For years, the topic of Balrog wings has been hotly debated by Tolkien experts and geeks alike. Due to the ambiguity of his writing, the debate over whether a Balrog has physical, touch-with-your-hand wings or not depends, as with quite a lot of Tolkien’s Middle-Earth, on the mental image of every single individual. Even Peter Jackson made sure that Weta created a Balrog that appealed to all spectrums of the debate, in an attempt to give the fans the best adaptation of Tolkien’s work possible without restricting the individual’s ability to create their own Middle-Earth with their imagination, as generations before have.
We have the chance to discuss the Balrog now after seeing the big screen interpration of it in Fellowship of the Ring: why not use it? Now’s a good time as any to bring back that debate of ‘wings of shadow’ versus physical wings. Where do you stand? Do you believe that Tolkien had actual wings in mind when he wrote the ‘Bridge of Khazad-Dum’, or did he deliberately write it so that fans could debate the subject, like right now? Is it good to have a bit of mystery in Lord of the Rings? Or do you think its a topic not even worth talking about? This weekend, come join us as we discuss one of the oldest arguments in the history of Middle-Earth itself.
Upcoming Discussions
Mar 23 & 24: The Nature of the Ring of Power
Mar 30 & 31: FotR and the Oscars
Apr 06 & 07: TTT – The Riders of Rohan
Apr 13 & 14: LotR, Stereotypes & Racial Class
Apr 20 & 21: The Two Towers – The Motion Picture
Apr 20 & 21: Literary Merits of LotR
Place:
#thehalloffire on theonering.net server; come to theonering.net’s chat room Barliman’s and then type /join #thehalloffire .
Saturday Chat: 5:30 pm ET (17:30) [also 11:30 pm (23:30) CET and 7:30 am Sunday (07:30) AET]
Sunday Chat: 7:00 pm (19:00) CET [also 1:00 pm (13:00) ET and 4:00 am (04:00) Monday morning AET]
ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast
CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
Questions? Topics? Send ‘em here.
