Balrogs. The great elfbanes. Among the most feared creatures of Middle-earth. Which is why it’s fitting that discussions of their wings (or lack thereof) should be the bane of usenet groups, irc chats and online forums everywhere — sending some rushing for their sourcebooks and others frantically scuttle for cover.
“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…” Fellowship of the Ring, Book II, Ch V, The Bridge of Khazad-dum.
This weekend in Hall of Fire, TheOneRing.net’s intrepid staff are set to delve — possibly too deeply — into this fraught question: do Balrogs have wings? (And do they fly?)
What do yo think? Why? Join us this Saturday April 9 from 6pm EDT in #thehalloffire on our chat server (irc.theonering.net) where we’ll attempt to find some sort of consensus over one of the most contentious debates of the Middle-earth legendarium.
Upcoming chats in Hall of Fire
April 16-17 — The Hobbit Ch 3
April 23-24 — Hobbit rumour round-up
April 30 May 1 — The Hobbit Ch 4
May 7-8 — LoTR and Middle-earth Trivia!
May 14-15 — The Hobbit Ch 5
When — Time zone conversions
Not sure what time the chat will be where you are? Check this little conversion table out for some help. (NB: The times have been updated to reflect daylight savings starting)
America:
6.00pm EDT (New York)
5.00pm CDT (Chicago)
4.00pm MDT (Denver)
3.00pm PDT (Los Angeles)
Europe:
10.00pm GMT (London)
Asia-Pacific:
8.00am (Sunday) Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne
11.00am (Sunday) Wellington
Our chats usually last 45 mins to an hour, and are very newbie friendly. Simply drop in and join the conversation!
Where — connection details
Chat happens on #thehalloffire on irc.theonering.net — the TORn IRC server. You can connect instantly via our java chat client that works inside your web browser. Alternatively, you can install a dedicated chat program such as mIRC on your computer and just plug in the following connection details.
Server: irc.theonering.net
Port: 6667
Channel: #thehalloffire
