Silmarillion, pg. 26 Softcover

"For of the Maiar many were drawn to his splendour in the days of his greatness, and remained in that allegiance down into his darkness; and others he corrupted afterward into his service with lies and treacherous gifts. Dreadful among these spirits were the Valaraukar, the scourges of fire that in Middle-Earth were called the Balrogs, demons of terror."

That'd seem to suggest that the Balrogs were Maiar who were drawn into his service and corrupted...

Further, pg. 46

"And in Utumno he gathered his demons about him, those spirits who first adhered to him in the days of his splendour, and became most like him in his corruption: their hearts were of fire, but they were cloaked in darkness, and terror went before them; they had whips of flame. Balrogs they were named in Middle-Earth in later days."

Combining the two, Gandalf and the Balrog were almost certainly within the same class of being...and quite possibly in a very similar power category. Gandalf's big thing was wisdom, patience, and pity.

I am SUCH a nerd.


______No matter what it is, there is nothing that cannot be done. If one manifests the determination, he can move heaven and earth as he pleases. Moving heaven and earth without putting forth effort is merely a matter of concentration.

>>>"And in Utumno he gathered his demons about him, those spirits who first adhered to him in the days of his splendour, and became most like him in his corruption: their hearts were of fire, but they were cloaked in darkness, and terror went before them; they had whips of flame. Balrogs they were named in Middle-Earth in later days."<<<

Yeah, that was pretty much the paragraph that I was thinking of, but I didn't have any of my books here with me to get the exact bits. I knew that Morgoth didn't create the balrogs though, because he was known for never creating anything - only corrupting existing forms. However, you could say he was responsible for the balrogs in that extent... I just wasn't being very precise about it.

---Brett