Gothmog, Lord of Balrogs | Tolkien Explained

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Balrog - Jerry Vanderstelt
Lungorthin - Anastasiya Cemetery
Gothmog - Steve Airola
Gothmog, Lord of Balrogs, Confronts Fingon - Kip Rasmussen
The Fall of Gondolin - Aronja Art
birth of the valar - skullb*st*rd
melkor - kuliszu
balrog - Kinko White
sauron - kuliszu
melkor and sauron - anotherstranger_me
balrog - Kinko White
Gothmog - Anastasiya Cemetery
Balrog - John Howe
Valar Battle - Felix Englund
Foundations of Barad-dur - John Howe
Balrog - John Howe
the might of morgoth - dracarysdrekkar
Ungoliant Demands the Silmarils - Ted Nasmith
Ungoliant Ensnares Morgoth - Kip Rasmussen
the fall of gondolin, glorfindel vs balrog - mellorianj
ungoliant - dracarysdrekkar
balrog - WETA
Balrog - John Howe
awakening of the elves - kuliszu
elves - steamey
nameless battle - steamey
fingolfin, high king of elves - skullb*st*rd
Balrog - JG Jones
Fëanor's last stand at Dagor-nuin-Giliath - Pete Amachree
But Morgoth sent the more - Catherine Chmiel
Fingon and Gothmog - Ted Nasmith
death of feanor - Jenny Dolfen
Balrog - John Howe
Battle of Sudden Flame - Alan Lee
Two Valaraukar, or Balrogs, at Nírnaeth Arnoediad - Pete Amachree
Glaurung at the Fifth Battle - Kip Rasmussen
war of wrath - dracarysdrekkar
morgoth fingolfin challenge - Pete Amachree
fingolfin vs morgoth - mattleese87
Luthien in the court of Morgoth - Pete Amachree
Gwindor's Charge - Peter Xavier Price
battle of five armies, elves of mirkwood - tulikoura
the oath, sauron and his lieutenant - anotherstranger_me
sauron - anotherstranger_me
Sauron - Shadow of War
glorfindel and the balrog on the edge of the cliff - steamey
Fingon & Turgon - YidanYuan
Balrog - John_Howe
fingon in a battle with the balrogs - steamey
Death of Fingon - Tuuliky
Death of Fingon - YidanYuan
Fingon death - YidanYuan
Nirnaeth Arnoediad, Unnumbered Tears - Jenny Dolfen
Balrog - John_Howe
Aure Entuluva - Jenny Dolfen
Hurin - Steamey
Gothmog Strikes Fingon Down - Joona Kujanen
Bane of Durin - Jerry Vanderstelt
Moria - Angus McBride
the bridge of khazad-dum gandalf vs balrog - kuliszu
Ecthelion and Gothmog - Abe_Papakhian
Morgoth's Force before Gondolin - John Howe
The Siege of Gondolin - John Howe
turgon, fall of gondolin - YidanYuan
fall of gondolin - CK Goksoy
the last stand, ecthelion - dracarysdrekkar
Ecthelion of the Fountain - Daniel Dougherty
Ecthelion and Gothmog - Sara M. Morello
glorfindel and the balrog on the edge of the cliff - steamey
Ecthelion - Lord of the Fountain - Daniel Govar
ecthelion, lord of the fountain, gondolin - dracarysdrekkar
ecthelion of the fountain - sara-morello
glorfindel battle balrog - alystraea-art
Battle in the distance - Felix Englund
eagle - Anato Finnstark
The Dwarves Delve Too Deep - Ted Nasmith
Gothmog - John Howe
Gothmog, Lieutenant of Morgul - John_Howe
orc berserker - WETA
Shagrat - John Howe
orc berserker - WETA
Orc warrior - Elrodimus Flash
Moria - John Howe
#tolkien #lordoftherings #balrog

[@NerdoftheRings]

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[@pattonramming1988]

What's the title of the outro theme? Also cane we have more history of the Noldor

[@eneasihopoi9786]

Have you done a video on arathorn, father of Aragorn?

[@mediaman271]

@@pattonramming1988 Roaming the Fields by Kyle Preston

[@Thorrnn]

I used to love syntax wars

[@Erebusdidnothingwrongish]

This aged perfectly. What's a Star Wars?

[@traviscummings9178]

Whoever decided to give the Balrog in Fellowship of the Ring a roar like a crackling flame instead of a more traditional roar definitely deserves a raise. Still gives me goosebumps whenever I hear it

[@JohnyAngelo]

It was depicted very well indeed in the trilogy. Original and yet true to the book. And Gandalf saying "This foe is beyond any of you." with Legolas looking scared knowing far too well, what balrog is, is one of my favorite scenees/quotes from the trilogy.

