest peaks of middle-earth
breaking them with his massive body with
an Callaghan is fall morgoth's
resistance was finished
however some dragons managed to escape
and survive time went on with the
Dragons breeding and multiplying in the
north of middle-earth where they began
harassing the north men and dwarves the
most notable examples of Smaug attacking
the kingdom of Erebor drawn to its great
wealth killing many dwarves and forcing
them from their home Smaug remained in
Erebor peacefully for nearly two
centuries before a group led by the
dwarf Thorin Oakenshield returned to
Erebor to reclaim the kingdom along with
them was a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins
who snuck in and was immediately noticed
by Smaug after deducing Bilbo's
intentions Smaug flies from Erebor in a
rage and begins to destroy the nearby
settlement of Laketown before being
struck down by a well-placed arrow shot
from bard the Bowman with smaug's death
Gandalf says that there is not any
living dragon capable of melting the
rings of power implying that there are
still existing dragons with lesser power
he also states that not even n Callaghan
could melt the One Ring
moving on to Balrogs these creatures
were actually my are that had been
seduced and corrupted by melkor during
the earliest ages
they are described as being man shaped
although twice as large and surrounded
by both shadow and flames they wielded
swords and whips and the leader of the
Balrogs used a large axe there is a
hotly debated topic among Tolkien fans
on whether or not Balrogs had wings
I won't delve into the topic here so
I'll leave it up to your own personal
decision early documents from Tolkien
imply that there were hundreds of
Balrogs and they were a great part of
morgoth's army later on they were
revised and Tolkien wrote that there
were no more than seven Balrogs in
existence regardless the leader of the
Balrog was known as gothmog who held
nearly as much authority as Sauron
himself the Balrog first appearance in
middle-earth was coming to morgoth's
rescue during his battle with ungoliant
their next appearance was at a battle
against the elves during the first age
where gothmog slew feta noir creator of
The Silmarillion of condoling as
previously mentioned the Balrogs wrote
on the back of the beast of Gondolin
gothmog led the assault into the city
and in the center he encountered an elf
Lord after a great duel the two slew
each other and thus ended the life of
the Lord of Balrogs the rest of the
Balrog fought in the war of Wrath at the
end of the first age although not all
died there the surviving Balrog fled to
the dark caverns of the earth the only
remaining Balrog of which we have
knowledge of is the one known as Durin's
bein this Balrog fled to the Misty
Mountains taking refuge deep below them
and remaining there for many centuries
here in his title when the dwarves of
Casas doom awoke him while they were
digging for mithril the Balrog drove the
doors from their kingdom killing their
king during the 6th news of this reached
the nearby elves who began referring to
the place as Moria meaning dark abyss
years later orcs and trolls sent by
Sauron to secure the Misty Mountains
feared the Balrog but they had an uneasy
alliance with it finally the Fellowship
of the Ring travelled through Moria were
attacked by day
Aaron's bane Gandalf tried to impede the
Balrog but was instead thrust into a
great duel with it throughout the Misty
Mountains finally slain it atop a
mountain peak but dying himself in the
process it is possible that there are
other Balrog still sleeping in dark
places in middle-earth and as they are
all my are it is possible that their
spirits outlive death as well although
Tolkien is perhaps not the first to
invent the idea of an intelligent dragon
as that idea goes back to ancient
mythology his creation of Smaug in The
Hobbit has definitely played a large
role in modern interest in dragons as
for Balrogs they are perhaps not as
iconic as dragons as Tolkien's limited
description of them is not provided as
clear an image as dragons however the
battle between Durin's Bane and Gandalf
is perhaps one of the most memorable
parts of the entire Lord of the Rings
and is not easily forgotten both dragons
and Balrogs again show Tolkien's
incredible ability of world building and
that the forces of evil can be fearsome
indeed
you