Smaug is the last fire-eating drake from the Third Age and is thought to be one of the last dragons to exist in the Middle-earth. He is also the main antagonist in JR Tolkien’s novel “The Hobbit”. Drawn to the enormous wealth of Dwarves from the Lonely Mountain. During the reign of King of Durin’s Folk the King Thror, he destroyed the neighboring city of Dale and captured Lonely Mountain. Dwarves were the only survivor of this mayhem, who was then sent into exile. Smaug hoarded the treasurers of Lonely Mountain for around 171 years and stayed inside the mountain only. His hibernation came to an end when Dwarves with a group of people managed to enter the Lonely Mountains. Smaug believed that Dwarves had received help from men of Lake-town, to find a way to enter Lonely Mountain, because of which for the first time he left the mountain and ravaged Lake-town. He had wrecked-havoc in the town but before he could destroy it completely he was slain by Bard the Bowman.
Origin
There are no specific details about his origin but it is true that in TA 2770 he was attached to the town of Dale and Lonely Mountain. It is believed that Smaug was born in the Third Age and came from Grey Mountains in Middle-earth, also known as Withered Heath. Heath was an area between the forked Grey Mountains and was both famous and feared in Middle-earth as being the breeding ground for various dragons during those days.
The Hobbit said:
Reasons To Believe Smaug Was From Withered Heath
- Gandalf who was the member of the Istari order and also the leader of the Fellowship of the Ring and the Army of West noted that Smaug was not fully grown when he tormented the town of Dale and Erebor. According to him, it was not possible for Smaug to even creep into the secret pass that too before an attack on these two cities.
- Until now only two dragons have survived the War of Wrath, one of them might have been of the same kind as Smaug or was a winged dragon.
- The very first appearance of Smaug is of Erebor in 2770 years that too after the start of the Third Age. It is said that he resided in the mountain for about 171 years. This time is very similar to that of Glaurung’s, as even, he took about 195 years to mature. In FA 260, Glaurang was “yet young and scarce half-grown”, and it is a presumption that he was born in FA 155.
- Accordingly, if Smaug was born during the First Age, then at the time of his death he was 6212 years old, and hence, he was not young or tender during the fall of both these cities.
- In the conversation, Smaug gives a reference of only men and dwarves from the two cities, and hence again it becomes a bit inappropriate to consider that he was all of a sudden talking about these two in the First or Second Ages.
Third Age
Smaug in the year TA 2770 was attracted to the vast amount of wealth that was amassed by the Dwarven Kingdom of Erebor. The wealth included loads of gemstones, gold, pearls, silver, and many-faceted crystals, emeralds, diamonds, sapphire, and the very famous Arkenstone. During one of his savages, he destroyed both the neighboring cities of Dale and Erebor, he even killed any men or dwarves that came in his way. Both the King Thror and Thrain escaped via a secret door and Smaug continued to ravage both the cities and the countryside. He was the uncontested ruler of the mountains for about two centuries.
All of his days were spent by lying atop the great treasure hoard, which he supposedly guarded. The surrounding area later became to be known as Desolation of Smaug but was mostly a wasteland. But in TA 2941 a company of fourteen adventurers lead by Thorin Oakenshield, who was the heir of the Lonely Mountain, entered Smaug’s paradise. The company had twelve dwarves and hobbit Bilbo Baggins. They entered the mountain via a secret door, in an attempt to reclaim the treasures of the mountain from this ferocious dragon. The company's burglar who was none other than the hobbit Bilbo was the only one sent inside the treasure trove in an attempt to stealthily gather as much information as possible without disturbing Smaug. But once inside, Bilbo was a bit shocked to see how big Smaug was at this moment and also astonished to see him covered in an impenetrable armor (except for his under-belly).
Smaug knew that he was vulnerable when it came to his belly and had already spent years sprawling on this wealth and allowing hard gemstones and diamonds to embed into his belly. However, while closely examining this creature, Bilbo's very sharp eyes were able to locate a small bare patch towards this monster's left breast. The same was also very near to his heart. Bilbo now escaped with this very useful information and went to see his company of Dwarves. He shared all the details, especially about his weakness with his fellow adventurers. During this whole narration, Bilbo was unaware of the fact that a thrush, who then very secretly carried all this information to Bard the Bowman staying in the nearby Esgaroth, which was also known as the Lake-Town.
