TDSOH: Ghallu..have I seen this monster before?

[Redrosevertigo0]

So does anyone else thinking Tad Williams was channeling the Balrog from when he thought up the ghallu?

[George]

It dimly crossed my mind. Certainly it has a lot of similarities -- shadow and fire which turns to something slick when exposed to water. I think that the ghallu is a lot more *physical* than the Balrog in its normal state.

[Dara]

I pictured it as a scaled down balrog the whole time.

[Andrew]

I'm not totally sure he did invent it:

In Sumerian and Akkadian (Babylonian and Assyrian) mythology, The Gallus (also called gallu demons or gallas) were great demons/devils of the underworld.

Gallu demons hauled unfortunate victims off to the underworld. They were one of seven devils (or "the offspring of hell") of Babylonian theology that could be appeased by the sacrifice of a lamb at their altars.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallu

So when Williams/Bobby describes the creature as older than Abrahamist mythology it makes sense that he's actually talking about the Gallu from old mythology. I haven't looked into typical descriptions of Gallus, so he might have completely invented its characteristics, but the whole idea of it hauling victims to the underworld sounds about right.

[Kirsten]

Wow, I came here to post this exact thread, but you beat me to it! I totally pictured the Balrog the whole time.

[Redrosevertigo0]

Andrew wrote: "I'm not totally sure he did invent it:

In Sumerian and Akkadian (Babylonian and Assyrian) mythology, The Gallus (also called gallu demons or gallas) were great demons/devils of the underworld.
..."

I recognized the ghallu from other stuff I had read. I just thought William's description sounded like the Balrog. Maybe he is a LOTR fan?

[Emy]

Gallu/Ghallu is old myth stuff, so exactly the sort of thing Tolkien would have read too :)

[Jonathon]

I was picturing the unholy offspring of The Beast from season 4 of Angel and the Balrog from Lord of the Rings.

I'd be willing to bet that the fact that we're all settling on the Balrog as part of our mental reference is because both Williams and Tolkien were drawing inspiration from the same sources.

[Dara]

Jonathon wrote: "I was picturing the unholy offspring of The Beast from season 4 of Angel and the Balrog from Lord of the Rings.

I'd be willing to bet that the fact that we're all settling on the Balrog as part of..."

The Beast! I didn't even think of that until now but it fits so well.

[Kristina]

I pictured something like the red bull from the last unicorn.

[Katie]

I thought of the blood beast in Terry Goodkind's Chainfire.

[J. Alberto]

I was thinking more of The Violator from Spawn actually, at least when he used that unhinging jaw of his. Before that, I was picturing the balrog without really noticing it.

[Dan]

I always thought about the Dahaka from the Prince of Persia games.

[Kristina]

Dan wrote: "I always thought about the Dahaka from the Prince of Persia games."
ooh that's a good one.