🐲Dragons: Why do they have free will?

[Lhunithiliel]

Confusticated, my friend, you know how I felt while I was reading through your post? - Just as if being one of those hobbits at Bilbo's party when he was delivering his famous speech.. you know "I know half of ...."etc.
But intriguing is your theory for sure!
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Oh and Walter, who deprived you of that sunny smiling winking face of your avatar? Is the dragon specifically for this thread?

 

[gate7ole]

So far, Confusticated’s theory is the most plausible. And I will try to reject one possible flaw, that how could the offspring of a Maia and another beast could be stronger than the Maia (like the dragons seem stronger than the Balrogs). Saruman created the Uruks, who were superior than the Orcs. And Saruman was but a Maia. Consider what Morgoth, the mightiest Ainu could succeed. It would be easy for him to mate Maiar with, say eagles and then better the characteristics of the offspring. This explains many things about the dragons (their longevity, their great strength, their cunning).
As far as no source of Tolkien himself arises, we can only speculate about the origins of the Dragons. I support the previous theory until a better one is posted.

 

[Confusticated]

There is something that i failed to address in my theory which raises a question that I will answer after I am sure of that answer. I am a little surprised gate7ole, that you have not pointed it out. Perhaps because you know the answer to it, and the answer is one which allows the theory to stand.

 

[Walter]

Originally posted by Lhunithiliel
Oh and Walter, who deprived you of that sunny smiling winking face of your avatar? Is the dragon specifically for this thread?

Well, I had turned my "winking smiley" off after I had learned about Naryas murder (which luckily enough has proven a hoax) and somehow forgot to put it back on. During the past days I was reading a few very serious books about dragons and one of them happened to be illustrated, which made it a lot easier for me to understand things and to avoid not seeing the wood for the trees

Originally posted by gate7ole
It would be easy for him to mate Maiar with, say eagles and then better the characteristics of the offspring. This explains many things about the dragons (their longevity, their great strength, their cunning).

And also why some of them had wings...

 

[Ancalagon]

It is impossible to know in truth the origin of the spirits that inhabited Dragons, though it is certain they contained some fell spirit that animated what might actually be a forged body of sorts?

For I do not believe that this Dragon is unconquerable, though he grows greater in strength and malice with the years. I know somewhat of him. His power is rather in the evil spirit that dwells within him than in the might of his body, great though that be. The Coming of Glaurung; Unfinished Tales

However, I find also an interesting reference from the Silmarillion that refers to Morgoth devising creatures;

and Men dwelt in darkness and were troubled by many evil things that Morgoth had devised in the days of his dominion: demons, and dragons, and misshapen beasts, and the unclean Orcs that are mockeries of the Children of Ilúvatar.

This leads me to wonder whether Dragons were creatures/creations inhabited by demons, fell spirits who may have been Maiar, but seemingly could have been the souls of tortured Elves and housed as Phantoms or Ghosts by Sauron? Similarly the same could be said of those Wights that inhabited and animated the bones of the Barrows!
Whether then these had 'free will' in the sense that the Children of Iluvatar had supposed 'free will', I suppose they did to a point! That point being that their will was subject to the dominion of their master, whom they served.

Morgoth used some of these for his evil purposes, and feigning to give them liberty sent them abroad, but their wills were chained to his, and they strayed only to come back to him again.

Of Elves who were captured by Morgoth it was ever known that they were bound to him, either by sorcery or fear. The same could be said of all those who served him, free will to go about their business, but always in his service. As someone pointed out earlier, it was Morgoths desire to rule the wills of others. This is significant as it means the gift of 'free-will' allowed by Eru to his Children, this would be the ultimate abhorence. Also, possibly an indirect reference of Tolkiens disgust in relation to slavery as the greatest sin against Men, IMO.

 

[gate7ole]

Reading in Morgoth’s Ring, some essays of Tolkien about the origins of Orcs, a new idea arose about the origins of the Dragons.
Morgoth was from the beginning the mightiest Vala. But eventually his spirit was diminished and he lost much of his strength. This was caused mostly because in order to achieve his complete dominion of ME, he had to adopt a raiment of close relation to earth and consume himself to the spiritual thralldom of the elves and men. Even more, he dispersed his strength all over ME (concentrating to the NW part) guiding his servants to do his will (the so-called Morgoth’s Ring). As Aule created the dwarves and they could move only by his command, so did Morgoth. But being mightier than Aule and spending much of his spirit, he could be able to create ,say dragons, from no other existing race and impose his will to them. And this evil will was preserved even after Morgoth’s captivity by the Valar. It is important to understand that this was not the creation of a new independent race, since Morgoth had to spend his own spirit to achieve this.
This idea is not much different from the already told ideas, but it doesn’t need any kind of mating of different races.

 

[ms Greenleaf]

tO QUOTE uRSALA LE GUIN Dragons simply are


good book but anyways...

 

[Celebithil]

This just occured to me, what if Morgoth fed a lizard type animal some of himself like he did with Carcharoth (Sp?) this would give them a lot of power. I dunno if he would have to actually give them a piece of his physical body or like gate7ole is saying, if I understand correctly, that he sent some of his own spirit into them.