But while returning to the treasure chamber once again, Bilbo was trying to steal a cup. But to his dismay, Smaug immediately notices him and was amused by this Hobbit. Instead of terrifying him, Smaug initiated a conversation with this Hobbit, because he wanted to know his origins and the purpose of his presence in this mountain. In a very short time, Smaug easily identified that this Hobbit was being helped by Thorin and the rest of his Dwarf company and their sole purpose is to steal back the famous Arkenstone and also reclaim the Mountain. Smaug was furious and thus flew with rage, he erupted the mountain in fiery wrath and loosened his flame on the grounds. He then turned all his anger and fury towards Lake-town which was situated aside the Long-Lake and set about razing the same. In between this havoc, Bard the Bowman, who was also the heir to the throne of Dale, tried his best to rally the townsfolk to repel this dragon’s assault on them, but their little arrows could not stand in front of this mighty dragon’s very strong body armor. It is then, when Bard the Bowman, efficiently utilized the information given to him by a thrush, about Smaug's only weakness. He then fired a black arrow towards this weak spot and hit Smaug’s belly. Smaug was now seen roaring in pain and fury, he fell from the sky and dived into the flaming ruins the city he was ravaging the Lake-town. Hence, his death was the milestone that marked the end of dragons in Middle Earth.
All of his days were spent by lying atop the great treasure hoard, which he supposedly guarded. The surrounding area later became to be known as Desolation of Smaug but was mostly a wasteland. But in TA 2941 a company of fourteen adventurers lead by Thorin Oakenshield, who was the heir of the Lonely Mountain, entered Smaug’s paradise. The company had twelve dwarves and hobbit Bilbo Baggins. They entered the mountain via a secret door, in an attempt to reclaim the treasures of the mountain from this ferocious dragon. The company's burglar who was none other than the hobbit Bilbo was the only one sent inside the treasure trove in an attempt to stealthily gather as much information as possible without disturbing Smaug. But once inside, Bilbo was a bit shocked to see how big Smaug was at this moment and also astonished to see him covered in an impenetrable armor (except for his under-belly).
Smaug knew that he was vulnerable when it came to his belly and had already spent years sprawling on this wealth and allowing hard gemstones and diamonds to embed into his belly. However, while closely examining this creature, Bilbo's very sharp eyes were able to locate a small bare patch towards this monster's left breast. The same was also very near to his heart. Bilbo now escaped with this very useful information and went to see his company of Dwarves. He shared all the details, especially about his weakness with his fellow adventurers. During this whole narration, Bilbo was unaware of the fact that a thrush, who then very secretly carried all this information to Bard the Bowman staying in the nearby Esgaroth, which was also known as the Lake-Town.
But while returning to the treasure chamber once again, Bilbo was trying to steal a cup. But to his dismay, Smaug immediately notices him and was amused by this Hobbit. Instead of terrifying him, Smaug initiated a conversation with this Hobbit, because he wanted to know his origins and the purpose of his presence in this mountain. In a very short time, Smaug easily identified that this Hobbit was being helped by Thorin and the rest of his Dwarf company and their sole purpose is to steal back the famous Arkenstone and also reclaim the Mountain. Smaug was furious and thus flew with rage, he erupted the mountain in fiery wrath and loosened his flame on the grounds. He then turned all his anger and fury towards Lake-town which was situated aside the Long-Lake and set about razing the same. In between this havoc, Bard the Bowman, who was also the heir to the throne of Dale, tried his best to rally the townsfolk to repel this dragon’s assault on them, but their little arrows could not stand in front of this mighty dragon’s very strong body armor. It is then, when Bard the Bowman, efficiently utilized the information given to him by a thrush, about Smaug's only weakness. He then fired a black arrow towards this weak spot and hit Smaug’s belly. Smaug was now seen roaring in pain and fury, he fell from the sky and dived into the flaming ruins the city he was ravaging the Lake-town. Hence, his death was the milestone that marked the end of dragons in Middle Earth.
