The mortal who slew the most Balrogs, according to some accounts of the Fall of Gondolin, was Tuor, who felled five with his axe, though Ecthelion also famously killed several (possibly three or four, including Gothmog) before dying, while Glorfindel killed one, and Gandalf killed one, with the final tally depending on the specific version of Tolkien's writings. Tuor likely holds the record among mortals for the sheer number in a single battle, but Ecthelion is renowned for slaying Gothmog, the Lord of Balrogs.
But at the Council of Elrond, Gandalf very specifically says he fought all nine. He drew four of them off when he fled northward at dawn; "This helped, a little, for there were only five, not nine, when your camp was attacked."
In addition to the twenty-eight named above there were also Gothmog, slain by Ecthelion, and another Balrog slain by Glorfindel... coming to a total of 30 plus however many slain by the men of Rog, however many slain during the fall of Thangorodrim, and the Moria Balrog and any other survivors (35 minimum).
It is said that Ecthelion and his house of the Fountain slew more orcs than had ever been slain, in all the battles of elves and orcs combined. Ecthelion killed three Balrogs and his sword did "hurt to their fire".
During the Wars of Beleriand, Morgoth only came out of Angband on one occasion. Instead, he sent the Balrogs to fight and lead in battle. Two of them were killed in the Fall of Gondolin: Gothmog by Ecthelion, and another by Glorfindel.
In the books, Legolas actually screamed in terror when he realized that a Balrog was coming. It was the Balrogs that rounded up the elves for Morgoth, to be corrupted into orcs.
The most powerful of all the Balrogs, one of the chief servants of Melkor, who held an authority hardly less than Sauron himself. A wily commander and fearsome fighter, Gothmog was often accompanied by others of his fiery kind, and at least in the Nirnaeth he had a personal guard of dozens of Trolls.
Azog was an Orc-chieftain of Moria, who started the War of the Dwarves and Orcs when he slew Thrór. He was himself slain by Dáin II Ironfoot in the Battle of Azanulbizar, and was succeeded by his son Bolg.
As a Maia, Gandalf was an angelic being in human form, in service to the Creator (Eru Ilúvatar) and the Creator's 'Secret Fire'. He took on the specific form of an old man as a sign of his humility. His role was to advise but never to attempt to match Sauron's strength.
If Gandalf had stayed dead after his sacrifice in The Fellowship of the Ring, then his demise would be the saddest in the trilogy, but since he came back, the saddest single death scene of all three movies goes to Boromir's.
It's political, really. Even if Gandalf is powerful enough to go and one-shot Smaug, he would then have created a power vacuum on the edge of Lake-town, and made himself a political figure unable to be directly challenged but ruffling the feathers of everyone nearby.
Balrogs have significantly more spiritual “power” than dragons. However it seems Tolkien made exceptions for special characters like Smaug and Glaurung, who were especially intelligent, capable of speeches and spells, and thus all the more villainous. But on the whole, Balrogs > Dragons in the order of being and power.
The wisest of the Maiar, Gandalf was created by Ilúvatar before the Music of the Ainur. At the beginning of Time, he was amongst the Ainur who entered into Eä. In his "youth" he was known as Olórin and lived in Lórien. Yet his ways often took him to Nienna, from whom he learned pity and patience.
Why was Sauron afraid of Aragorn potentially possessing the Ring? Gandalf explains it in the Return of the King (during the council after the battle of the Pelennor fields) that Sauron would never think somebody would want to destroy the One Ring.
All the Nazgûl are named - The Witch-king of Angmar, The Dark Marshal, Khamûl The Easterling, The Betrayer, The Shadow Lord, The Undying, The Dwimmerlaik, The Tainted and The Knight of Umbar.
Just like it had happened with their parents (also Half- Elves), they were given a choice to choose the life of an Elf or the life of a Human. Elrond chose the immortality of Elves, and his brother chose the Humans, the first one to do so. He lived 500 years, which is not too shabby.
It's possible that Gollum's prolonged search for the ring allowed it to maintain a significant power over him, suspending his aging process. In contrast, Bilbo's exposure to the ring's influence waned after he willingly (mostly) relinquished it, allowing his aging to resume more noticeably.
Tolkien's description of Gollum conforms to a Catholic – and Thomistic – account of envy, which is a “sadness of the soul”; and it is Gollum's unbearable sadness and his unquenchable desire for the one Ring that marks his character.
From what I understand, Smaug is a beast that must eat other living things to sustain himself. For example, he does not "eat" gold and jewels, he simply admires and covets them. It's implied that he ate a good deal of dwarves, men, ponies, etc., during his attack on Erebor.
King Thror was beheaded, Thrain fled in despair and was never seen again, and Frerin was killed in battle. The unthinkable had occurred: without anybody realizing the significance of what had happened, the half-elf Thorin had become the de facto heir to Erebor.
After the battle, the Arkenstone was placed by Bard upon Thorin's chest within his tomb deep underneath Erebor, and so was returned to the earth at last.
........ ....... "GOD of Middle-Earth" ....... ...... Eru Ilúvatar/ Eä is the supreme deity & ultimate GOD in Tolkien's Middle-earth. It means "The One" in Elvish tongue, Eur is the creator of all existence, beyond time and comprehension in Tolkien's world.
Q: Who would win in a fight, Tom Bombadil or a Balrog? Bombadil, easily. Remember that the Ring held absolutely zero power over him. Tom would not fight a Balrog.
The fall of Gondolin and the fall of Troy
The Elf Ecthelion leads the charge against the Orcs, and fights Gothmog, the greatest Balrog; they wound each other and both fall into the king's fountain in Gondolin; both drown.