S. Balrog pn. “Demon of Might”
The great fire demons of Melkor, a combination of the root √BAL “power” with raug “demon” (SA/rauko, val; PE17/48).
Conceptual Development: The name G. Balrog appeared in the earliest Lost Tales (LT1/93) and always kept this form in Tolkien’s writings, but its meaning and etymology evolved over time: G. “a kind of fire demon” (GL/21), ᴱN. “evil demon” (PE13/138), N. “*Torment Demon” (Ety/ÑGWAL, RUK), an untranslated orc word (LR/404) and finally S. “Mighty Demon” (PE17/48).
References ✧ LotRI; MR/79; MRI; PE17/48; PMI; S/31; SA/rauko, val; SI/Balrog, Valaraukar; WJ/415; WJI/Balrog, Valarauko
Glosses
Variations
Inflections
| Balrogath | class-plural | ✧ MR/79; MRI/Balrog |
Elements
| √BAL | “power; powerful, mighty; have power” | ✧ PE17/48; PE17/48; SA/val | |
| raug | “demon, powerful hostile and terrible creature” | ✧ PE17/48; PE17/48; SA/rauko (rog); WJ/415 |
Cognates
N. Balrog [mb-] pn. “*Torment Demon”
References ✧ Ety/ÑGWAL, RUK; LR/404; LRI; SMI; TII
Variations
Related
Elements
| baul | “torment” | ✧ Ety/ÑGWAL | |
| rhaug | “demon” | soft-mutation | ✧ Ety/RUK (rog) |
| ᴹ√RUK¹ | “demon” | ✧ Ety/ÑGWAL | |
Cognates
Derivations
Phonetic Developments
| ᴹ✶ñgwalaraukō > Balrog | [ŋgwalaraukō] > [mbalaraukō] > [mbalarauko] > [balarauko] > [balarauk] > [balaraug] > [balraug] > [balrog] | ✧ Ety/RUK |
ᴱN. Balrog pn. “*Evil Demon”
References ✧ LBI; PE13/138
Variations
Inflections
| balrogoth | class-plural | ✧ PE13/138 |
| balrogrim | class-plural | ✧ PE13/138 |
| balraugir | plural | ✧ PE13/138 |
Elements
| bal- | “evil-” | ||
| graug | “demon” | soft-mutation | ✧ PE13/138 |
G. Balrog pn. “(Evil) Demon”
References ✧ GG/8; GL/21, 42; LT1A/Balrog; LT2A/Balcmeg; LT2I; PE13/99; PE15/21; QL/32, 60, 101
Glosses
Variations
Inflections
| Balrogor | plural | ✧ QL/60 |
| i·Mbalrog | soft-mutation; mb-mutation | ✧ GG/8 |
| i’Malrog | soft-mutation; mb-mutation | ✧ GL/21; LT1A/Balrog |
| i·Mbalrogin | soft-mutation plural; mb-mutation | ✧ GL/21 |
| i’Malraugin | soft-mutation plural; mb-mutation | ✧ GL/21 |
| i’Malrogin | soft-mutation plural; mb-mutation | ✧ LT1A/Balrog |
Elements
| bal | “anguish, pain; evilness” | ✧ GG/8; GL/21; LT1A/Balrog; LT2A/Balcmeg; PE15/21 | |
| graug | “demon” | soft-mutation | ✧ GL/21; GL/42; LT1A/Balrog; QL/32 (grôg) |
Cognates
Derivations