Legacy
After the death of this mighty dragon, the treasure of the Lonely Mountains was reclaimed by Thorin and his Company. Thorin also claimed that he was the only heir of this treasure and this claim of his created a conflict between Bard and Elvenking Thranduil from Mirkwood. Both the parties demanded a portion from the treasure which was due to them because of the havoc this dragon had caused to their cities. They demanded it in the form of reimbursement. But Thorin refused to accept this demand, hence both of them later declared war on him. It is also believed that a very huge portion from this fortune of gemstones that were guarded by Smaug for so many years, lay with his carcass among the pilings of Lake-town. Only a few people found the courage to dive and look for it in the later years. Since there was no dragon left to fight or hide for, the people of the town now built a new city right next to the land on the lake. [1]
Etymology
The word Smaug is directly derived from the indicative past of the 3rd singular of Proto-German verb the smeuganan, which in old English meant to creep or to squeeze through a hole. This proto-German word Smaug yields old English word smeag, which implies a burrow, or a place to creep into. The “au” in Smaug is pronounced similarly as the “ou” present in the words sound or house. Very often the name is also pronounced as Smog, especially in Rankin/Bass movies (animated). But, in the language of Dale, which is known as Dalish, the dragon Smaug has the name “Tragu”, which is very similar to the Norwegian word used for dragons, the drag. Even in Slavic culture, you can find aliases for the word dragon by the names of Smok (serpent) or Tsmok (sucker). When Smaug was conversing with the Hobbit Bilbo, the hobbit assigned to him various names or epithets such as:
- Unassessably wealthy
- Stupendous
- Your magnificence
- Magnificent
- Tremendous
- Mighty
- Terrible
- Tyrannical
- Chiefest and greatest of calamities
Size & Appearance
The size of this ferocious dragon has never been explicitly mentioned in The Hobbit and many illustrations by both Tolkien and Alan Lee, greatly vary in terms of his size. Whereas most of the active films, depict him to be as big as the front gate of the dwarven kingdom. Karen Wynn Fonstad, in his The Atlas of Middle-earth has stated that Smaug was about 18 meters or 59 feet in length. But this record is considered to be non-canonical. But for illustration for The Hobbit in Letter 27, Tolkien gives us some indication concerning this dragon’s size. The Letters of JRR Tolkien, Letter 27:
Some other descriptions are given by Tolkien, also help us to assume the size of this ferocious dragon, such as the Secret Tunnel which had a 5 feet tall door and a passage that was wide enough for three people to walk together, even this tunnel was too small for this dragon to pass through when he was young. And when he had grown to his full size, he could only put the tip of his nostrils inside this tunnel hole.
Abilities
Smaug was not only huge but also a very powerful dragon. He was a fully-grown dragon who possessed such an amount of physical strength that he could easily crush a stone. The same is also visible in his attacks at the Lonely Mountain. He had large wings, that enabled him to fly easily and with ease. He was also capable of breathing strong streams of hot flames from his big mouth. Some of the references in the Hobbit also suggest that his whole body was completely imbued with fire. As you could spot him even in the darkness of the mountains. It is also said that most of his usual paths were smothered and slimed because of its regular use by him. Like other dragons from the Middle-earth, even Smaug had a sharp mind coupled with a monstrous appearance.
He had very good knowledge about everything that he was guarding, hence he immediately noticed the theft of a single cup by Bilbo and when Bilbo came back, Smaug was already waiting for him by feigning sleep. He also declared that he could effortlessly sense the theft by Bilbo, even though he didn’t see him. It was not only the dragon who was intelligent, but even Bilbo used his intelligence by not revealing his exact location in front of Smaug. But Smaug very intelligently planted doubts in Bilbo’s mind and correctly guessed that this burglar is an ally of the Dwarves and the men from Lake Town. Although he was a big dragon, Smaug was still very agile and quick. He is depicted as someone who could easily leap over objects and also dive with high speeds without any extra effort. In terms of defense capabilities, his golden-red scales rendered him impervious to any kind of weapon.
But as we all know the only vulnerable spot on his body, his-underbelly was very soft and tender. Smaug was intelligent enough to sleep on his treasure present in the Lonely Mountain, to cover this little sweet spot of his body. This so-called diamond waistcoat was purposely built by Smaug to protect his weak spot, but Bilbo was able to notice a bare patch in his under-belly towards the left side. And later this little bare patch was the reason why Bard was able to kill Smaug and end his story.
He had very good knowledge about everything that he was guarding, hence he immediately noticed the theft of a single cup by Bilbo and when Bilbo came back, Smaug was already waiting for him by feigning sleep. He also declared that he could effortlessly sense the theft by Bilbo, even though he didn’t see him. It was not only the dragon who was intelligent, but even Bilbo used his intelligence by not revealing his exact location in front of Smaug. But Smaug very intelligently planted doubts in Bilbo’s mind and correctly guessed that this burglar is an ally of the Dwarves and the men from Lake Town. Although he was a big dragon, Smaug was still very agile and quick. He is depicted as someone who could easily leap over objects and also dive with high speeds without any extra effort. In terms of defense capabilities, his golden-red scales rendered him impervious to any kind of weapon.
