What's the true origin story of the Balrog from The Lord of the Rings? Alongside Orcs, dragons, and Ents, the Balrog is one of the most memorable fantasy creatures glimpsed in The Lord of the Rings. A demonic, fiery beast wielding a whip of flame, the Balrog infamously catches the Fellowship during their tense escape from the Mines of Moria. Gandalf risks his life trying to fend the creature off and narrowly averts death by reincarnating into Gandalf the White, but their battle made the Balrog iconic, despite being only a fleeting addition to J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy. Tolkien used the Balrogs over the course of his writing, yet between The Fellowship of the Ring and The Silmarillion, Balrogs differ in rarity and strength, and their true nature switches from the monstrous to the divine. The Balrog encountered in Moria is specifically known only as Durin's Bane, a title that hints at the greater story lurking behind this formidable monster.
When Gandalf confronted Moria's Balrog, the two opponents couldn't have been less alike in physical — yet in truth, the Balrog and Gandalf were once of the same ilk. Like Gandalf, the Balrogs began as primordial spirits known as Maia, who had existed since before time began and took no physical form, which is why Gandalf's real age is closer to 11,000 years old. More importantly, while Gandalf was incarnated as a wizard and sent to Middle-earth along with a select few companions (Saruman, Radagast, etc.), some Maiar were swayed to evil by Morgoth, the first real enemy of Middle-earth. As one of the Valar, Morgoth outranked the Maiar, and those who fell under his control were corrupted, taking on the monstrous, fiery form seen in The Lord of the Rings.
The LOTR Movies Didn't Do The Balrog Justice
Among Morgoth's earliest servants, the Balrogs were present in Middle-earth long before the One Ring was forged, long before the time of Men, and even before the arrival of the Elves. While their master was kept prisoner by the other Valar, the Balrogs slept in the pits of Angbad, only to be awakened by the cry of Morgoth's return to Middle-earth, at which time they resumed their servitude, waging war against Elves and Men. During these ancient times, the Balrogs were led by Gothmog, but when Morgoth was defeated in the final year of the First Age, they retreated into the depths again, and this is how Durin's Bane came to be in Moria.
The total number of Balrogs in Tolkien mythology is somewhat contentious. At times in The Silmarillion, Tolkien suggests a host of Balrogs are under Morgoth's command, but the author's son Christopher later confirmed that only a maximum of seven ever existed. Being such rare specimens, Durin's Bane undoubtedly would've been present during those ancient historic battles, but without Morgoth, he remained undisturbed in Moria until the arrival of the dwarves. As depicted in The Rings of Power's Balrog appearance, the Dwarves' greed led them too deep into the mines, their hammering disturbing the Balrog for the first time in millennia. While most would run for their lives, the people of Durin stood their ground and were soundly defeated. Had Dwarves not already awoken the beast sleeping in Moria's depths, it's unlikely the presence of nine fleet-footed Fellowship would have roused it. Gandalf destroyed the physical form of Durin's Bane but, as a Maia, the Balrog didn't die in the traditional sense.
Like many characters in The Lord of the Rings, the Balrog is deceptively important to the history of Middle-earth. What might appear to be a simple cave-dwelling fire monster, the Balrog is one of the oldest creatures the Fellowship encounter and was present at many of the important battles that shaped Middle-earth's future. One fascinating tidbit not addressed in The Lord of the Rings is how even the evil Maia Sauron didn't call the remaining Balrogs to action, despite being a fellow servant of Morgoth, which gives viewers a peak into just how powerful the demonic spirits truly were.
The Rings Of Power Balrog Changes LOTR Canon
In The Rings of Power changed canon by awakening the Balrog upon the Dwarven discovery of mithril somewhat defeats the character's literary purpose — a lesson of greed for the Dwarves who were over-mining Khazad-dûm by the time of King Durin VI's reign.
