Editing Balrog (section)

=== Moria and the Battle of Maldon ===
{{further|The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son}}

Tolkien felt acutely the error made by the English commander, the [[ealdorman]] [[Byrhtnoth]], at the [[Battle of Maldon]], allowing the [[Vikings]] to step ashore and win the battle. Alexander Bruce, in ''Mythlore'', comments that Tolkien may have used Gandalf's battle with the Balrog on the narrow bridge in Moria to "correct the behavior of the self-serving Byrhtnoth through the actions of the self-less Gandalf".<ref name="Bruce 2007">{{cite journal |last=Bruce |first=Alexander M. |year=2007 |title=Maldon and Moria: On Byrhtnoth, Gandalf, and Heroism in The Lord of the Rings |journal=Mythlore |volume=26 |issue=1 |at=Article 11 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol26/iss1/11}}</ref> Bruce notes that the Tolkien scholar [[Janet Brennan Croft]] also contrasts the two leaders.<ref name="Bruce 2007"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Croft |first=Janet Brennan |author-link=Janet Brennan Croft |title=War and the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien |publisher=[[Praeger Paperback|Praeger]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-31332-592-2 |pages=93–94}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto;"
|+  Alexander Bruce's comparison of Gandalf's stand in Moria with Byrhtnoth's action in the Battle of Maldon<ref name="Bruce 2007"/>
|- 
! Leader !! Encounter !! Action !! Result 
|-
| [[Byrhtnoth]] || [[Battle of Maldon]] || Allows [[Viking]] enemy across causeway || Army defeated, Byrhtnoth killed, English pay [[Danegeld]] tribute
|-
| [[Gandalf]] || [[Bridge of Khazad-dûm]] || Holds the bridge against the Balrog || Both Gandalf and the Balrog fall into the abyss. The [[Fellowship of the Ring (characters)|Fellowship]] escape.
|}