[@GullibleTarget]

You can just 'hear' the heat.

[@rogueascendant6611]

Like a burning furnace

[@Mechadondada]

I seem to remember the foley artists dragged cinderblocks on concrete to create that sound. It’s brilliant.

[@Xrskppn]

@@Mechadondada boom yes that’s it. Cinderblocks never sounded so cool 🎉

[@wouter.de.ruiter]

Their master is beaten, but do the Balrogs give up? Oh no! They patiently wait 4000 years until they hear from him again and what is the first they hear? A cry for help, because Morgoth got into a bit of trouble with a giant spider. So they rush to rescue him. Gotta give it to the Balrogs: they are loyal, patient, and always ready to help their friends. Not bad character traits.

[@randomshittutorials]

If they were free I would commend them. I'd say they are rather consumed by darkness.

[@Blessed_V0id]

​@@randomshittutorialsThey were free. By their own choice they choose to serve Melkor. It is this very statement that is the hypocrisy of Alluvitar. You are free to serve me, in how I want, in a cruel and uncaring world. Let Lord Morgoth burn it all away, Sauron never understood his philosophy

[@lachlanparker570]

Ironically more virtuous than Elrond (at least in the live-action movies), who was a heartless prick at times.

[@universalflamethrower6342]

@@Blessed_V0id that is not Hypocrisy at all, there is no life without Eru, because he is the source and without the source you will eventually die. A tree without roots will die. So creatures are free to choose to acknowledge this reality or not. When Creatures like Maiar choose to not serve Eru they choose Death and are irredeemable because they have perfect knowledge of the consequences. However creatures with bodies do not fall into this category, they do not have perfect knowledge and can repent of their actions precisely because they have mortal bodies who have limited existence. For us it is never too late to repent, we can even repent and be baptized on our deathbeds.

[@feliciaf8]

@@Blessed_V0id what hypocrisy, and u can't even wrote his name right

[@EmblemParade]

It's important to remember that Sauron and the balrogs were kin (fallen Maiar), and thus it's easy to imagine a rivalry of sorts between Sauron and Gothmog, as well as peer respect and loyalty. The death of Gothmog paved the way for Sauron's rise. The true homology of "Melkor and the balrogs" would be "Sauron and the Nazgûl". Sauron was not powerful enough to corrupt his peers, but could corrupt humans.

[@danielhamilton351]

Only Sauron did corrupt his peer in Saruman.

[@uwesca6263]

​@@danielhamilton351 but saruman was not at the height of his power. And both of them served aule. Maybe they had some sort of history together before sauran swore alliance morgoth

[@danielhamilton351]

@@uwesca6263 it doesn't matter. The OP said Sauron didn't have the power to corrupt his own kind. I just refuted that with a clear example of Sauron corrupting his own kind.

[@jeremywilliams5107]

Melkor/balrogs Sauron/Nazgul is a nice analogue I hadn't considered. Thanks... Now as to Sauron not being able to corrupt his peers, FWIW I think he could have. Tolkien refers to Arda as being almost 'Morgoths Ring', as though his power had been transferred into Middle Earth. My opinion: Sauron was able to use this, possibly because he was the only one who understood the principle. The balrogs and dragons were fairly solitary creatures after the overthrow of Morgoth, not seeking rule, possibly because they were in some way subject to and directed by the will of Melkor and were a bit lost as to what to do afterwards. But not Sauron; and therefore other fallen Maiar would have been susceptible to his will.

[@istari0]

Sauron may not have been a Vala but he was extraordinarily powerful and was Melkor/Morgoth's lieutenant long before the Fall of Gondolin and just like all creatures, Maia are individuals with varying levels of abilities. It's just that prior to Morgoth's defeat in the War of Wrath, he was the one who had corrupted assorted Maia to his service and afterwards there were no uncorrupted Maia in Middle-Earth until the Istari arrived.

[@itsatrap1017]

Fëanor really got on such a gamer roll of taking players down that he didn’t notice he was approaching an enemy spawn zone.

[@tommythetrain1945]

Right! Just kept going!!

[@MrARock001]

It's interesting to consider Orc culture seeing the Balrogs as ancient heroes who defeated their ancient foes at Gondolin, and naming their babies after them.

[@joshuastrittmatter4188]

I never even thought of that before! That’s an amazing observation for why that one orc was named Gothmog.

