Thursday, June 23, 2005
‘..And Whether Balrogs Have Wings
Do Balrogs have wings? It might seem a simple question, but (as so often with Tolkien's work) the more we examine it, the harder it is to answer. It's a question, too, that divides Tolkien's more avid readers into two distinct camps - those who believe in Balrog wings, and those who deny their existence.Pardon me for doing quotes the last few days, but they've been catching my eye lately.
I've never understood how people can spend so much time and effort arguing about fictional things - and such esoteric things as this. Gas is near $3 a gallon, a few GIs a week are getting blown away in the Middle East, our crime ridden city just laid off 7 cops, and we spend time arguing about winged Balrogs.
Actually, I suppose, it's things like whether or not Balrogs have wings that make it possible for a lot of us to deal with random drive-by shootings and people driving 300 horsepower trucks bitching about the price of gas. If it wasn't for the fact that we can disconnect from reality and put real-word behind for awhile, we'd go nuts. But really, winged Balrogs - who cares. Now if you want to argue about whether an Ogre would kill its own mechanic or not -- that's different.
2fers: Ogres and Nuke Armed Hobbits