But as we all know the only vulnerable spot on his body, his-underbelly was very soft and tender. Smaug was intelligent enough to sleep on his treasure present in the Lonely Mountain, to cover this little sweet spot of his body. This so-called diamond waistcoat was purposely built by Smaug to protect his weak spot, but Bilbo was able to notice a bare patch in his under-belly towards the left side. And later this little bare patch was the reason why Bard was able to kill Smaug and end his story.
Personality
This ancient dragon is portrayed as a very sadistic, violent, arrogant, cruel, greedy, and psychopathic slayer. But at the same time, he is also intelligent enough who possessed a very unquenchable desire for wealth. [2] One of his most distinguished attributes was his arrogance, which is very nicely depicted in the conversation between Bilbo and himself, where he proudly boasts about his impregnability and superiority over others. This boastfulness, later on, proves to be his only downfall as, during this conversation, when Smaug was showing the Hobbit that he as willingly coated his entire underbelly with the treasure to protect himself, he accidentally reveals the only weak-spot in front of Bilbo. The primary motive behind his deeds was agreed for treasure rather than having a desire to do something evil and throughout you can see that he has not served any other allegiance apart from his own.
After ruthlessly destroying Dale and plundering Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain, Smaug simply assumed his dominion over the region and was content. He never meddled with of the business of rest of the Middle Earth at all, until and unless his treasure was not disturbed. Although, this non-interference might be because Smaug felt that the people of this region had nothing to give or have nothing for him. Smaug is also shown to have a sardonic sense of humor, as seen when he was mocking Bilbo. Smaug, shown as someone who dislikes Dwarves and thinks of them as someone weak and pathetic. Because of this characteristic he is seen as passing unfavorable comments on Thror and is also shown as someone who had no remorse over what he had done to their kingdom. He is very intelligent and cleverly devises Bilbo’s presence in the Lonely Mountains and also deduced that Dwarves had received aid from men of Esgaroth to reach the mountain.
After ruthlessly destroying Dale and plundering Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain, Smaug simply assumed his dominion over the region and was content. He never meddled with of the business of rest of the Middle Earth at all, until and unless his treasure was not disturbed. Although, this non-interference might be because Smaug felt that the people of this region had nothing to give or have nothing for him. Smaug is also shown to have a sardonic sense of humor, as seen when he was mocking Bilbo. Smaug, shown as someone who dislikes Dwarves and thinks of them as someone weak and pathetic. Because of this characteristic he is seen as passing unfavorable comments on Thror and is also shown as someone who had no remorse over what he had done to their kingdom. He is very intelligent and cleverly devises Bilbo’s presence in the Lonely Mountains and also deduced that Dwarves had received aid from men of Esgaroth to reach the mountain.
Adaptation
The Hobbit – Film Trilogy
Benedict Cumberbatch is the voice of Smaug in Peter Jackson’s trilogy of The Hobbit. In these series of movies, Smaug is depicted as a dragon with a long head, enormous wings, red scales, and gleaming yellow eyes. Benedict has given him a very deep, resonant voice with an incredible underlying growling. His first appearance is in the prologue of the film, The Hobbit – An Unexpected Journey. He is described in the movie as a “fire drake from the north” and one who resides in the Lonely Mountain. You get very small glimpses of him during the entire movie such as his legs, or wings, tail, his head, or when he flies over Dale when he is sleeping over his treasure, etc. Apart from this, he is also portrayed as a topic of discussion between Gandalf and the White Council, where Gandalf provides his reasons to support Thorin’s quest. When Thorin along with his company reached the Lonely Mountain, they sent Bilbo Baggins towards the treasure trove, to find the famous Arkenstone. This little Hobbit accidentally caused a landslide in the case and uncovered the ferocious dragon.
Smaug was woken up from his sleep and he immediately became aware that some else is present in the cave. Bilbo was hiding from being seen by the dragon by using his ring. But because of his scent, Smaug easily felt his presence. He started looking for him and asked him to come out no matter where he was hiding and when Smaug was very near to the Hobbit, he started to run only to get noticed by the dragon. Smaug then chased Bilbo through the chamber, then Bilbo hid behind a giant pillar and was still under the cloak of the ring. Smaug didn’t stop there and continued to look for him, he also stated that he was aware of the ring that Bilbo had and stated that he had something, “made of gold, but far more precious,” because of this, Bilbo then removed his ring. Smaug was amazed by the knowledge that Bilbo had about him and initiated a conversation with the Hobbit, just to know about his origins.
