First they were described pretty much across both the Ring trilogy and the Silmarillian as demons the size of tall men, shrouded all around with a supernatural aura of smoke and fire that allowed them to appear larger and extend their danger, with long, firey whips and the occasional flaming sword or mace.
Then again, apparently the Balrog known as Durian's Bane in Moria was large enough that when Gandalf threw it off the peak, it shattered the mountainside going when it hit ground.
The description of the battle of Moria makes it even more confusing...
The two key quotations for that might be an argument for wings are:
"His enemy halted again, facing him, and the shadow about it reached out like two vast wings." and "… suddenly it drew itself up to a great height, and its wings were spread from wall to wall …"
(from Wikipedia, BTW - I can't just scan my dog-eared 2nd edition copy of the Fellowship paperback for you...)
Now, were the shadows the wings, or did the Balrog really have wings?
For my part, I would think that fire and shadow becoming wings would be more visually stunning in a movie treatment than just giving the Balrog wings to begin with.
But I can also see where Jackson would want to add physical wings and make his Balrog huge; closer to the D&D version and Hildebrandt pictures that the mass market has already presented for a Balrog.
Haele
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