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To: HairOfTheDog
"Dragons" as a term in literature covers all manner of monsters. If he doesn't know what a Balrog is, the fire-breathing, horned monster he sees is very dragon-like. I have heard professors call Beowulf a "dragon."
29 posted on 12/19/2002 6:17:17 AM PST by Mamzelle
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To: Mamzelle
Erm....if your professor called Beowulf a "dragon", then you should definitely drop his class post-haste. Beowulf was a man. He killed a dragon at the end of his life.

In no sense is the Balrog a dragon, either. It's a demon of fire and shadow. Dragons are "worms", ie, snakes: they have to be reptilian to qualify as "dragons" in all but the very loosest usage of the word.

The reviewer was just confused, because in the scenes where they fall, you can see the fire and wings of the Balrog, but not much of the body. It does look a bit dragon-ish, if you forget what it looked like standing on the bridge.

30 posted on 12/21/2002 3:30:31 AM PST by Vast Buffalo Wing Conspiracy
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