Dragons

Both fearsome and admirable creatures, Dragons are ancient beasts of Middle-earth that were both mighty and clever. Although there is no one definite source for their origins, it can be confirmed that their creation is connected to Morgoth. Their creation dates back thousands of years before The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Dragons were present in Middle-earth from the First Age to the Third Age, but they may have been alive for longer. In the First Age, Morgoth bred dragons to serve him in his war. Among them was Glaurung, the first dragon known to Middle-earth, and the beast known as the father of dragons. Morgoth used Glaurung in his War of the Jewels, specifically during battles four and five. Glaurung, like the rest of the dragons who came from Morgoth, could naturally reproduce. Other names given to dragons were Drakes, great Worms, or Serpents, but were mostly used for Wingless Dragons specifically. One of the most notable heirlooms during the first age held the image of Glaurung. This is the Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin, [1] an artifact from the house of Hador.

On the heavy helm is a crest carved like Glaurung’s head. The dragons after Glaurung were treasure-hoarders. In the Second and Third Age, it was the Dwarves who suffered from them the most due to their treasure-hoarding habits. Among these dragons were Scatha the Worm and Smaug the Golden. These dragons invaded the Dwarf kingdoms for their treasure. Aside from Smaug’s terror, there were few notable dragons during the Second Age. However, they seem to have continued serving the dark lord even then. Other Hobbit references to dragons include The Green Dragon, an inn of the Shire, and the SnapDragon, which is a firework and a flower name. Gandalf also created a unique dragon firework just for Bilbo Baggins’ birthday party at the beginning of the events of Lord of the Rings. A popular assumption following Smaug’s death during the events of The Hobbit in the Third Age that dragons went extinct. However, Gandalf hints that the race of fire dragons was still alive until around the War of the Ring. He also mentions that lesser races may have survived still. Because of this, there is a possibility that some dragons are still alive in the Fourth Age.​

The dragons categorized as Cold-drakes were those who could not breathe fire. They would also often be wingless or legless. Although there were also dragons that could not breathe fire but breathed mist or smoke instead. There are hardly any references to Cold-drakes at an early age, having only been mentioned in the Third Age. This does not necessarily indicate that Cold-drakes did not exist prior. However, there is a possibility that dragons somehow became Cold-drakes by losing their fire-breathing ability post-War of Wrath.​

Aside from being the typical fearful beast, dragons were also clever, cunning, subtle in intelligence, physically strong, long-lived, and almost invulnerable due to their armor of impenetrable scales. These scales covered them everywhere, with only their undersides as exceptions. Dragons were also treasure-hoarders, tempted by their vast greed for everything gold and precious. They were often pictured lying on top of their mounds of treasure. However, their nature tended more towards the act of stealing treasure than the act of having it. They took pleasure in thieving precious items and dispossessing them from others. They preferred to steal treasure than to discover it unclaimed. Thorin Oakenshield mentioned that even though dragons themselves cannot craft, they can still measure the value of their treasures. Dragons are known to have bouts of aggressiveness and anger. This usually ends in immeasurable damage on the land and its residents. Not much is known about why exactly dragons hunger so much for gold, but it has been shown that between food and gold, dragons will prioritize the latter.

As such, they can go decades or even centuries without eating, and possibly even without drinking. One implication of this is that dragons likely draw their life force from jewels and treasures (otherwise, they would just have exaggerated reptilian metabolisms that are very, very slow). Given an absence of threats, a dragon could very well be immortal. Regardless, dragons in Middle-earth are well known to have incredibly long lives. One of the only pieces of knowledge about a dragon’s life cycle is about Glaurung. The father of dragons required a century to grow into an “adolescent” and another two centuries to full adulthood. During his growth to adolescence, Glaurung’s scales were not yet impenetrable. It is not confirmed if other dragons have similar life cycles. Encounters with dragons have often shown that dragons can speak in Common Tongue.

They also have the “dragon-spell” power, which is a sort of hypnotic trance that they can force a weaker-willed creature into. The creature may then be compelled by the dragon through its voice. Any being is susceptible to the dragon-spell, even the strong-willed if they are caught off guard. The dragon-spell can even be used to psychologically manipulate a being by provoking an internal conflict in the being’s mind. An example of this can be seen in Túrin’s encounter with Glaurung. Túrin at first was able to resist Glaurung’s attempt at hypnotizing him. But Glaurung then fed Túrin doubts about his failures, making Túrin more susceptible to Glaurung’s dragon-spell. Afterward, Glaurung was able to manipulate Túrin to his will. It also seemed to cause mistrust in the listener. The dragon’s hoard also becomes part of this power of suggestion and manipulation. It can cause people to yearn for the dragon’s treasure and grow in greed. After the death or slaying of a dragon, feuds would often emerge over the dragon hoard.

Often, the dragon slayer would lay claim to the treasure but would be opposed by the original heirs or owners of the treasure. This phenomenon has been suggested to be involved in the Dwarves’ involvement with Fram’s death after Scatha had been slain. This theme was also present in the Battle of Five Armies after Smaug’s death, but it was not the only cause for the huge war. While dragons showed obvious enjoyment in causing strife and conflict among other peoples, they also enjoyed puzzles and riddles. They have been known to spend hours on puzzles. This makes riddles to be the best and most apt means of conversation when talking to a dragon. This also allows the speaker’s freedom to neither directly lie nor tell the truth to the dragon. In The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins successfully used riddles and doublespeak to converse with Smaug. This entertained Smaug and kept him from becoming aggressive.

