The Balrog: A Lord Of The Rings Prequel

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. – Arthur C Clarke

Humankind had always wondered where it came from. Whether it had been created, whether it had really evolved. What it never considered was the life it would create itself.

The Balrog was forged in the great laboratories of the sun state.

Human’s had cloned animals and even themselves. Animals had been crossbred to create all manner of hybrids. And the imagination is a terrible force when combined with unlimited power.

Dreams had already been created and mastered: it was now time to create nightmares.

The first nightmares were twisted, grotesque, painful versions of humans. They despised the sun, craved violence and were much discarded. The abominations, too difficult to control by the makers, and too ‘human’ to be slaughtered, were eventually discarded and contained in underground prisons. They were very much forgotten as a failed project.

It was now time to create something bigger.

It began with fire for foundations. It ended with horns, wings and a thunderous roar. An idea envisaged on screens, ripped into the real world.

The world military gained interest, after all, who knew when the wanderers of space would finally invade? A defence mechanism was desperately needed. Generals envisaged a weapon, so the flickering creature was gifted the latest in fire shape shifting technology.

The space conquers never did descend. Humanity waited, and eventually looked inwards.

Some humans did voyage beyond the planet. However, some were simply content with immortality and song. Others hid away from the world: either distancing themselves from technology completely or spatially by hiding in the mountains.

All this time, The Balrog was caged, waiting for its time.

Once the land had morphed, once technology had melded with magic a new age on Earth had begun. The old ways were forgotten, some even older ways were remembered once more.

All this time, The Balrog’s cage sunk into the depths of the planet.

Ages later, an intelligence sort it out. The Balrog recognised this presence as it had the same desire for power and control as those military generals from all those years ago. They were reborn, and this time in one singular maniacal soul.

The Balrog was hesitant at first to bow to this intelligence’s wishes: being caged had allowed the creature a great deal of time to think.

But eventually the intelligence tapped into The Balrog’s structural soul: it was made to be a weapon after all. Finally The Balrog phenomena was unleashed on Middle Earth.