Are balrogs stronger than dragons?
The TLDR version: the average Balrog is more powerful than the average dragon, but the available evidence suggests that the greatest dragons were more powerful than Balrogs.
How strong are the balrogs?
Balrogs were exceptionally powerful creatures. Only seven Balrogs were required to drive away Ungoliant, a large monster powerful enough to devour the fruits of Telperion, which produced the light for billions of stars.
Can Smaug defeat a Balrog?
Dragons and Balrogs are both, in origin, Maia spirits. Smaug isn’t Maiar, but his power is equivalent. Smaug would snatch up Durin’s Bane and gobble him up with his sword-sharp teeth (and we know swords can kill Balrogs). There you have it.
What were trolls like in The Lord of the Rings?
They were strong and vicious but stupid; as in The Hobbit, they turned to stone in sunlight. During the wars of Beleriand, Gothmog (the Lord of Balrogs) had a bodyguard of trolls.
How effective were the Balrogs and Dragons in The Hobbit?
The release of the winged dragons—Smaug’s ancestors—however, was “so sudden and ruinous…that the host of the Valar were driven back.” Tolkien doesn’t provide the number of dragons or Balrogs here, so we can’t know how much the sheer quantity of Balrogs and dragons played a part. Still, the dragons proved more effective in battle.
Are the Balrogs Morgoth’s servants?
And indeed, in The Silmarillion, the Balrogs rank above all Morgoth’s servants, aside from Sauron himself.
Do balrogs have wings?
Sure, they have wings. But so do ostriches, and you don’t see them flocking high in the skies over Africa. Even if Balrogs can fly—and nothing Tolkien ever wrote indicates that they can—then they clearly suck at it. Of the few Balrogs we know about, two fell into chasms—Durin’s Bane and the one defeated by Glorfindel.