[@Jakblade]

speaking of orc babies. They actually put one in rings of power lol

[@MrARock001]

@@Jakblade yeah, that show isn't shy about taking a stance on orc lore that Tolkien famously wrestled with doing himself.

[@Gilliganfrog]

Orcs were terrified of Balrogs. None of them were going to be naming their children after Balrogs.

[@LegaretoXIV]

There is something really nice about the fact that killing a Balrog always come with a great sacrifice (life) and also linked to a great fall in the abyss and/or fountain (fallen maia are killed by a great fall). Well, one does not simply kill a balrog. Great video as always!👍👍👍👍

[@johndododoe1411]

Same for killing other Maiar . Sauron's death came with the fall of both Gollum and Mt. Doom, who killed him together . Saruman's death came with the death of Grima (his killer) .

[@joshuastanek3317]

Considering that the wizards, Sauron, and the Balrogs are all Maiar, I'd be very interested in an explanation of the diversity of Maiar appearances and traits in Middle Earth.

[@ZENmud]

The Balrogs seem to have mutated, towards an outer "skin" more nearly asbestos than human flesh...

[@LordMortanius]

The Balrogs became permanently incarnate in their current forms. The Istari were Maiar bound to a single human form. Sauron retained his innate power and was only crippled in that he could not assume a fair, deceptive form after Numenor. It's why Balrogs and the Istari could permanently die, while Sauron's defeat required the destruction of all his power and his fortress falling on him - his spirit is then permanently dispersed and reduced to a minor spirit of malice.

[@danielhamilton351]

@@LordMortanius the Maiar do not permanently die. They are immortal spirits. That's the nature of being immortal. As a matter of fact, no created being by Eru permanently dies. The physical body dies but not the spirit.

[@davidlundquist1979]

@@LordMortanius You're taking things that were merely implied and treating them as hard and fast rules. From what I can see, Tolkien was not big on strict rules for anything. The powers his various godlike beings had, and the exact nature of their existence, were always in service to the narrative, not vice versa.

[@LordMortanius]

@@davidlundquist1979 The diminishment of power is fairly evident in Tolkien's works. Morgoth and Sauron were both so utterly diminished after their final defeats that they could never affect the world again. Morgoth is especially called out in Morgoth's Ring; "Morgoth was thus actually made captive in physical form, and in that form taken as a mere criminal to Aman and delivered to Namo Mandos as judge - and executioner. He was judged, and eventually taken out of the Blessed Realm and executed: that is killed like one of the Incarnates. It was then made plain (though it must have been understood before by Manwe and Namo) that, though he had 'disseminated' his power (his evil and possessive and rebellious will) far and wide into the matter of Arda, he had lost direct control of this, and all that 'he', as a surviving remnant of integral being, retained as 'himself' and under control was the terribly shrunken and reduced spirit that inhabited his self-imposed (but now beloved) body."

[@jakermaker9697]

Still love the imagery of his battle over the fountain in Gondolin with Ecthelion! It is seriously one of the paragraphs that made me fall in love with Tolkien’s legendarium beyond the movies back in the early 2000s

[@anthonykampe8776]

Ecthelion earned the best balrog kill

[@brandscape356]

Gotta love the old "Lost Tales" version of the Fall of Gondolin, for having more detail about Ecthelion and the Balrog, as much as it doesn't really fit in with the later conception of the legendarium.

[@Goodbutevilgenius]

The "Melkor VS Manwë" art at 1:32 is awesome.

[@NerdoftheRings]

It's indeed EPIC!

[@Campbellot93]

Does that art piece take place during the First War in Arda?

[@user-yn6eu7xc5i]

Very nice looking art in itself, but this is a very interesting Tolkien myth question I've always wondered about and seen so many different versions of floating around and depicted... I've never gotten the impression that the Valar had that Aladdin's-giant-genies, Christianity-based-imagery type of classic God-in-the-clouds forms such as that artwork depicts, and though they could definitely take different forms, shrink and expand in size and many other powerful transformations, all in all the most probable faithful rendition style that remains the most consistently fitting with the many epochs and ages worth of events in the literature, is depicting them as enormous humanoids clad in great physical armors and clothes befitting demi-Gods (albeit exquisitely and magically created/imbued, far above what elves or men could craft), and obviously with incredible powers of numerous kinds allowed to them, which seems to be their Tolkien-intended rendition and form as he originally meant, by all accounts. This was also the visual impression I first got when I read the Silmarillion, Hobbit and LotR books in the late 90's even before the first movies came out, and then only afterward saw the Jackson production's depicted versions. Such impressively large (relative to men and elves) but still more terrestrial-scale physicalized forms overall are far more congruent to reconcile with the lore and events, and also with the "physics" of Arda as how beings tend to manifest, even when the Valar/Maiar were battling other fallen Valar/Maiar directly in some of the great God-on-God wars of the earlier ages. This more "large humanoid" consistency also holds up quite regularly throughout the ages in the direct interactions between any of the Ainur and elves/men, who on many an occasion could actually go toe-to-toe and even win or often wound the fallen Ainur, something that would be impossible if they were or even could easily switch to some kind of giant-floaty-genie God-like form.

