The Balrogs were Maiar corrupted by Morgoth during the creation of Arda, who cloaked themselves in shadow and flame and carried whips and swords. Famed Balrogs include Gothmog, slain by Ecthelion, and Durin's Bane, slain by Gandalf.
Gandalf was able to kill the Balrog, but he never considered fighting Smaug. Instead, they sent Thorin and his company of dwarves to do the job while he dealt with the Necromancer in southern Mirkwood.
The Elf Ecthelion leads the charge against the Orcs, and fights Gothmog, the greatest Balrog; they wound each other and both fall into the king's fountain in Gondolin; both drown.
Probably not. Aragorn was the greatest huntsman of his age and a mighty warrior, but he was only a mortal Man; whereas the Balrog was a Maia. As Gandalf himself said to the rest of the Fellowship, including Aragorn, "this foe is beyond any of you."
Who Could & Couldn't Defeat the Balrog? Ft. Sauron
Could Galadriel have defeated the Balrog?
7 Durin's Bane - The Balrog
Throughout Tolkien's works, two characters, Gandalf and Glorfindel, faced off against a Balrog, and though they won, the battle cost them their lives. Though Galadriel herself never (as far as we know) went face to face with a Balrog, she would likely have met her match if she did.
Secondly, Balrogs were the epitome of malice and power while Sauron only ever won one of three fights he ever had. Sauron was the great deceiver. His power lies in planning, subterfuge, manipulation, and corruption.
Oh, yes, there are creatures more frightful than Balrogs in Middle Earth. Ungoliant who was able to cry havoc in all Valinor is easily more terrifying than Balrogs, even Morgoth feared its gigantic and hideous form. It took a group of Balrogs and Morgoth himself resisting Ungoliant's attack to make her flee.
The Battle of the Peak was Gandalf's name for his climactic battle with the Balrog known as Durin's Bane, on the peak of the mountain called Silvertine. Gandalf pursued the Balrog from the deepests dungeons of Moria to Durin's Tower, climbing through the whole Endless Stair.
In all of Tolkien's text I've read, there are three people who have killed a Balrog. Ecthellion, Glorfindel and of course Gandalf. All of these fights ended in a draw with all three sacrificing their lives for the deed.
Glorfindel fought the Balrog and succeeded in slaying the monster, but was himself mortally wounded. His body was recovered by the great eagle Thorondor and buried under a stone cairn, where afterward grew yellow flowers.
Balrog vs dragon, as a general setup, is simple to answer. Balrog. Even in the earliest writings, when Balrogs were much, much weaker and more numerous than they are in the conceptions you probably identify with them (as in, what Gandalf fights), Balrogs are stated outright to be more powerful than dragons.
Gothmog, one of the first Balrogs to become Morgoth's allies in the First Age, is regarded as the most powerful Balrog in Middle-earth. As the High Captain of Angband, he is given the title 'Lord of Balrogs'. Although he carries a fiery whip to battle just like the rest, he is also renowned for having a large black ax.
The Balrogs, or Valaraukar (singular Valarauko, Quenya for "Demon of power"), were three to seven Maiar seduced and corrupted by Morgoth into his service, turning into dreadful Úmaiar and scourges of fire cloaked in shadow.
First off, it simply wasn't his job and doing so would have bordered on breaking the mandate of the Istari. He -- along with the other wizards -- was sent from Valinor to oppose Sauron by stirring up resistance amongst the free peoples of Middle-earth.
For more than five millennia, the Balrog hibernated in his deep hiding place at the roots of the mountains in Khazad-dûm. He remained undisturbed throughout the Second Age and most of the Third, before the mithril-miners of dwarf-King Durin VI awoke him in T.A. 1980.
The only recorded instances of Balrogs having been slain are Gandalf's slay of Durin's Bane, Echtelion's slay of Gothmog and Glorfindel's slay of an unnamed Balrog. “A Balrog of Morgoth, deadliest of all elf-banes, save the o…
If the Balrogs are corrupted Maiar, then would Saruman eventually become one? Saruman wouldn't become a Balrog, because his nature is inherently different and he's kind of stuck in the body he's in.
Morgoth, the first to reign terror upon Middle-earth, was more powerful than Sauron and commanded an army of dragons and Balrogs. While both Morgoth and Sauron were cunning, Morgoth's rule and terror lasted longer and his corruption spread further, making him more formidable in the Lord of the Rings universe.
