Post by Falconer on Jul 10, 2012 17:45:52 GMT -6
The Balrog emerges out of nowhere to become Gandalf’s instant archnemesis and bane. Well, perhaps not out of nowhere, if we accept Celeborn’s “We long have feared that under Caradhras a terror slept” as a hint that Caradhras’s malevolence in previous chapters was due to its resident demon. (Despite the fact that Gandalf attributed it to Sauron, saying, “His arm has grown long.”)
I was reading The Treason of Isengard and found one of Tolkien’s rejected ideas quite intriguing:
I find this intriguing for several reasons. First of all, alternate theories like this, when coming from Tolkien’s own pen, are always doubly fascinating to me. Secondly, Gandalf’s transformation into “the White Wizard” remains in the final narrative despite the fact that his “trial of strength” was not against Saruman. Finally, I love the idea of Moria as a mega-dungeon, and have often pondered on ways to incorporate Wizards into it — surely necessary for a proper D&D dungeon! I’m not sure exactly how to do it, but, as I said, I am intrigued.
Another note in the same book states:
Combine this latter thought with the idea of Treebeard as an “evil giant” (pervasive throughout the early outlines) yields an interesting concept for part of an alternate timeline. Saruman is cast out of Isengard by the Ents, and it is cleansed of his industrialization and becomes a garden. Radagast takes Saruman’s place as the resident Wizard. There’s a bit of poetic justice, there, because when we first meet Saruman he is congratulating himself for outsmarting “Radagast the Bird-tamer! Radagast the Simple! Radagast the Fool!” But, Radagast being fallen in his own way (per UT), you end up with a Dark Druids / Garden of the Plantmaster style, nature-out-of-control adventuring locale, populated by evil Huorns, overzealous Ents, magic mushrooms, you know, all that sort of stuff. A tarrasque; whatever.
Saruman himself, instead of going to the Shire, sees a vacuum of power in Moria, and takes the Balrog’s place. That fact is probably little-known, and Saruman mostly pretends to be reformed. Having Moria as his base allows him easy access to Lorien (for Councils) and easy access to the ruins of Eregion on the one hand and Dol Guldur on the other (for ring-making research). Not to mention Mithril! The lower levels of the Mines of Moria come alive with his magical/machine experiments (forging rings and breeding minions), even as the upper levels of the City of Khazad-dûm become once again tenuously recolonized by Dwarves (led by Durin VII, of course).
So you have a shuffling of “bosses,” lending a new spin to some familiar sites. Maybe, maybe…
I was reading The Treason of Isengard and found one of Tolkien’s rejected ideas quite intriguing:
Could not Balrog be Saruman? Make battle on Bridge be between Gandalf and Saruman? Then Gandalf comes out clad in white. (p. 236)
Gandalf to reappear again. How did he escape? This might never be fully explained. He passed through fire — and became the White Wizard. ‘I forgot much that I knew, and learned again much that I had forgotten.’ He has thus acquired something of the awe and terrible power of the Ring-wraiths, only on the good side. Evil things fly from him if he is revealed — when he shines. But he does not as a rule reveal himself.
He should have a trial of strength with Saruman. Could the Balrog of the Bridge be in fact Saruman? (p. 422)
Gandalf to reappear again. How did he escape? This might never be fully explained. He passed through fire — and became the White Wizard. ‘I forgot much that I knew, and learned again much that I had forgotten.’ He has thus acquired something of the awe and terrible power of the Ring-wraiths, only on the good side. Evil things fly from him if he is revealed — when he shines. But he does not as a rule reveal himself.
He should have a trial of strength with Saruman. Could the Balrog of the Bridge be in fact Saruman? (p. 422)
I find this intriguing for several reasons. First of all, alternate theories like this, when coming from Tolkien’s own pen, are always doubly fascinating to me. Secondly, Gandalf’s transformation into “the White Wizard” remains in the final narrative despite the fact that his “trial of strength” was not against Saruman. Finally, I love the idea of Moria as a mega-dungeon, and have often pondered on ways to incorporate Wizards into it — surely necessary for a proper D&D dungeon! I’m not sure exactly how to do it, but, as I said, I am intrigued.
Another note in the same book states:
Isengard is given to the Dwarves. Or to Radagast? (p. 212)
Combine this latter thought with the idea of Treebeard as an “evil giant” (pervasive throughout the early outlines) yields an interesting concept for part of an alternate timeline. Saruman is cast out of Isengard by the Ents, and it is cleansed of his industrialization and becomes a garden. Radagast takes Saruman’s place as the resident Wizard. There’s a bit of poetic justice, there, because when we first meet Saruman he is congratulating himself for outsmarting “Radagast the Bird-tamer! Radagast the Simple! Radagast the Fool!” But, Radagast being fallen in his own way (per UT), you end up with a Dark Druids / Garden of the Plantmaster style, nature-out-of-control adventuring locale, populated by evil Huorns, overzealous Ents, magic mushrooms, you know, all that sort of stuff. A tarrasque; whatever.
Saruman himself, instead of going to the Shire, sees a vacuum of power in Moria, and takes the Balrog’s place. That fact is probably little-known, and Saruman mostly pretends to be reformed. Having Moria as his base allows him easy access to Lorien (for Councils) and easy access to the ruins of Eregion on the one hand and Dol Guldur on the other (for ring-making research). Not to mention Mithril! The lower levels of the Mines of Moria come alive with his magical/machine experiments (forging rings and breeding minions), even as the upper levels of the City of Khazad-dûm become once again tenuously recolonized by Dwarves (led by Durin VII, of course).
So you have a shuffling of “bosses,” lending a new spin to some familiar sites. Maybe, maybe…