[@TomLaios]

Gothmog just reeks of badassery. When he was a snarky teenager he was known as Emog.

[@jmpsthrufyre]

He was probably a goth/emo

[@adrianalvarez8163]

Lol

[@wesspect]

he was never the same after he wandered into the lands of Hottopic

[@JohnnyElias-f9f]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@sagesigman8269]

How dare you, sir! Gothmog is my friend and you may be his dad but you can't tell us what to do! We work at Hot Topic now and in the Spring we're going to run away! 😂 (My Goth/Emo Soul cries out in shame at our meeting!)

[@talesoftheeldar8688]

Noldor king kill count: Morgoth 2(finwe and fingolfin) Gothmog 2 (Fingon Feanor) Sauron 1 (gilgalad) Touer 1 (tugon)

[@Filya-chan]

Thank you for supporting artists!

[@wardaddy6595]

@1:52, Waiting 4000 years for the Boss to show up. Yeah, I've been in meetings like that!

[@_sssnips]

How amazing JRRT really was....to create not only the trilogy of all trilogies, but to have so much amazing backstory and characters bloody hell leaves you starving for more!!!

[@pandoraeeris7860]

So Morgoth and Gothmog walk into a goth club...

[@truthseeker6532]

Nice one!!!!!!!!!

[@mr.awesomeausten3456]

😅

[@misterhat6395]

And he then smote Gothmog with a golf club

[@justincook1736]

Where he was given a new name, morgolf

[@TFM123]

One of the coolest characters in fantasy. A lot of people usually think of Durin's Bane, but Gothmog is the most powerful of the Balrogs. Gothmog was even considered very close to Sauron in terms of ranking in Morgoth's army.

[@Edward-W]

Goodness... The arwork showcased in this episode is incredile. Thank you for sharing. I'll make sure to follow these incredible artists

[@Drew151Proof]

love Tolkien. and you did a great job narrating this. thank you! the Elves who fought these demons must have been the bravest middle earth ever saw

[@claytonhosty9876]

Thank you for this amazing video on Gothmog, servant of Morgoth. Not many videos exist on this subject. Interesting!👍

[@Nuck-Fo0bZz]

All this art is just INCREDIBLE! Just looking at all of it and listening gives me goosebumps.

[@michaelwhitney8326]

Can we take a short moment to agree how creepy and unlike the books the Balrog in the 1978 version is. 😂

[@loonowolf2160]

Indeed, the unscary balrog that would make you yawn and get bored and stay like this🗿 from someone that is not scary at all

[@OscyJack-]

​@@loonowolf2160 by that standard, gandalf, saruman, all of the races of man and elf would be considered non-scary. So, I have to disagree :).

[@loonowolf2160]

@Oscyjack well that wuite interesting and gonna agree with you mate, and yes your saying the truth has for me I never watched this thing of 50 years ago, I'm a 2001 boy sl tf I know of this other trash show, that there is narrator that talk on third person has well... is stupid

[@Darkstar_Dayne]

​@@OscyJack- But Balrogs are supposed to be scary regardless of their original forms

[@OscyJack-]

@@Darkstar_Dayne that's my point. In any form, they are scary. Just like melian, gandalf, saruman, etc. All are scary by definition, or, in the case of the elves, fell. Even the beautiful anatar was scary. Looks don't infer the scariness or power of a being in Tolkien's world, in other words.

[@michaelwhitney8326]

Also please do make another video on the powers of Balrogs, they’re evil, but so awesome!

[@dragonchr15]

Is there any more to be added??

[@michaelwhitney8326]

@@dragonchr15 I was thinking specifics on things like whether or not, they can teleport through fire and shadow like they did in the Peter Jackson interpretation, whether or not they can fly, whether or not they can breathe fire, things like that.

