All in all, it sounds like this might have been one of the most epic fights in all of Middle-Earth’s history. An absolute slugfest between an embodiment of good and evil as they fought through the darkest parts of the world, each vying for survival. Of course, both combatants died at the end, and the nature of their conflict also makes this perhaps too brutal for movies unless producers really wanted to take a dive into the horrors hidden beneath the surface of Middle-Earth.
Gandalf’s Fall Pit Him Against One of Middle Earth’s Strongest Creatures
Upon entering the mines of Moria, the Fellowship of the Ring quickly realized that what was supposed to be a dwarven settlement had been overtaken by orcs. After investigating the remains of the dwarves in the Chamber of Mazarbul, the Fellowship accidentally alerted the orcs to their presence. This led to the iconic fight-and-chase sequence that led the group to the Bridge of Khazad-dum. Their flight had stirred the attention of the balrog known as Durin’s Bane. Balrog’s were the mightiest servants of the first dark lord of Middle-Earth, Morgoth, and were considered among the most dangerous creatures to walk the world to this day. Their power and wrath were so terrible that even the orcs pursuing the Fellowship decided it was best to flee rather than court destruction.
Knowing that they had little chance to escape it, especially on the open bridge, Gandalf made a heroic stand against Durin’s Bane, buying time for his friends to flee. Thinking on his feet, Gandalf lured Durin’s Bane onto the bridge before shattering it with his staff. This caused the balrog to plummet into the seemingly endless darkness below. Before Gandalf could rejoin the Fellowship though, the balrog’s flaming whip wrapped around his legs, spitefully dragging the wizard down into the darkness with him. Gandalf was undeterred and merely ordered his friends to flee as he fell alongside the hateful creature.
It is unknown exactly how long the fall was, but according to Gandalf, it was a long time. The flames from the balrog’s body burnt him as they tumbled through the darkness, but both knew that continuing the fight now would be pointless. They had to wait until they reached the inevitable bottom, and from there a bloody brawl would begin to decide who would walk away the victor. Unfortunately for Gandalf, he had no way of knowing that plunging into the depths like this would bring him face to face with things older, and perhaps even darker than Sauron himself.
The Battle in the Dark Waged for Days
After an indeterminate amount of time, the two fell into a lake at the deepest part of the mountain. After enduring the burning heat of the balrog’s flames, Gandalf was caught completely off guard by the water. He described its chill as like the tide of death, saying the shock of it nearly stopped his heart then and there. That was only the beginning of his struggles though. Gandalf and Durin’s Bane fought in the water for some time before the balrog resurfaced and began trying to find a way out of the deep tunnels. After spending so long in the darkest places of Middle-Earth, it could navigate its way through the underground. This forced Gandalf to pursue the creature, not just to continue fighting it, but also for his own survival.
Ironically, the balrog became Gandalf’s guiding light, leading him through the tunnels as it searched for an exit. At this point, due to his unfamiliar surroundings, Gandalf believed that the balrog was his best hope of returning to the surface. However, they were not alone in these caverns. Creatures known as the Nameless Things occupied these unexplored depths, and they were older and stranger than Sauron himself. In fact, the Fellowship had briefly encountered such a creature when they first tried to enter Moria. The Watcher in the Water, a terrifying aquatic guard tried to consume them before they entered the mines, and if its brethren were anything like it, then Gandalf would likely have had to fend off their attacks as well.
Gandalf is one of the oldest living beings in Middle-Earth, yet even he was horrified by what he witnessed. The exact nature of the Nameless Things is unknown; whether they were flawed creations of Eru-Iluvatar, the god of this world, or something born from the darkness that existed before Arda is still unknown to this day. Whatever the case, their existence petrified Gandalf, and upon reuniting with his companions refused to offer any more details about them beyond letting them know that they exist. He believed it would darken the day with despair if his friends knew the horrors that lurked deep beneath the earth.
Victory, Death and Resurrection Led to Gandalf the White
After days spent navigating through the darkness, Gandalf pursued Durin’s Bane up the Endless Stairs, which led the foes to the top of Durin’s Tower, a massive structure built atop the mountain where they could see nothing but clouds beneath them. Within the confined space, the two finally resumed their battle. It lasted for two days, with those below only able to see flashes of light and hear distant thunder from the source of their conflict. By the second day’s end, Gandalf managed to slay the balrog, hurling its body off the tower, whereupon it broke the mountain as it fell. One of the deadliest creatures from the time of Morgoth was dead, but this victory had a cost.
In total, the battle lasted ten days. Ten days of falling, burning, freezing, terror, and navigating darkness only to spend the last two of those days in a desperate fight for survival. Gandalf had won, but the conflict had taken its physical toll. With the balrog slain he collapsed, having died from his injuries. Yet, this was not the end of Gandalf. For his sacrifice and as the only remaining wizard to remain true to his appointed task, Eru-Iluvatar rewarded Gandalf by resurrecting him and granting him greater ability to tap into his magical power to help his friends. He became Gandalf the White and would use his newfound strength to aid his allies in the fight against Sauron.
Going over all of this, it makes sense why the movies never portrayed the fight between Gandalf and the Balrog. For one, it would have taken too long. Days of conflict and chases in the dark would have distracted from the plight of the Fellowship. More to the point, it would have taken away from the reveal of Gandalf’s survival in the later movies. Perhaps most important of all is this: the fight itself might have been too grim for the movies. People brought their families to see these films, and having a protracted fight to the death that ultimately ends in the hero dying too would have been depressing and exhausting to witness. Perhaps then it is for the best that Gandalf’s fight with Durin’s Bane was never fully shown. It does lend to Gandalf’s refusal to elaborate more on those terrible days to not have witnessed it, bringing a certain mythology to the ordeal. Still, one can imagine that if it was filmed, it would have been perhaps one of the best fight sequences in the entire franchise.
