A Balrog of Morgoth
“Fools. No one can tame a Balrog.”
Balrogs (also called Balrogs of Morgoth) are an enemy that appears in Middle-earth: Shadow of War in the form of Tar Goroth, the secondary antagonist of Carnán Quest Line.
They were lesser Maiar corrupted by Morgoth to his cause, descending to Middle-earth alongside him as dreadful foes to its denizens. Wreathed in terrible shapes of composed of shadow entwined with fire and darkness they served as destructive powerhouses or even as commanders for his armies in the Wars of the First Age that devastated much of Beleriand . After the casting out of their master the surviving Balrogs hid in the crevices and tunnels dug by nameless things beneath the mountains of Middle-earth, disturbed only perhaps by the excavations of goblins and Dwarves.
History[]
Lured by the apparent glory and mastery of the Vala Morgoth when Arda was being fashioned, these Maiar were suborned by him and took the guises of fiery demons after following him to Middle-earth. The Balrogs soon proved themselves to be fearsome opponents in the Wars of the First Age even for the greatest warriors, slaying many notable Elven lords and champions. Not willing to issue forth from his subterranean fortress, Morgoth relied on the Balrogs to wreak havoc in Beleriand and lead his hosts in the sieges of the last kingdoms of the Elves. However, the triumph of the Host of the West over Morgoth in the War of Wrath depleted most of his forces, so that the last Balrogs fled in haste the victors' ire and concealed themselves in inaccessible places at the roots of Middle-earth.
In the Third Age, a Balrog was awakened in Moria by the Dwarves who delved too deep for the precious mithril, as well the aura of Sauron's nearby presence. Earning the name "Durin's Bane" for slaying King Durin VI, the creature drove them from their ancestral home, but remaining tolerant of the evil things with which Sauron peopled Moria afterwards. Later when the new ring was forged, its call was heard by the slumbering Balrog Tar Goroth in Gorgoroth. This did not go unnoticed, however, by Sauron, such that his ambitious minion Zog and his Acolytes went there to raise the demon and recruit him to their master's banner. Instead, the uncontrollable Tar Goroth burned some of his saviors and went on a wild rampage, being put down at last in Seregost by the combined efforts of Celebrimbor, Talion and Carnán.
Gallery[]
