WillBalls

The balrogs were fire maia that were corrupted by Melkor into beings of fire cloaked in shadow. I interpret that to mean they're primarily beings of fire that "wear" shadow over themselves (which composes their wings)

That's a really interesting point. Ungoliant kind of exists outside the established power structure of the Ainur, considering she came from outside Arda, but was never mentioned as participating in the first music of the Ainur (there's no real established origin for Ungoliant, other than "evil spirit from outside the bounds of Arda"). No matter who you are, being called to fight "unknowable ancient Eldritch spider deity" is a pretty horrifying task, and Melkor was even known to have fear when facing much smaller enemies.

One interesting point is how much emphasis Tolkien puts on Ungoliant's powers being focused around darkness and "unlight". Balrogs, being spirits of fire, seem like a natural enemy to a creature of pure darkness, so that might have boosted their comparative power against Ungoliant despite their low numbers.

Another thing to consider is that Melkor was never known to show understanding or mercy to his servants who failed him. I would have to think that any balrog who failed to come to his aid would have been killed (or worse as you postulate) as soon as Morgoth was freed.

It's been a few years since I've read the foreword to the Silmarillion, but I'm glad I'm consistent with Christopher's analysis 😁

It's similar to searching for consistencies amongst any mythology, which is what Tolkien was attempting to create. Tales will always change over time, and they'll always shift focus to what the teller determines is important. As focuses of a society shift, so do the focuses of its related mythology. In this way, I think Tolkien did an excellent job creating a united mythos for England in all the different versions of his legendarium. As the tales evolved, consistencies emerged elements which were formerly key, were discarded, and internal references became more commonplace than external references (see Tolkien's influences from William Morris and Icelandic, Celtic, Germanic, and Anglo Saxon epics)

In the Second Prophecy of Mandos (present in most versions of Tolkien's Quenta Silmarillion, but omitted from the final Silmarillion due to a perceived incompatibility by Christopher Tolkien), it's mentioned that Melkor will emerge from the door of night after the world and it's powers grow old and weary (the powers being the Ainur, which includes the Balrogs). This indicates that even the gods will grow old and fade as the elves do, which could imply that Durin's Bane is actually just faded and weakened from age and inactivity, since the balrog was sleeping under the mountain for ~5400 years (assuming it participated in the final battle of the war of wrath and hid itself under Khazad-dûm immediately after Melkor's expulsion). Also, there were no more than 3 or 7 balrogs ever according to later writings by Tolkien, which indicates that no balrog was weak or cowardly.

In regards to Melkor's wailing and summoning of the balrogs: Ungoliant ensnared Melkor in Lammoth, which is described as being near the ruins of Angband where the balrogs awaited Melkor's return. It is said that the balrogs rushed swiftly to Melkor's aid, but there is no indication that the wailing was short. In fact, Lammoth is also known as the land of "the Great Echo" where the wailing of Melkor could still be heard ever after, which to me indicates that the wails were prolonged and intense rather than a swift "yelp" followed by a rescue. With this interpretation, it makes sense to me that the balrogs marched quickly, but still took time to rescue Melkor, which would eliminate the possibility of teleportation or sonic the hedgehog running.

Another interesting writing to note is the involvement of balrogs riding flying fire drakes in the Fall of Gondolin. Now, the Fall of Gondolin is definitely an unfinished tale, and was "neglected" more than the other two great tales/lays of Tolkien's later focus, but there are still consistencies between versions that indicate a certainty of specific elements in Tolkien's mind. In each version, there is mention of balrogs riding to battle atop flying fire drakes to assail the city while orcs and trolls attempt to break the walls. This would indicate to me that balrogs could not fly unaided, which would make any wings they have vestigial (unlikely since they are divine), or more a "cloak" of fire.

That was something I actually really liked about old Twitter: with only 140 characters (or whatever the original limit was), you really couldn't add the extra fluff to soften your opinion. You just said what you meant as succinctly as possible and let the masses react as they will.

I'd like to think it forced more people to go "mask off" with their opinions and stop hiding behind fluff, but it also perpetuated an attitude of toxicity that made Twitter ripe for extremist exploitation

I've never done it and now I feel bad :(