[@oguzhanenescetin5702]

@@michaelwhitney8326 Even without wings every single Maia has the power of flight. They can teleport before being stuck in bodies which is interesting as we dont know a timeline where they werent corrupted/stuck They cant breath fire but they can throw fire bolts. I remember reading it in the Fall of Gondolin

[@amarniel]

I actually liked LOTRO's theory that Third Age Gothmog was actually Earnur after he was tortured in the Black Land, following him answering the Witch King's taunt. The story in The Black Book of Mordor quest line is very beautifully written.

[@brohanfromrohan5771]

Lord of the Rings Online had an interesting interpretation of Gothmog from the third age. When Eanur rode to Minas Morgul to challenge the Witch King and disappeared, he was captured and twisted into becoming Mordirith, the Steward of Angmar. After you defeat him, he's later given a second chance by the Witch King and brought back as Gothmog.

[@TheBittersweetFox]

One of the best scenes in filmography: YOU! SHALL NOT! PASS! Every time I see that scene I am sooooooo out of this world.

[@devildante9]

It's such a shame that they made Gandalf shout his speech instead of chanting it, it makes it almost impossible to hear clearly if you don't have subtitles enabled. It's the most awesome part of that scene, if you are paying attention at Gandalf's words.

[@shehansenanayaka3046]

Brilliant video. We always appreciate your hard work and dedication towards these videos. Love from Sri Lankan fan of you.

[@diesvuik7823]

A video about the powers of the Maiar would be really nice! It's still slightly unclear to me what they're able to do and their levels (like gray/white wizards).

[@LordMortanius]

There are no 'levels'. There seems to be a division of power, with greater spirits like Sauron, Eonwe and Ilmare on one side and lesser spirits like the balrogs and the Istari on the other.

[@Akulion1]

I enjoy ur videos a lot, thanks for making them. Apart from the Andy Serkis narration of LOTR which I must have listened to at least 5 times I enjoy listening to your narrations as well. Even without the videos (which are amazing) the audio makes great listening. Thanks for your dedication!

[@trapsquatch4937]

This video is awesome!!! Do you already have in depth videos of the fall of Gondolin? If not, they should be high on your list! 🤘🤓

[@therealronniej]

Gothmog vs Smaug would’ve certainly been interesting 🤔

[@datadeleted3245]

vs Ancalagon would be better. Smaug was a threat only on the scale of the Third Age, when Balrogs, especially their leader is much closer in terms of power to most powerful dragons of the first age, such as Glaurung or Ancalagon

[@highdrocz1234]

@@datadeleted3245 no Gothmog would've fall against Glaurung or Ancalogon not even comparable

[@datadeleted3245]

@@highdrocz1234 Glaurung was killed by human Turin, Gothmog killed two high elven kings, and high elven king could injure a Valar, like Figolfin did to Morgoth.

[@jongordon6892]

Gothmog VS Merry and Pippin with an anti tank rifle.

[@sonrider1369]

Can we have a tier list of the villain power levels? Like gothmog, glaurung, saruman, sauron, ungoliant, melkor etc.

[@dukeon]

Fëanor may have been a dick and a huge narcissist, but holy smokes was he a badass. Forget him being probably the greatest master of craftsmanship, maker of the Silmarils, etc. The dude leaves Valinor (sacrificing his immortality in a way) to chase Morgoth across the sea, over the ice, and into Beleriand. Then he _pulls ahead_ of his cohort and heads straight for frickin’ Angband. Morgoth sends a group of BALROGS out to meet him, and he flies into battle against all of them plus the guys he was chasing. He’s insane with rage over the theft of his Silmarils and doesn’t hesitate for a millisecond. He may even have killed a balrog, or a few: the text doesn’t say. They eventually wear him down (these are maiar, remember), and beat the crap out of him and Gothmog deals him the fatal blow. But wait! His sons show up and chase Morgoth’s thugs away, and recover Fëanor’s body. He’s still alive! He does die later of his wounds, finally letting go of the fire within him, and it burns his body to ashes. He heads to the Halls of Mandos to rest for eternity. Yeah, he pretty well screwed over the Noldor and most of the other elves, men, dwarves, and all the fair things of Arda by his actions. He led the Noldorin into a kinslaying of the Teleri and jacked their ships. He got everyone who followed him cursed forever, save for a few. His mother died giving birth to him. And on and on. But he was probably the most singleminded and most powerful elf to ever live, and he went after Morgoth and his hosts without a thought. Once there, he is ambushed by balrogs. He goes hard into the paint all by himself, and is even laughing as he holds his own against multiple ainur and other creatures. In the end he fails, but it’s hard not to have grudging respect for the guy. He left it all on the field and died probably the most badass elf ever, though his son Fingolfin and the elf Glorfindel are right up near the top of the list. Túrin as well, but he was a man. Anyway I started off just saying what a Chad the mighty Fëanor was. Didn’t mean for it to become a tome 😂

[@pendragon2012]

Even as mighty as they were though, notice it took a sneak attack from behind for the balrogs to conquer Fingon.