Initially, the Hobbit tried to lie about himself and stated that he was just a traveler who had traveled just to come and see the dragon in the Mountain, as he was curious and didn’t believe the tales he had heard about the dragon. Smaug was very intelligent and asked Bilbo what he thinks, that can flattery keep him alive and also asked him who he was and from where he has come. Bilbo replied to this by saying, “came from under the hill and over hills and under hills his path had led,” through the air he was, “he who walks unseen”. Smaug didn’t believe the Hobbit and also revealed that he already knew that the Dwarves were already outside the mountain. Since Smaug didn’t fall for his words, a cat and mouse banter began between the two in which Smaug was boasting about his incredible armor and invincibility. In the conversation, the dragon immediately realized that Thror’s grandson, Thorin had sent Bilbo to get hold of the Arkenstone.
He revealed that he was already aware of his goals and that it didn’t bother him at all, as the quest was futile. Later on, Smaug also tried to manipulate Bilbo’s friendship with Thorin, by lying to him that the dwarf was simply using his friendship and his fate is worth nothing for Thorin. But the hobbit didn’t believe what Smaug was saying. The dragon was intrigued by this and was desperate to know what was this hobbit getting as a reward after he would have completed the task Thorin had assigned to him. During this time, Smaug discerned Bilbo’s attempt in stealing any jewels from the hoard and kept away Bilbo from catching the Arkenstone. But during this confrontation, Smaug showed his under-belly to Bilbo which was coated with precious gems and stones and this is where the hobbit found a single missing patch on his body, which marks the end of this ferocious dragon’s journey. A chase and confrontation started between Thorin’s company and the dragon, this is where Smaug realizes that Bilbo is aided by the men of Lake-town and decides to destroy the town.
Bilbo tried to protest but Smaug gleefully and cruelly states that now everybody’s death will be their heads. The moment Smaug was leaving, Thorin arrives and taunts him, and unveils a freshly cast golden statue of a dwarf, which was good enough to distract this might dragon. The statue melted and the molten gold engulfed the dragon himself. Being strong, Smaug survives and erupts from this molten pool of gold, shakes off himself, and flies towards Lake-town. The first film then comes to an end with him saying, “I am Fire, I am…..death”. The third film, The Hobbit – The Battle of the Five Armies, starts with Smaug entering Lake-Town where he proceeds to destroy the city because it aided the dwarves to reach the Lonely Mountain. Bard, by now had already escaped imprisonment from Lake-town. He jumps over the bell-tower and starts to attack the dragon, but every single of his attempts fails because of the grand gems and precious stones studded armor of this dragon. Bard was already aware of Smaug’s weakest spot and directly aimed towards it, Smaug stumbled and knocked off both Bard and Bain, and flew back up.
He dies mid-air while flying back towards the skies. His body, while falling from above land’s on Lake-town’s corrupt master, which kills him. Even though he dies in this movie, his presence is felt throughout. Aside from the tremendous damage he inflicted on Lake-town his presence is felt at various occasions as Thorin is highly influenced by the dragon’s sickness, Bilbo is seen as he if he is hearing himself speak in Smaug’s voice, Thorin even starts to hallucinate about Smaug, while he was talking a walk on the golden floor that was built up after they tried to drown the dragon in it. Smaug was also considered to be the highlight of the second movie of this series, with many critics around the world claiming him to be the greatest dragon incarnation in cinematic history. Even the visual effects company Weta Digital was praised a lot and the vocal motion capture of Smaug provided by Cumberbatch was highly praised for bringing a realized personality to this dreadful dragon. The extended edition called the Desolation of Smaug, confirms that Gandalf the Grey is fearful of an alliance between Sauron and Tharin, as revealed by Dol Guldur.
Smaug was woken up from his sleep and he immediately became aware that some else is present in the cave. Bilbo was hiding from being seen by the dragon by using his ring. But because of his scent, Smaug easily felt his presence. He started looking for him and asked him to come out no matter where he was hiding and when Smaug was very near to the Hobbit, he started to run only to get noticed by the dragon. Smaug then chased Bilbo through the chamber, then Bilbo hid behind a giant pillar and was still under the cloak of the ring. Smaug didn’t stop there and continued to look for him, he also stated that he was aware of the ring that Bilbo had and stated that he had something, “made of gold, but far more precious,” because of this, Bilbo then removed his ring. Smaug was amazed by the knowledge that Bilbo had about him and initiated a conversation with the Hobbit, just to know about his origins.
