Was Durin's Bane a servant of Sauron?

Question

Just wondering if Durin's Bane was under orders from Sauron when he fought Gandalf and if Sauron would have the power to control a Balrog?
Sauron did have servants in Moria but if the Balrog served him why keep such a powerful force in there? Wouldn't it make more sense to have him leading his armies?

Answer 1

The only indication that Sauron had anything to do with the Balrog is given in a footnote to Appendix A in Return of the King:

Or released from prison; it may well be that it had already been awakened by the malice of Sauron.

However, this doesn't imply any service or even awareness (and as both were Maiar in origin it's hard to imagine either serving the other), and it's difficult to reconcile with the Balrog's inactivity during the destruction of Eregion in the Second Age, when surely it would have been more useful:

The power of Moria endured throughout the Dark Years and the dominion of Sauron, for though Eregion was destroyed and the gates of Moria were shut, the halls of Khazad-dûm were too deep and strong and filled with a people too numerous and valiant for Sauron to conquer from without.

A Balrog would certainly have been useful during the battles at the end of the Third Age, but you're forgetting that Sauron's policy was one of secrecy for a long time, and it was only quite late that he went to open war: by which time the Balrog had already been destroyed.

Answer 2

I was browsing through Appendix B in The Return of the King and I came across some interesting points from the Third Age calendar:

1980: A balrog appears in Moria and slays Durin VI.
2480: Orcs begin to make secret strongholds in the Misty Mountains. Sauron begins to people Moria with his creatures.

There's no doubt in my mind that Sauron knew of Durin's Bane's existence by (and probably far earlier than) the time the War of the Ring started.

Answer 3

Some servant, hiding underground doing nothing. Nah, he was Melkor's servant, just as Sauron was. That's why he ended up in Moria. With Melkor gone, that whole army kind of crept off and hid away. Smaug pillaged a bit and fell asleep inside a mountain. Balrogs crept underground and stayed there. Shelob too, found some cave and led pretty much a normal spider lifestyle (well, people instead of flies, but hey, she's big). Sauron's army, on the other hand - orcs, trolls, Nazgûl - was pretty active, since it had its commander. Although when Sauron bit the dust they basically did what Melkor's gang did. Seems the standard operation for these dark guys is lose it and scatter when their leader goes.

Answer 4

No, the balrog was unrelated to Sauron.
Sauron no doubt knew about balrogs, having been a servant of Melkor, who created them. But from all that's shown in the LOTR there's no evidence he controlled the one in Moria, or even was in communication with it (the orcs seemed to hold the balrog as some sort of demi-god more than another asset of Sauron, it's not even sure whether the orcs of Moria were under control of Sauron or an independent group, left over from the distant past).

From the books, Moria was a dark and evil place all of its own, its hatred for the company the result of an ingrained hatred of everything else (and probably especially of dwarves), rather than aimed specifically at them.

Answer 5

No. The Balrog may have been an ally though because, like Sauron, Durin's Bane once served Morgoth. So undoubtedly they knew each other, as Sauron was Morgoth's top lieutenant, and in The Silmarillion Sauron once led a group of Balrogs in an attack against the Noldor in Beleriand during the First Age.

Answer 6

No. Durin's Bane and Sauron are both servants of Morgoth, but Durin's Bane doesn't serve Sauron.

Answer 7

Not so much an answer, rather to highlight a possible tactic in Sauron placing the Balrog in Moria, and thus supporting the hypothesis of Sauron having influence over the Balrog:

Sauron certainly didn't rush his rebuilding after any defeats in the first two ages. I propose that, in a long calculated stratagem for victory in the Third Age, he would seek all potential retreats and strongholds for his enemies, be eradicated or controlled.

He warped Saruman to his service via the palantír, having him build an army and, amongst other things, destroy Helm's Deep. What other stronghold, (ignoring Gondor) would have remained, but for the Balrog and the Goblins? Moria would have clearly been capable of hosting an extremely large number of refugees and retreated armies. Tens of thousands easily. Sauron would surely have considered this. I discount the Realms of the Elves as realistic similar retreats for various reasons, chiefly the difficulty of accepting Dwarves.

With regard to why the Balrog got there after the War Of Wrath, and so long before the Third Age, is probably the main issue with this theory. Issued there by a clever and far sighted Sauron, guessing the future inevitability of Moria and the dwarves?

Anyway, yea. There you go. Conjecture I know, but from the strategic mind of Sauron the Great?! Surely a certainty... or not.

Answer 8

Gandalf the Grey defeated Durin's Bane although he did die but Gandalf the White was easily overpowered by the Witch-king who is not really as strong as Sauron so the possibility that Durin's Bane could be a servant of Sauron is there in terms of power but in the story there was no clear evidence that Durin's Bane was a servant of Sauron.

Answer 9

Personally I think Durin's Bane was not a servant of Sauron. I also believe that the orcs in Moria didn't come across the Balrog a lot. I say this because, when it emerges, the orcs say "gash" which means fire in more of a surprised way, IMO. If the orcs were servants of the Balrog I think they'd refer to him in a better way. Just my opinion. Like you said, if Durin's Bane was a servant, why would he keep him in a mountain which has no strategical value to him?

People tend to bring up the fact as well that there were black Uruks of Mordor in Moria, so Durin's Bane and Sauron must have an understanding. I fully disagree; if I remember rightly Gollum had recently entered Moria to avoid the Nazgûl who were trying to capture him after Sauron realized Gollum could be of use to the good guys. I think the black Uruks we see in Moria may have simply been hunting Gollum. Also Durin's Bane doesn't really seem to care about anything going on in Middle-earth unless unwanted travelers entered his realm.