[@rebekaheubanks7452]

Remember that Fingon is firstborn of Fingolfin--when he attacked Angband, the enemy thought he was a Valar!! THAT'S powerful!!

[@pendragon2012]

@@rebekaheubanks7452 True badass!

[@mojojojoslyfoxharris]

I hope the War of Rohirrim does so well that it inspire more independent LOTR independent movies such as the Fall of Gondolin or Children of Hurin! We could then get more exposure to these great 2nd villains who served under Morgoth from Glaurang the 1st dragon to Gothmog the lord of the Balrogs!

[@franz-georgleopold-pagel3018]

I really enjoy getting to know Middleearth thtough your videos. Can you sometimes make a ranking/powerchart?

[@nataliefaust7959]

Great vid as always, Matt. I always appreciate the diversity in artwork you choose to use! ♥

[@captivatednightshade1432]

❤❤❤️‍🔥 It's been a while but I hope you all have a wonderful Easter!

[@BDM276]

It was always my understanding that the music gave a vision of what would be arda. Sort of like drawing the blueprints. And later they actually started building.

[@APOutdoors1]

These videos are so helpful as I’m reading through the Simarillion for the first time. Thanks.

[@leonardofaber5823]

Great video, man. Congratulations!

[@HammerdownProtocol]

Great presentation as always, Matt.

[@RichardF0503]

A Video about @AdmiralBulldog Pog

[@primal1233]

Your videos are always very educational, thanks for another good video 👍

[@nerdwatch1017]

I’d love to get a new Trilogy of movies covering 1 or 2 of the first biggest battles of the elves vs Morgoth!! With as much of these Dragons & Balrogs as are in the books!! And definitely want to see Morgoth Vs the mother of spiders Ungoliant!! In live action would be amazing. Though if that will never happen then let us get it in a very adult animation style!! I’d love to also get some like this regarding the Game of Thrones books!! Telling there versions of the story!!

[@lando8295]

I love seeing the parallels of morgoth and sauron in their leadership, and choosing of followers. Most would consider the witch king to be the equivalent of sauron in roles played before their masters, but I see him more like Gothmog. The ringwraiths play a role not dissimilar to the first balrogs and their service of Morgoth. The mouth of sauron better fits what sauron was to morgoth In many ways. Of course all of this is scaled down and the epic level of power of the first age is not conveyed the same (though I do feel sauron gets too much hate for being similar to Morgoth, if it works it works) the parallels of the witch king and the nazgul and Gothmog and the balrogs is at least unintentionally there

[@LordMortanius]

I dunno; the Mouth is basically Sauron's chief of staff in the Dark Tower. The Nazgul, like Sauron to Melkor before them, were off conquering things and administrating other kingdoms in Sauron's name.

[@timthekillermiller1]

They need to make the entire first age into a movie trilogy or series also.. imo the lore gets better as you wind the clock back!

[@rofflestomp684]

Well that was just fine Nerd. I have always thought the Balrogs rather under represented considering their shear might in Tolkien's tales. Good one sir. Please do more about them.

[@MrKurtank]

Mna, as ever this presentation was fascinating and the visual pairing is spot -on. Thank you!!

[@drpants9015]

It's a little-known fact the Gothmog is actually the one who suggested Morgoth give the balrogs wings, but Morgoth thought that was a stupid idea, and refused.

[@Sephiroth144]

Gothmog: Man, if we had wings, we'd be so awesome! And we could ruckus those Eagles, go out everywhere, it'd be great! Melkor: ... nah. Gothmog: Dick.

[@FenrirRagnulf]

​@@Sephiroth144 you explained that like a 12 year old girl looking for likes.

[@istari0]

@@Sephiroth144 Actually, the version I heard has Melkor saying "I'm saving those for the Dragons" to which Gothmog replies "The what?"