Initially, the Hobbit tried to lie about himself and stated that he was just a traveler who had traveled just to come and see the dragon in the Mountain, as he was curious and didn’t believe the tales he had heard about the dragon. Smaug was very intelligent and asked Bilbo what he thinks, that can flattery keep him alive and also asked him who he was and from where he has come. Bilbo replied to this by saying, “came from under the hill and over hills and under hills his path had led,” through the air he was, “he who walks unseen”. Smaug didn’t believe the Hobbit and also revealed that he already knew that the Dwarves were already outside the mountain. Since Smaug didn’t fall for his words, a cat and mouse banter began between the two in which Smaug was boasting about his incredible armor and invincibility. In the conversation, the dragon immediately realized that Thror’s grandson, Thorin had sent Bilbo to get hold of the Arkenstone.
He revealed that he was already aware of his goals and that it didn’t bother him at all, as the quest was futile. Later on, Smaug also tried to manipulate Bilbo’s friendship with Thorin, by lying to him that the dwarf was simply using his friendship and his fate is worth nothing for Thorin. But the hobbit didn’t believe what Smaug was saying. The dragon was intrigued by this and was desperate to know what was this hobbit getting as a reward after he would have completed the task Thorin had assigned to him. During this time, Smaug discerned Bilbo’s attempt in stealing any jewels from the hoard and kept away Bilbo from catching the Arkenstone. But during this confrontation, Smaug showed his under-belly to Bilbo which was coated with precious gems and stones and this is where the hobbit found a single missing patch on his body, which marks the end of this ferocious dragon’s journey. A chase and confrontation started between Thorin’s company and the dragon, this is where Smaug realizes that Bilbo is aided by the men of Lake-town and decides to destroy the town.
Bilbo tried to protest but Smaug gleefully and cruelly states that now everybody’s death will be their heads. The moment Smaug was leaving, Thorin arrives and taunts him, and unveils a freshly cast golden statue of a dwarf, which was good enough to distract this might dragon. The statue melted and the molten gold engulfed the dragon himself. Being strong, Smaug survives and erupts from this molten pool of gold, shakes off himself, and flies towards Lake-town. The first film then comes to an end with him saying, “I am Fire, I am…..death”. The third film, The Hobbit – The Battle of the Five Armies, starts with Smaug entering Lake-Town where he proceeds to destroy the city because it aided the dwarves to reach the Lonely Mountain. Bard, by now had already escaped imprisonment from Lake-town. He jumps over the bell-tower and starts to attack the dragon, but every single of his attempts fails because of the grand gems and precious stones studded armor of this dragon. Bard was already aware of Smaug’s weakest spot and directly aimed towards it, Smaug stumbled and knocked off both Bard and Bain, and flew back up.
He dies mid-air while flying back towards the skies. His body, while falling from above land’s on Lake-town’s corrupt master, which kills him. Even though he dies in this movie, his presence is felt throughout. Aside from the tremendous damage he inflicted on Lake-town his presence is felt at various occasions as Thorin is highly influenced by the dragon’s sickness, Bilbo is seen as he if he is hearing himself speak in Smaug’s voice, Thorin even starts to hallucinate about Smaug, while he was talking a walk on the golden floor that was built up after they tried to drown the dragon in it. Smaug was also considered to be the highlight of the second movie of this series, with many critics around the world claiming him to be the greatest dragon incarnation in cinematic history. Even the visual effects company Weta Digital was praised a lot and the vocal motion capture of Smaug provided by Cumberbatch was highly praised for bringing a realized personality to this dreadful dragon. The extended edition called the Desolation of Smaug, confirms that Gandalf the Grey is fearful of an alliance between Sauron and Tharin, as revealed by Dol Guldur.
Smaug In Popular Culture
- In 2011, Smaug ranked 7th in the Forbes 15 richest fictional characters. His estimated net worth of the time was $8.6 million.
- In 2012, the magazine did some more research and placed estimated that his wealth for the year for around $61 billion, hence he immediately jumped on the top spot of the list. It is also said that Michael Noer, who was the author of this article tried to limit Smaug’s net wealth to be in line with actual living characters such as Carlos Slim and Bill Gates.
