Home » Reading & Literature » J.R.R. Tolkien » Does Barliman Have a Beard? And Other Important Fannish Issues - Page 10

Does Barliman Have a Beard? And Other Important Fannish Issues - Page 10

© Michael Martinez

Does the Balrog command the orcs? Seriously, people want to know. Who is in charge of the army of orcs? Sauron? The Balrog? Bolg's unnamed son? The poor Balrog seems to get fewer votes than Sauron. Never mind the fact that the Balrog is clearly the toughest guy in the neighborhood. Apparently the mere mention of Sauron's name should be enough to cow him into submission, right? But wait! Sauron doesn't let his servants speak his proper name. So what would the Uruks tell the Balrog when they show? "Well, matey, Lugburz sent us to keep an eye on the place." "Who is Lugburz?" ZZZZIIPPPP! Hold it! Does that Balrog actually talk? Can it talk? Whose commanding voice is it that the Fellowship hears in Moria? This is actually (so far) one of the less inflammatory debates. I can't really argue it one way or the other, although I believe the Balrog is the boss guy. Why? Why not? Tolkien didn't say he wasn't.... Nonetheless, talking about whether the Balrog can actually speak usually leads to someone mentioning letter 210, where Tolkien says the Balrog doesn't speak. Hm. Careful inspection of the letter reveals that Tolkien was reviewing the script written by Morton Grady Zimmerman. The Balrog paragraph concerns the scene in Moria (we know this because...well, because that is the only place where one finds a Balrog!).

The Balrog never speaks or makes any vocal sound at all. Above all he does not laugh or sneer....Z may think that he knows more about Balrogs than I do, but he cannot expect me to agree with him.

Well, the fact is that the Balrog does cry out as it tumbles into the chasm in the book. Either Tolkien forgot that or else he was referring to the part of the scene where the Balrog simply comes up through the orcs and says nothing as it moves closer to the Fellowship. Is it really important if the Balrog speaks? Not that I have seen, but then, maybe it has something to do with the fact that Bombadil doesn't fit in a dramatic adaptation of The Lord of the Ring. Only, most such adaptations include him (the first BBC radio adaptation included him, the second BBC adaptation was revised to include him, the Mind's Eye adaptation included him, and Morton Grady Zimmerman included him in the first attempt to create a screenplay based on the book). I am reminded of something that H. Beam Piper wrote in Little Fuzzy: you can find a precedent for anything in colonial law. Meaning that in his future history there were supposed to have been enough court cases that every oddball grievance and conflict had been rendered as some sort of verdict.

The copyright of the article Does Barliman Have a Beard? And Other Important Fannish Issues - Page 10 in J.R.R. Tolkien is owned by Michael Martinez. Permission to republish Does Barliman Have a Beard? And Other Important Fannish Issues - Page 10 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.