[@animeyukiomalayalam6882]

@@istari0 All of these versions are so funny 😂😂

[@sr71silver]

You know something I've always found odd is the insistence that Balrogs don't have wings when Tolkien explicitly states in Fellowship that they do. Immediately following Gandalf's "You cannot pass" speech. "The Balrog made no answer. The fire in it seemed to die, but the darkness grew. It stepped forward slowly on to the bridge, and suddenly it drew itself up to a great height, and ITS WINGS were spread from wall to wall;" Now I suppose that could have simply been the "shadow about it" if you really want to stretch it. But it seems pretty unambiguous to me. I just don't understand how people can be so adamant about the Balrogs being wingless when the text on the page directly contradicts that view. Plus they're all Maiar, and thus shapeshifters.

[@savsongs1306]

Great historical accounting of Gothmog. Loved it.

[@VoiceoftheRings]

Amazing!!! Nice Video matt!

[@kayn767]

A video about the power of the maiar and Valar would be amazing, I must say.

[@VaderPopsVicodin10]

Balrog fan art is some of my favorite of Middle-earth art.. ya just can't beat it.

[@arch2792]

The best Tolkien universe channel on youtube 👍

[@UltimateSpider1385]

The Balrogs are terrifying!!! Can you imagine a Balrog waking up in Modern times?

[@stunner9005]

We’d need a lot of water.

[@racernatorde5318]

Considering all the stuff that happened in the past few years years it would just be a minor inconvinience

[@TruthSika]

It would be like Pacific Rim, but worse. And better.

[@2shadesofgray752]

50 BMG go boom

[@amstotz]

Great, as always! Keep up the good work!

[@Dylan_B23]

Dang, I just discovered your channel a few months ago and have been watching all your vids almost daily. Usually I'm watching a months or years old vid. Just got this in my rec feed and didn't even realize you only posted it today!

[@NerdoftheRings]

There’s a lot to make your way though here! And much more on the way! Thanks for watching!

[@shadowforgedgamerz520]

Yeahhhhh.... after listening to this exquisite 13 minutes of old tales from the lost books of Tolkien.... You guys are my kind of "Nerds" "Subbed and Liked" 👍

[@LincolnGTX]

0:37 they met on Discord server "Evilcraft " 😊

[@enthic4532]

Cool to see that Celebrimbor supports your work

[@Calind8121]

In the War of the Rings war game from the late 70s, the Gothmog from the 3rd age was the 2nd in command of the Nazgul under the Witch King.

[@tomaszpastuszak9597]

More on Nameless Things !

[@NerdoftheRings]

You'll enjoy this vid on that very topic! kzbin.info/www/bejne/qIvOhp-sZruJpLM

[@donovanbradford8231]

Great video and always enjoy hearing videos like this

[@marckrieger3277]

I really hated how jackson handeld Gothmog. In the books it was stated several times no mere orc chieftrain lead the army of sauron but the movies totally showed exactly this. For me personally i imagined Gothmog as an black numenorian. Anyway great video The lord of balrogs is a great topi and you did him justice.

[@ieatmice751]

Cope and seethe

[@elvenkind6072]

You got a wonderful voice for telling tales, with lots of emotion. Have you considered making your own stories to tell? 🙂 (I would listen to them)

[@victormeunier9075]

I like the idea that, just like Sauron and Saruman, the Balrogs were former maiar of Aule, whose servants (associated with fire and forging, thus destroying or enthralling nature) were more prone to listen to Morgoths promises.

[@LordMortanius]

The balrogs were Melkor's original Maiar servants.

[@victormeunier9075]

@@LordMortanius What then about Sauron?

[@LordMortanius]

@@victormeunier9075 Aule.

[@livestreamgaming420]

I'm so glad this channel exists for all the fans of Tolkien's works. Amazon is doing a bangup job ruining their wallets with the way they've been treating it. "Modern audience" my ass

[@bluediamonddirector]

Lesser known fact: in the 1978 board game: War of the Ring, the Third Age Gothmog is a Nazgul. Just throwing that out there.

[@KrystianHudson]

"And Debby" gets me every time

[@phil.clarke]

Of note the three named characters who killed balrogs also died during the battle/duel - Echelon, Glorfindel, and Gandalf. Two were sent back - Glorfindel and Gandalf - to finish their tasks.

[@varric]

The Third Age Gothmog can't be a lesser Maiar, because a Maiar will never be under the command of a Ringwright. If anything, the Witch-King will be under the command of that lesser Maiar. The second Gothmog is probably just an orc/human/nazgul that take the name to honor the Balrog just like they name Grond like Morgoth's hammer.