- In 2013, ranked second with an estimated net worth of $54.1 billion [3] and the first rank was bagged by Scrooge McDuck, with an estimated net worth of $65.4 billion.
- In 2011, a genus of girdled lizards was named after Smaug by scientists of the United States and South Africa. Originally the lizards were part of genus Cordylus, but the same was reclassified after molecular study. These lizards were named so because of their similarity to this fictional character. Both of them have similarities concerning their armor, underground dwelling, and native place. Tolkien’s birthplace is Bloemfontein in Orange Free State which is at present Free State province in South Africa.
- In 2015, again a species of shield bugs was named after the fictional dragon. The bugs are now known as Planois Smaug [4]. The similarity between the two is their size and status of “sleeping” in the researcher’s collection for about 60 years until the same was discovered.
- Even a species of ants is named after the character and is known as Tetramorium Smaug.
Games
- 1982 – The Hobbit; a video game the goal of which was to plunder the treasure of Smaug in the Lonely Mountain
- 1988 – Creatures of Middle-Earth (1st edition); this was a role-playing game in which Smaug was put forward as an enemy and it was on the player to decide and include Smaug in his/her team
- 1994 – Creature of Middle-Earth (2nd edition); in this edition, the character of Smaug has been described in detail and a brief history of his coming to Erebor is also shown.
- 2003 – The Hobbit
- 2008 – The Lord of the Rings Online; although Smaug does not make any physical appearance in this game, you can find his bones laying around the watery ruins of the Lake-town
Radio Series
- 1968 – The Hobbit (radio series); Francis de Wolf, was Smaug’s voice in this series
- 1979 – The Hobbit (radio series); Erik Bauersfeld lend his voice to this dragon and the entire series pronounced his name as “smog”
Other Legends Surrounding Smaug
In one of the earliest manuscripts of The Hobbit, Smaug was known as Pryftan, and John D. Rateliff even refers to this manuscript as The Pryftan Fragment. John D. Rateliff is a JRR Tolkien scholar. The word Pryftan is a Welsh compound with a literal meaning, “Worm of fire”.
Inspiration, Creation & Concept
Tolkien, from 1925 to 1945 was a professor of English Literature at Oxford University and was also one of the most prominent critics and experts on Beowulf (considered to be one of the most important works of English Literature, it is a collection of an Old English poem). His Middle-earth legendarium features dragons which are very closely related to those of European legends. Dragons were already a part of The Book of Lost Tales, which is also the earliest Middle-Earth narrative given by Tolkien in 1917. This book was posthumously published in two separate volumes and as a part of The History of Middle-Earth series, the same was later edited and commentary by his son Christopher was included in it. In his works, he characterized dragons as having some basic qualities such as, quadrupedal like a komodo dragon or a lizard, flightless dragons such as the Glaurung or the ones which had wings, such as the Smaug and Ancalagon. These winged dragons made their first appearance during the War of Wrath, which was the battle that ended the First Age.
Some of his dragons were able to breathe fire and were called “Fire-drakes”. He has also mentioned about a “Cold-drake”, as per the information provided in Appendix A of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien mentions that Durin’s folk and Dain I including his son Fror were all killed by a “cold-drake” when eventually Dain’s people to leave the Grey Mountains. Because of this description, it is assumed that there were dragons that did not breathe fire but did breathe ice or snow. All of his dragons share a common love for treasure, especially for gold [5] and are not only intelligent, cunning, possess great physical capabilities but also a hypnotic power called the dragon spell. All of them are very powerful and also dangerous, but take a lot of time to mature. Hence, only because of this Melkor’s first attempts to use these dragons against his enemies fail, as they were not powerful enough to be used in a battle. Tolkien mentions four dragons in his Middle-Earth writings, and one more dragon called “Chrysophylax Dives”, finds mention in Farmer Giles of Ham, which is a different story. Dives is a fire breathing dragon who is also described as a “hot-one”.
