How did Gandalf know about the Balrog?

Middle Earth Lore

Gandalf, Gondor, Tolkien, Wizards, Rings of Power, LOTR, Lord of the Rings, Balrog, Moria

[TheProdigalCat]

This just furthers the fan theory that Gandalf baited the whole party into Moria so he could solo the Balrog and level up.

[lmr]

In the books, Aragorn even did a "I told you so"-speech after Gandalf fell.

[lostlogic]

A wizard is never late, even for their own funeral.

[PantsuTaigas]

Gandalf knows about Durin’s Bane, he just knows the alternative is freezing to death on the mountainside

[serotonin.scavenger]

Why was Gandalf so effin annoyed at Pippin?

[HimanXK]

If I remember correctly from the book, didn't everyone except the hobbits know the story of "Durin's Bane" as some evil force that killed everyone in Moria? So they were all reluctant to go through Moria, because there was an evil lurking that they wanted to avoid. But none of them knew that Durin's Bane was a balrog, and Gandalf was insistent only because he saw no other way past the mountains.

[DonMeaker]

Both Aragorn and Gandalf had previously crossed through the mines. Gandalf had a conversation with Thorin in the hobbit about Durin's Bane.

[Spartan]

Aragorn has the gift of foresight? Never knew about that! You should do a video on it! I am curious to know more!

[TheBalisongBear]

For me, an avid lotr movie fan, reading the books for the first time this last month, this was one of the more interesting differences to me.

[pythonking.]

I always thought that it was weird in the movie that Gandalf didnt warn them ahead of time about what he knew or suspected to be going on. I know he was very opposed to it, but clearly Gimli had no idea of what happened in Moria or at least the scale of it, yet Gandalf never sat him down and said "hey there is a balrog in there and all the dwarves are probably dead"

[jessewoodall]

I love legolas's reaction in the book when the balrog appears. Dude actually has a panic attack and just starts screaming

[bigrob]

I have never felt like getting into Tolkien lore. But I'm not gonna lie; only 3 shorts in and I'm seriously considering it. Excellent delivery, dude!

[stargazer]

I love this channel, I haven't watched the movies for about a decade, but just finished reading the books, and these videos help me to realise more about how great the books were written

[ragingjavier]

It makes more sense now why he didn't tell anyone about it. I always assumed he hid the truth to spare Gimli's feelings cuz why wouldn't you let the group know of a powerful monster in there.

[alexp]

Both Gandalf and Aragorn had been through Moria before, so there was no automaticity in running into the Balrog. Maybe it was just bad luck, maybe it was Pippin’s stone or maybe it was that Gandalf was forced to use magic on the mountain that alerted the Balrog that another powerful being was nearby.

[TheCelticTiger]

It makes sense in both versions how they each would have suspicions. Gandalf and Aragorn are old in age and very wise, and well versed in Middle Earth history. Aragorn is 80 years old due to his Nuemanorian blood and Gangalf is essentially an angel. So they would have heard rumors and news about Middle Earth in all that time

[hanneswiggenhorn]

Wasn't the Balrog the reason Moria was abandoned in the first place? In my mind the timeline was always Moria gets abandoned because of Balrog, Orcs come, centuries go by, dwarfs decide to retake Moria from the Orcs, either not knowing of the Balrog or just thinking it wemt away, they kind of succeed, Orcs strike and kill all the dwarves. Also wouldn't anyone know if they lost contact eith the dwarves? I haven't read the books in years, but I'm pretty sure the dead dwarven weren't exactly fresh corpses

[nctpti]

Gandalf did not know, but he did suspect. And they both knew that the city fell to an unknown force known as Durin´s Bane. He also knew of an expedition to try to retake the city, but did not expect it to have survived (it hadn´t). And there were not many possibilities for what the bane could be.

[kaliss]

Fun fact Gandalf and the Balrog are the same type of being. The Balrog is basically a corrupted Gandalf.

[Gwilfawe]

Poor Boromir. He doesn't get credit for being the TRUE opponent to going through Moria.
Lol