this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2024
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The balrog in Moria was chasing the fellowship. If it could move at 400 mph (by any means) then it would have caught them immediately. We know that some balrogs are weaker than others since it is said that Gothmog was the mightiest. My conclusion is that if the balrogs literally flew by mundane means to Melkor's aid, then the balrog in Moria was particularly weak (and cowardly) and did not participate in rescuing Melkor. I presume that's also why it hid deep underground for so long rather than fighting and being banished along with the other balrogs.
With that said, I think Melkor summoned the balrogs to himself by magical means (but they can't teleport on their own). None of them could go 400 mph. That's just silly. They're not Sonic the Hedgehog. I also think that balrogs can't fly. The word "wings" is a metaphor for the way flames spread from them.
(I don't claim that the text rules out the possibility of wings and flight. The balrog might have fallen with Gandalf because they fought a metaphysical battle, dragged down by the "weight of its sin".)
Edit: I think we actually agree. I'm just elaborating.
Edit 2: I found a picture that shows what I think a balrog's "wings" look like.
And completely in keeping with every other facet of fantasy if you want to be that way. A Baalrog can go 400mph just as easily as Gandalf could teleport. All it takes is the stroke of a pen.
That's true in a trivial sense: there's no law of nature that enforces verisimilitude in any work of fiction. However, most authors aim for verisimilitude, and the good ones achieve it. I'm not talking about the top speeds of balrogs because I think there's some objective answer, but rather because I think that Tolkein does achieve verisimilitude (at least in some regards) and therefore there is a foundation for discussing the traits of his fictional beings. He easily could have given balrogs rocket skates, but he didn't.