Some of his dragons were able to breathe fire and were called “Fire-drakes”. He has also mentioned about a “Cold-drake”, as per the information provided in Appendix A of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien mentions that Durin’s folk and Dain I including his son Fror were all killed by a “cold-drake” when eventually Dain’s people to leave the Grey Mountains. Because of this description, it is assumed that there were dragons that did not breathe fire but did breathe ice or snow. All of his dragons share a common love for treasure, especially for gold [5] and are not only intelligent, cunning, possess great physical capabilities but also a hypnotic power called the dragon spell. All of them are very powerful and also dangerous, but take a lot of time to mature. Hence, only because of this Melkor’s first attempts to use these dragons against his enemies fail, as they were not powerful enough to be used in a battle. Tolkien mentions four dragons in his Middle-Earth writings, and one more dragon called “Chrysophylax Dives”, finds mention in Farmer Giles of Ham, which is a different story. Dives is a fire breathing dragon who is also described as a “hot-one”.
His four dragons from the Middle-Earth corpus are:
- Glaurung – first introduced in The Silmarillion, Glaurung is the Father of Dragons in these legendarium’s and was also the first fire-drake of Angband. He is also the main antagonist present in The Children of Hurin. Glaurung is shown as a dragon who is capable of using his abilities to control and enslave men. He is described as someone who could wipe out memories from Turin’s sister Nienor, although the same was restored once Glaurung perished. He has four legs and can breathe fire but has no wings.
- Ancalagon the Black – the dragon bred by Morgoth during the First-Age was known as Ancalagon the Black, as told by The Silmarillion. As per the description Ancalagon, the Black was Morgoth’s most powerful servant. He was purposely bred to be one of the greatest and mightiest dragons of the time. He was the first of the winged fire-drakes.
- Scatha – a mighty “long-worm” from the Grey Mountains is what defines the dragon Scatha. Very little is known about the same except for the fact that it was slain by Fram during the days of Eotheod around TA 2000. Immediately after slaying Scatha, the ownership of his hoard then because of a bone of contention between Fram and Dwarves of that region.
Fram then refused this claim and sent them Scatha’s teeth instead of any treasure, with words, “Jewels such as these will not match in your treasures, for they are hard to come by”. This later on led to Fram’s death by the Dwarves.
Whereas, Eotheod got hold of some of this treasure and brought it to the south with him when he settled in Rohan. The famous silver horn that was given to Merry Brandybuck by Eowyn after the War of the Ring, belonged to this hoard only. The name Scatha is derived from the anglo-Saxon word sceaoa, which implies, “injurious person, criminal, thief, assassin”. - Smaug – Smaug as we all know, is the last-named dragon from the Middle-earth. He was slain by Bard the Bowman, who himself was a descendant of Girion, Lord of Dale.
In 1936 he gave a lecture at the British Academy on Beowulf and also described that one of his most valuable sources for the same is “The Hobbit”. Hence, many of the characteristics or attributes of Smaug in The Hobbit are directly derived from the not famous old night scather, in Beowulf, such as fiery, great age, reptilian form, winged, a stolen barrow, etc. Tolkien has intricately described Smaug’s rage as “is only seen when rich folk that has more than they can enjoy losing something they have long had but never before used or wanted”. Hence, he was familiar even with the last item of his hoard and instantly noticed the theft of a small cup by Bilbo. All of this, the theft, Smaug’s knowledge of every single item present in his treasure, and his ensuing rampage are all coming from the story of Beowulf. Tolkien was also inspired by the talking dragon Fafnir of the Volsunga saga.
Very similar to various other dragons from the Nordic and Celtic mythologies, even Smaug epitomizes the greed and calamities that he had caused. Tolkien also mentioned that “the dragon bears as a name – a pseudonym – the past tense of the primitive Germanic verb smugan”, which implies to squeeze through a hole.[6] Tolkien very interestingly depicts Smaug as a dragon who is intelligent and capable of speech, who is easily pleased by flattery and is at the same time also fascinated by the Hobbit Bilbo’s description of him in riddles. The same concept is also beautifully portrayed in film adaptations such as the one in The Hobbit – The Desolation of Smaug. The dragon is described as one having quite an overwhelming personality.
Very similar to various other dragons from the Nordic and Celtic mythologies, even Smaug epitomizes the greed and calamities that he had caused. Tolkien also mentioned that “the dragon bears as a name – a pseudonym – the past tense of the primitive Germanic verb smugan”, which implies to squeeze through a hole.[6] Tolkien very interestingly depicts Smaug as a dragon who is intelligent and capable of speech, who is easily pleased by flattery and is at the same time also fascinated by the Hobbit Bilbo’s description of him in riddles. The same concept is also beautifully portrayed in film adaptations such as the one in The Hobbit – The Desolation of Smaug. The dragon is described as one having quite an overwhelming personality.