[@rengel0]

I really like these stories, I feel that I want to read all books once again

[@carveraugustus3840]

That's interesting I hadn't thought of that until now. Although the Valar are married but they don't have children

[@keikun145]

Honestly it seems like the orcs werent that strong but the captains of Melkor was what kept melkor forces alive. They really made it hard for the elves to do any major dmg. Any elves can slay orcs any day but when they met the captains it was a different story.

[@istari0]

Individually, Orcs were far weaker than Elves, particularly the High Elves from Valinor. But the Orcs had a huge advantage in numbers and that only increased over time as Orcs reproduced much, much faster.

[@jackpacker6960]

I always love seeing artists interpretations of the stories it always helps to immerse myself in the tales. Do you accept artwork submissions for your videos? I would love to submit some of my own work.

[@wweminehead]

Been waiting for this 1

[@user-jv8kj2yr8b]

It would be sick for there to be a video like this, but for a reading of the Silmarilion

[@Mentallect]

Sauron had some power similar to a Balrog if the heat of his hand destroyed Gil-galad and made the Ring of Power burning hot to the touch of Isildur.

[@mmateo5020]

Admiralbulldog brought me here

[@ClareBearBunny]

Could you a video or videos on the languages of the legendarium? I've not seen anyone go really in depth on them.

[@Svartalf14]

About the second Gothmog, I heard a theory about him being one of the Nine Nazgûl... he was so depicted in the wargame War of the Rings in the 70s or early 80s

[@GreenlioOO]

Technically, Gothmog actually killed three great Elven Kings. If you count a draw between him and Ecthelion, he did kill him and would've survived had Gothmog been fighting on solid ground.

[@ProspectorPeebs]

Ecthelion was not an Elven king; he was a lord of Gondolin.

[@ЭнхмөнхУ]

no

[@midimusicforever]

The power curve of LoTR is backwards. In most media, there's power creep. In LoTR, power is not what it used to be.

[@riccardogranato1274]

Thank you so much for these awesome videos, love from Italy!

[@lol34.]

Man I was waiting to see this

[@johndododoe1411]

To follow historical events, it would help to convert all data's to the Shire calendar, with negative years from early TA back to years of the lamps or before .

[@JohnPeacekeeper]

I have to wonder... WHY did the people of Gondolin need a fountain so deep it could drown a fallen Maiar? You'd think something like that would be bad for the structural foundation for the surrounding blocks

[@CrusadiaIX]

Aesthetic trumps all, my friend.

[@juankovacs6033]

Exactly for that, drown a fallen maiar 😂

[@Your-Least-Favorite-Stranger]

I mean they tried one so deep it could almost drown a fallen maiar, but for obvious reasons that didn't go as well they'd hoped. The second fountain was a much better design.

[@josepablobonillajimenez6297]

Elves being extra, nothing unusual there

[@rebekaheubanks7452]

Fountains were not just decorative; they were inner city water sources

[@gabrielrojas1422]

To be fair Feanor wasn’t just fighting Gothmog but a couple of Balrogs so I don’t know how Gothmog will fare against Feanor one on one.

[@BM-wf9uf]

It's likely Faenor would have defeated Gothmog. Faenor was described by Tolkien as being the greatest Elf that ever lived.

[@highdrocz1234]

Melkor,Gothmog,Glaurung and Ancalagon are just the greatest evils

[@whatsmolly5741]

Defeats ungoliant the literal personification of darkness just to lose a 1v1 because dude had an ornamental spike on his helm.

[@ManiacMcgeee]

Imagine Durins Bane stopping in his tracks to submit to Gothmog. The level of power it possessed must of been insane.

[@brendans6823]

We need a movie of this!!!

[@andrewverrett568]

Whats truly scary about morgoth if you think about it is that really his entire armies and infrastructures came soley from his will and power. He corrected yes, but still created in a sense.

[@cameronhall4593]

Gandalf vs durins bane will always be my favourite sequence from the lotr movies

[@jurajhojcska5920]

I think with them name of the orc general it would fit more are as Sauron cosplaying as Morgoth, his big daddy had Gothmog so I want one too.

[@gorghor]

I always assumed that the Gothmog from the lotr was the 2nd highest ranking nazgul, who took over command when the witch king was destroyed.

[@LordMortanius]

That was Khamul, the Black Easterling.

[@zanechristenson3436]

Gotta say I knew none of this… but I know exactly what he was saying during that scene lol. The correlation with real life ideas of good and evil is strong. The wizards in Tolkiens work are near identical to priests save for possessing magical ability and truth lol

[@matthewanderson9754]

Oh please make content on their powers!!! Please please please!!!