Q: How Did Gandalf Kill the Balrog?
ANSWER: J.R.R. Tolkien does not provide details on the cause of the Balrog’s death. The only description of the Balrog’s last moments that has been published to date is Gandalf’s brief account from The Two Towers:
‘There upon Celebdil was a lonely window in the snow, and before it lay a narrow space, a dizzy eyrie above the mists of the world. The sun shone fiercely there, but all below was wrapped in cloud. Out he sprang, and even as I came behind, he burst into new flame. There was none to see, or perhaps in after ages songs would still be sung of the Battle of the Peak.’ Suddenly Gandalf laughed. ‘But what would they say in song? Those that looked up from afar thought that the mountain was crowned with storm. Thunder they heard, and lightning, they said, smote upon Celebdil, and leaped back broken into tongues of fire. Is not that enough? A great smoke rose about us, vapour and steam. Ice fell like rain. I threw down my enemy, and he fell from the high place and broke the mountain-side where he smote it in his ruin. Then darkness took me; and I strayed out of thought and time, and I wandered far on roads that I will not tell.
The sentence where Gandalf says “I threw down my enemy, and he fell from the high place and broke the mountain-side where he smote it in his ruin” is somewhat controversial for people interpret it in different ways. However, Tolkien uses these expressions (“threw down” and “in [something’s] ruin”) in other passages where it is clear that he is using figurative, almost poetic language.
That is, “to throw down” means “to vanquish, defeat, slay” and “in ruin” means “in death, destruction, defeat”. In other words, one would have to assume that Tolkien was departing from his (probably) subconscious idiomatic rules in order to mean something other than “I defeated my enemy, and he fell from the high place and broke the mountain-side where he smote it in his destruction.”
The Balrogs incarnate body was destroyed or broken as a result of the fall but the wording implies that he was already dead or mortally stricken by the time he hit the mountainside. The two other passages I can think of where Tolkien describes a creature falling and hitting something “in its ruin” are the descriptions of the deaths of Ancalagon the Black and Smaug, both of whom were mortally wounded as they flew through the air. They fell from the sky because they were dead or dying and could no longer propel themselves through the air.
The Balrog of Moria probably could not have been killed by a simple fall from a mountainside, but that is just a guess based on an earlier passage where Gandalf describes his faceless encounter with a powerful foe at the entrance to one of the doors to the Chamber of Mazarbul:
Suddenly at the top of the stair there was a stab of white light. Then there was a dull rumble and a heavy thud. The drum-beats broke out wildly: doom-boom, doom-boom, and then stopped. Gandalf came flying down the steps and fell to the ground in the midst of the Company.
`Well, well! That’s over! ‘ said the wizard struggling to his feet. `I have done all that I could. But I have met my match, and have nearly been destroyed. But don’t stand here! Go on! You will have to do without light for a while: I am rather shaken. Go on! Go on! Where are you, Gimli? Come ahead with me! Keep close behind, all of you!’
…
`As I stood there I could hear orc-voices on the other side: at any moment I thought they would burst it open. I could not hear what was said; they seemed to be talking in their own hideous language. All I caught was ghâsh; that is “fire”. Then something came into the chamber – I felt it through the door, and the orcs themselves were afraid and fell silent. It laid hold of the iron ring, and then it perceived me and my spell.‘What it was I cannot guess, but I have never felt such a challenge. The counter-spell was terrible. It nearly broke me. For an instant the door left my control and began to open! I had to speak a word of Command. That proved too great a strain. The door burst in pieces. Something dark as a cloud was blocking out all the light inside, and I was thrown backwards down the stairs. All the wall gave way, and the roof of the chamber as well, I think.
The “something dark as a cloud” description seems to agree with the later description of the Balrog, which was man-shaped but dark and enveloped in a darkness (that Tolkien figuratively describes as a “shadow”). In fact, only the Balrog appears to have the kind of power this dark thing on the other side of the door wields, so it’s reasonable to infer that it’s the Balrog.
On the basis of that inferential identification we can conclude that Gandalf dropped a lot of rock either directly in front of or on top of the Balrog as it stood inside the Chamber of Mazarbul. The burst of power and the collapse of the roof of the chamber is something beyond the capabilities of any other members of the Fellowship; and Gandalf merely comes “flying” (running) down the stairs. Presumably the Balrog survived the explosion and cave-in as well.
So given that the Balrog was able to survive a sudden cave-in, continue its pursuit of Gandalf, and then survive a fall into an unmeasured chasm only to land in water, subsequent to which it ran through unmapped underground chambers and then up 10,000 (perhaps figuratively numbered) steps of the Endless Stair to engage in a final showdown with Gandalf on the peak of the mountain — a confrontation which lasted for about two days (according to Appendix B) — well, it seems reasonable to conclude that the Balrog was not easily defeated or slain.
Since Gandalf himself died as a result of the duel it is doubtful he would have used less than his full power against his enemy; and the Balrog itself must have used all of its power against Gandalf. Nonetheless, the details of the struggle are not provided. Tolkien merely glosses over the back-and-forth of the fight; and he does not describe what Gandalf and the Balrog were actually doing to each other. They caused a lot of light bursts, thunder-like noise, explosive impacts on the mountaintop, etc.
If you are writing fan fiction or a role-playing adventure you are free to use your imagination about what an Istar (Wizard) or Balrog is capable of doing. They wielded great power in their full wrath and were capable of causing considerable destruction to the landscape. In fact, Gandalf’s battle with the Balrog seems rather tame compared to the destruction of Beleriand in the War of Wrath. Imagine two armies of such great and powerful beings clashing and blasting away at each other for decades (NOTE: Not all of Morgoth’s Maiaric followers were Balrogs).
See also …
Why Do You Say that Balrogs Evolved? When Did They Evolve?
What is the Hithlum Passage and Why Is It Important?
Learn more about Gandalf here …
What Was the Source of Gandalf’s Fireworks?
How Much Power Did Gandalf Have?
Why Does Gandalf Say, “Fly You Fools”?
How Long Did Gandalf and the Balrog Fall?
Did Gandalf Really Die after Killing the Balrog?
How Does Gandalf Get His Staff Back?
Why Does Gandalf Leave Bilbo and the Dwarves in The Hobbit?
Could the Lord of the Nazgûl Have Defeated Gandalf?
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Ohh yes I see this with my mind, hehe. I have, maybe stupid, question (another one, what’s with me?:). We know that Gandalf besides making flashlight-like effect can use this light in more deadly manner:
,,But not Gandalf. Bilbo’s yell had done that much good. It had wakened him up wide in a splintered second, and when the goblins came to grab him, there was a terrific flash like lightning in the cave, a smell like gunpowder, and several of them fell dead.” Does that mean, he, you know, can shoot lightning?? (that sounds stupid isn’t it hehe). And there are those hints that Sauron can affect the weather (,,governs the storms in the Mountains of Shadow”, and this passage in Two Towers, where storm ,,smites Vale of Anduin with hail and lightning” conveniently in places where ,,Sauron’s thought brooded for a while”, and Great Signal response from Minas Morgul, ,,blue flame and lightning”, Witch-king by the way is too rumoured to affect weather, and Osse making storms on the sea). Anyway, is it possible that Maiar and Valar can just harness the lightning at will (another hint is Finwe’s death, his body somewhere in HoME is described as being burned like by lightning, and Sauron’s downfall when his dark shape is ,,lightning crowned”). We also know that Tolkien had a manenr of writing instead something simply is, something is like something (I hope you understand what I mean). What do you think?:):).