Dragons are also known for their heightened olfactory sense. When Bilbo encountered Smaug, Smaug told him that he could smell that Bilbo had been on a “dwarf-ridden pony.” This meant that Smaug could tell Bilbo had been among dwarves. But due to Smaug not having encountered a hobbit before, Smaug could not identify what exactly Bilbo was. To emphasize a dragon’s sense of smell, Smaug was able to detect Bilbo’s presence despite his wearing the One Ring and consequent invisibility. The dragon could do this by tracking air movement and through scent. To protect themselves and their hoard, dragons have been known to sleep with one eye half-open. When Bilbo witnessed this, he said he could see a ray of light coming from Smaug’s eye even as it was searching for Bilbo. However, Bilbo’s sight may have been heightened by the One Ring.

A dragon’s main means of protection is its coat of impenetrable scales. Their scales are invulnerable to nearly every weapon. However, their scales do take a long time to grow to their maximum strength. The precious substance mithril has been called similar in strength to a dragon’s scales, but much lighter. Thanks to their scales, dragons are protected nearly everywhere. The exception is their soft unarmored underbelly. This vulnerable area is usually targeted in a battle. This could not be exploited in the case of Smaug, however, because the gems and precious metals of his hoard had stuck to his slimy underbelly. This was the result of him laying on his hoard for so long within the Lonely Mountain. He was then protected all around on his body, except for the one spot that Bard was able to target. It appears that dwarves have had many conflicts with dragons. An example is their long battle with Glauraung in Nirnaeth Arnoediad.

In that case, a stolen treasure was not the direct cause of the battle. The long history between dragons and dwarves is mostly due to both their habits of collecting gold. Dwarves would mine their riches and keep it as their greatest treasures, and dragons would take great pleasure in robbing them of it. Frór and his father King Dain were killed at their very own doors by a cold-drake. While both races love gold and treasure, the dragons would win the battles often. Glaurung was also known to reek of a formidable stench. There was also something in his blood that was poisonous to others. There is no confirmation if these characteristics are consistent among all dragons. However, when the dwarves in The Hobbit were in the Lonely Mountain, they did complain of the reeking stench of Smaug due to how long Smaug had occupied its halls. There is no exact measure of how hot dragon fire is, other than it can melt Rings of Power. This is proven by how four of the dwarves’ gifted rings were destroyed by dragon fire. When it comes to the One Ring, however, Gandalf mentions that no dragon could melt it. Even the greatest drake, Ancalagon the Black, would not succeed in melting the One Ring.​

While there is no material confirming the origins of Arda’s Dragons, many speculations and suggestions are surrounding the topic. One speculation believes that Morgoth enhanced beasts to become mighty dragons. This is like what was done to orcs and, to some extent, fell beasts. However, this speculation does encounter some issues. One issue found was that dragons are still able to understand different languages of Arda and love their puzzle-speak and riddles, as pointed out by Randall Johnson. According to him, since dragons are highly cunning and smart, they can lead battles. They also have their dragon-spell ability and can work their hypnotic trances on other beings. Dragons are also capable of casting curses as well as spells.

They also have varying fire-breathing abilities. The main point here is that dragons are very diverse and complex in their traits and are not as simple-minded as Morgoth’s orcs. It is also noteworthy that dragons did not always have wings. Along with this speculation should be the consideration of other corrupted beasts. Wargs, orcs, and other Valar creatures have been able to speak in other tongues and with other races. There is still a possibility that before dragons became dark creatures, their linguistic versatility may have been given by Yavanna. Another theory is that, like the Balrogs, dragons are Maiar embodied.

This origin sets itself apart from many other theories concerning dragons. This theory says that dragons, like Balrogs, are ancient primordial spirits that took the shape of terrible draconian monsters. It is already established that Maiar can take on physical forms. These are seen in Morgoth’s Balrogs, who are Maiar. The five Wizards are also Maiar, but who took man’s physical form. However, among the few problems with this theory is the implication that Dragons simultaneously were born or created in the First Age. This directly contradicts what is known about Smaug, who only came into being post-War of Wrath.

Dragons were also known to have procreated in the Withered Heath, which is counter to the nature of simply being Maiar. The offshoot theory from this is that dragons are, instead of being Maiar themselves, rather descended from Maiar who took physical forms. They would be like the “nameless things” that Gandalf called beasts like Shelob, who was the result of the Maiar Ungoliant and spiders. This theory, as deemed by Middle-earth analysts, seems to have the most plausibility. Johnson says that this theory can be backed up by the fact that a Maia did take the corporeal form of a reptile once. This was done at Morgoth’s bidding and was even done by Sauron at one point. As sourced from The Silmarillion, Sauron took the form of a wolf, a serpent, then chose his form to take. A Maiar that took the form of a reptile and procreated with a natural reptile resulted in Glaurung. Glaurung, having been the first dragon and the “father of dragons,” made the dragon race self-sustaining by mating with other reptiles or Maiar-reptiles.​