Article: 187189 of rec.arts.books.tolkien Path: uchinews!not-for-mail Newsgroups: rec.arts.books.tolkien Subject: The Great Debate: Balrog Slippers (was Re: Balrog Wings: Settled at Last!) References: <37EE67AE.3E220DCD@erols.com> <7slrsf$p7j@dfw-ixnews3.ix.netcom.com> X-Newsreader: trn 4.0-test70 (17 January 1999) From: <<>> (Steuard Jensen) Lines: 62 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 27 Sep 1999 08:24:14 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.135.12.7 X-Trace: uchinews 938420654 128.135.12.7 (Mon, 27 Sep 1999 03:24:14 CDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 27 Sep 1999 03:24:14 CDT Organization: The University of Chicago Xref: uchinews rec.arts.books.tolkien:187189 Quoth "O. Sharp" <<>>: [Referring to the animated LotR] > Look closely, and you'll find it's wearing big fluffy bedroom > slippers too. :) [snip to .sig text] > I daresay that if Mr. Jensen, Mr. Dunkerson and Mr. Martinez begin a > long and spirited debate about the existence or non-existence of > Balrog bedroom- slippers as a result of this thread, it will be a > true high water mark in r.a.b.t. discussion... Come now. You have to understand that the text is absolutely clear on the existence of the bedroom-slippers on the Balrog. After all, we read that after it leaped across the fissure of fire, "a black smoke swirled in the air". Now, the Balrog is a creature of fire: no intrinsic part of it would smoulder and produce such smoke because of a few measly flames. Note, too, that the black smoke swirling is associated with the flames which "roared up to greet [the Balrog], and wreathed about it": parallel structure implies that the smoke, too must have wreathed about the whole creature. However, as smoke rises, this points unambiguously to a source for the smoke near the bottom of the Balrog's form, namely, at its feet. What, then, can we expect on the Balrog's feet? We know that it is "of man-shape maybe, yet greater": whatever it's wearing must be fairly big, but the sort of thing we would expect on a man. Now, we also know that it was surrounded by darkness, of its own choosing ("...a great shadow, in the middle of which was a dark form"). Why would a manlike being with at least some Maia powers surround itself in shadow? After all, it's clear that the Balrog can light _itself_ on fire if it wants to; there is no natural reason for it to shun light, UNLESS it was asleep, and just woke up! (Wouldn't _you_ wrap yourself in shadow if _you_ were dragged out of bed to deal with tresspassers early in the morning? Who _knows_ what this thing's sleep schedule was like: we know it occasionally liked to hibernate, after all. The Fellowship's intrusion could have come weeks before it had planned to wake up... and heaven help Pippin if his stone knocked it awake!) This clearly explains why it was so upset with the Fellowship, and how Gandalf was able to defeat it at all. So, what would the Balrog be wearing on its feet right after being dragged out of bed, that would give rise to such characteristic black smoldering smoke? What else but _fluffy bedroom slippers_! I honestly don't see how this could be at all unclear. Incidentally, it's further confirmed when Gandalf mentions that the Balrog became a "thing of slime" in the water: have you ever felt wet, muddy, dirty, once-fluffy bedroom slippers? Horrid things, let me tell you. No wonder Gandalf chose to "bring no report to darken the light of day"! The true horror of Gandalf's predicament is now clear, when he explains that his only hope to find the surface again was to pursue his enemy, "clutching at his heel". Yuck! I would like to think that this will put the debate to rest, but I know that there are always those who will refuse to accept the facts and try to force their own interpretations on what Tolkien wrote. In many cases, there is room for ambiguity, but here, I'm afraid, the truth is clear. If this great debate has to open up again, then so be it! Steuard Jensen