At Ragnarok, Surtr will be surrounded by burning fire, and his sword will shine brighter than the sun. In VafϷrúðnismál (saga), it says that Surtr has to fight the gods and that Surtr uses fire as a weapon. He comes from the south and is connected to fire. In Völuspá, we are told that Surtr is an evil creature. It was named Surtsey meaning Surtr’s island. In 1963, a new island formed off Iceland following a volcanic eruption. The giant is the master of fire and guardian of Muspelheim, a burning realm of fire, closely linked to the volcanic underworld. It was the Balrog that Gandalf had fought and eventually defeated after ten days of fighting.īut the Balrog has a clear predecessor in Norse literature in the form of fire-giant Surtr, which means “the black one” or “the swarthy one”. In the Third Age, one of Balrogs was discovered by the dwarves at the bottom of the Mithril seam in Khazad-dûm.

Most of the Balrog died in the Great Battle, but a few survived by hiding in the depths. They are fire spirits, but also shrouded in darkness. After Sauron, Balrogs were the most powerful and most terrifying of his servants. In Tolkien’s Elvish language Sindarin, Balrog means “demon of might”. Tolkien’s Balrogs have their own mythology. In The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf the wizard fights a demon known as a Balrog. And older and more fearsome creatures live deep underground. In Tolkien’s universe, the Orcs and Mountain Trolls live inside the mountains. Photo: Stine Netman - The National Museum of Denmark Balrog - medieval monstersĭwarves are not the only ones who live underground.

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