# ­xkcd thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-strips\ **Created:** [May 28, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574 "2020-05-28T00:57:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 242
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4823 "2025-08-09T02:51:27Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Gem stores are very liberal with their naming (when not outright peddling woo) Kinda like finding a dusty old violin in a shop somewhere. You too, for $ 75.00, can buy a violin with an “aged” label that reads, " Antonio Stradivarius, Cremona ". A sucker is born every minute and yes, I’m aware that his last name was Stradivari. No surprise that gem stores see a sucker coming every minute the same way !! ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4824 "2025-08-09T14:31:25Z")
And too greedily? ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4825 "2025-08-09T15:03:03Z")
I remember the episode of That’s Incredible featuring a jet converted into a street-legal vehicle. My favorite part was when they put a camera in a spot so that people could only see the front turning onto their street. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4826 "2025-08-09T17:30:28Z")
Anyone else try to expand the main text to see if it was real words? ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4827 "2025-08-09T18:18:53Z")
Aye, that I did. Ack. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4828 "2025-08-10T13:51:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > But he delved too deep. > [@Frodo](#): > > And too greedily? I hope you like Balrogs, because that’s how you get Balrogs. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4829 "2025-08-10T16:14:09Z")
It’s only the Doom of Durin if it comes from the region of Khazad-dum, otherwise it’s sparkling Valarauko ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4830 "2025-08-10T20:18:58Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > I hope you like Balrogs, because that’s how you get Balrogs. With or without wings? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4831 "2025-08-10T22:23:55Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > With or without wings? Buffalo wings or regular wings? My take on the Balrog/wing controversy is that Balrogs, being fairly high level beings, were highly individual in their appearance. Some had wings, some (probably most) did not. And even those with wings may not have been able to fly. They had them because they looked cool. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4832 "2025-08-10T22:38:12Z")
The joke is that the one balrog we did see in the story, the description in the text was ambiguous right there, without bringing in other balrogs. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4833 "2025-08-10T22:40:23Z")
My take is that they do have wings, but that their wings are literally composed of shadow, and wings of shadow aren’t enough to give them flight while wearing a corporeal form. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4834 "2025-08-10T22:43:43Z")
FWIW, Lego believes that [Balrogs have wings](https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/the-lord-of-the-rings-balrog-book-nook-10367). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2025, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4835 "2025-08-11T04:54:03Z")
I’m not sure that helps much. The passage: > The Balrog reached the bridge. Gandalf stood in the middle of the span, leaning on the staff in his left hand, but in his other hand Glamdring gleamed, cold and white. His enemy halted again, facing him, and the shadow about it reached out like two vast wings. It raised the whip, and the thongs whined and cracked. Fire came from its nostrils. But Gandalf stood firm. > > ‘You cannot pass,’ he said. The orcs stood still, and a dead silence fell. `I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass.’ > > 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; but still Gandalf could be seen, glimmering in the gloom; he seemed small, and altogether alone: grey and bent, like a wizened tree before the onset of a storm. The shadow is just “like” wings, not actually wings. And then we’re told about what seems like actual wings. Are these even referring to the same thing? Maybe the Balrog has actual wings, but in addition a shroud of shadow that is merely like wings. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2025, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4836 "2025-08-11T05:22:55Z")
Much as I love LOTR, Tolkien could certainly have used a good editor. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2025, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4837 "2025-08-11T05:29:29Z")
Also, “You Shall Not Pass” is the better line. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2025, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4838 "2025-08-11T07:55:26Z")
“Pass, you shall not!” - Yoda ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2025, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4839 "2025-08-11T12:31:46Z")
That’s not really “Lego thinks”; that’s “Peter Jackson thinks”. The Lego LotR models are based on how things appeared in the movies. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2025, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4840 "2025-08-11T13:04:29Z")
The design of the Lego set is very reminiscent of an older drawing by Ted Nasmith: > **[Pin by Vic Mesa on Artwork | Tolkien artwork, Dark fantasy art, Middle earth art](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/ted-nasmith-the-balrog--475059460667901636)** > > This Pin was discovered by Vic Mesa. Discover (and save!) your own Pins on Pinterest Best as I can tell, both Nasmith and Alan Lee were in favor of wingless Balrogs, while John Howe preferred winged. Nasmith wasn’t involved in the movies, though, and Howe seemed to have won Jackson over. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2025, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4841 "2025-08-11T13:19:09Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Nasmith wasn’t involved in the movies, though, and Howe seemed to have won Jackson over. Given that Jackson was already a fan of the books, I think it more likely that he already had a mental image of the Balrog, and he happened to picture it as having wings, rather than any particular artist winning him over. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2025, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4842 "2025-08-11T14:50:26Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > They had them because they looked cool. “No wings!” –Edna Mode (sort of) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=241) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=243)