Arthedain » Dragons

Worms

Kjell Arne Brudvik — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:00:43 +0000

A name for the race of Dragons, and especially those wingless kinds (such as Glaurung himself) who crawled on the ground.

Worm of Morgoth

Kjell Arne Brudvik — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:00:40 +0000

A title and name of Glaurung, Father of Dragons.

See the entry for Glaurung for the complete article.

Urulóki

Kjell Arne Brudvik — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 08:57:44 +0000

imageCaption” style=”width:291px”> Glaurung, first of the Urulóki

The fire-drakes; dragons who breathed fire. Glaurung, Father of Dragons, was the first of these. He first appeared in the middle of the First Age, but the urulóki certainly survived the downfall of their master, Morgoth.

Ancalagon apparently belonged to this kind, and Smaug, the great fire-breathing dragon that sacked Erebor, seems to have been the last of the great urulóki. Other lesser types apparently survived to the end of the Third Age and beyond.

Smaug

Kjell Arne Brudvik — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 08:51:28 +0000

“My armour is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords, my claws spears, the shock of my tail a thunderbolt, my wings a hurricane, and my breath death!” - Smaug’s description of himself from The Hobbit

Smaug was the greatest and most powerful Dragon in the latter part of the Third Age, and one of the last of the great Fire-drakes; intelligent and cunning, he could speak in the Common Speech of all races and was able to put people under the dragon-spell with his glare, compelling them to do his bidding. His invasion of the Lonely Mountain made him extremely wealthy, as the lonely mountain was once home of the dwarves, and he lived there for many years, until he was slain during the events of The Hobbit.

History

In the twenty-eighth century of the Third Age, the chronologies of the Westlands tell of how the mightiest Dragon of the Age came from the north to the great kingdom of the Dwarves in Erebor, the Lonely Mountain. The fire-drake called Smaug the Golden was vast and bat-winged and a fearsome bane to Dwarves and Men. With consuming Dragon-flame, Smaug ruined the city of the Men of Dale and broke the door and wall of the Lonely Mountain. The Dwarves then fled or were slain and Smaug took the riches of the mountain and the town: gold and gemstones, mithril and silver, elf gems and pearls, the many faceted crystals of emerald, sapphire and diamond, as well as the Arkenstone.

For two centuries, Smaug ruled Erebor uncontested, laying waste to the lands around the mountain. Yet in the year TA 2941, a company of 14 adventurers led by the heir of the former Dwarf-kingdom, Thorin Oakenshield, and his Hobbit ‘burglar’ named Bilbo Baggins approached the Fire-drake by stealth and were surprised to find that Smaug was larger than they had expected. He was armored as all of his race with scales of impenetrable iron, but in wariness, he protected his soft underbelly from assault: as he lay sprawled upon the wealth of his hoard he allowed diamonds and hard gemstones to imbed in his belly, armoring his only weakness.

During a confrontation with the dragon, Baggins noticed one missing scale on the monster’s left breast, nearest his heart. With this invaluable information, he escaped the Mountain and was overhead by a friendly bird (a thrush), which carried the secret to Bard the Bowman in nearby Lake-Town.

The burgling of the Hobbit aroused Smaug, and he came out in fiery wrath and loosed his flame upon the land. In vengeance, he came to Esgaroth (Laketown); the town built on the Long Lake and devastated it. In the midst of the wreck, Bard the Bowman, heir to the throne of Dale did his best to rally the defenders. Bard, guided by the secret of the Smaug’s weakness, shot a magic black arrow into the beast’s chest. Screaming in fury and pain, Smaug fell, crashing into the flaming ruins of Laketown.

After Death

After Smaug’s death, Thorin and Company claimed the treasure as theirs by birthright. This created a conflict with Bard and the Elvish king Thranduil of Mirkwood, who each wanted a portion of the gold as reimbursement for all the damage Smaug had caused their kingdoms over the years. Thorin refused to share the treasure and declared war on both of them.
It is said that a vast fortune in gemstones lay with Smaug’s rotting carcass amongst the pilings of old Lake-Town, but few had the courage to dive for them in later years. With no Dragon to contend with, the survivors of the town rebuilt — on dry land next to the lake.

According to Gandalf, it was fortunate that Smaug had been slain, since had he lived he would almost certainly have come under Sauron’s control and been used to assault Rivendell and destroy the elves of Mirkwood.

Smaug’s Scales

Smaug’s scales rendered him almost invulnerable, and made even stronger by jewels plastered to them from decades lying on them. However, when Bilbo Baggins confronted him in his lair, he discovered a bare patch on his underbelly. Bard used this to defeat him when fired his Black Arrow into him.

Legacy

In the books, the name Smaug is presented as a translation of the “original Dalish” Trâgu, and is related to Sméagol/Trahald. According to Tolkien, the name Smaug is “the past tense of the primitive Germanic verb Smugan, to squeeze through a hole” (Letter No. 31); others have noted that it has echoes of “smoke” and “smog”, though this connection is illusory at best, since in Tolkien’s phonology, the “au” phoneme is pronounced like the “ou” phoneme in sound or house. Therefore names such as Sauron or Smaug are pronounced like Sow-ron or sm-ow-g.

Scatha

Kjell Arne Brudvik — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 08:49:49 +0000

One of the greatest of the dragons to infest the Grey Mountains of the north. Of his life little is known, except that he was slain by Fram son of Frumgar (an ancestor of Eorl the Young) in the early days of the Éothéod.

His recovered hoard was the subject of great dispute between the Men of the Éothéod and the Dwarves of that region, who claimed the hoard as their own. Fram rebuked their claim, and sent them the teeth of the dragon, with the words, “Jewels such as these you will not match in your treasuries, for they are hard to come by.” Thereafter there was war between the Éothéod and the Dwarves, a war in which Fram met his end.

However this dispute was resolved (we are not told), it seems that Fram’s people retained at least some of the hoard, and brought it south with them when they settled in Rohan. The horn that Éowyn gave to Merry Brandybuck after the War of the Ring (many hundred years later) was said to have come from it.

Long-worms

Kjell Arne Brudvik — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 08:36:52 +0000

A type of dragon found in the northern parts of Middle-earth, and perhaps elsewhere. The most famous long-worm (and in fact the only one that Tolkien explicitly identifies) was Scatha of the Ered Mithrin, who preyed on the Dwarves and Men of the Grey Mountains, and was slain by Fram of the Éothéod.

Though Tolkien gives almost no clues about long-worms in the text of The Lord of the Rings, his illustrations of dragons give us some further hints. Tolkien’s dragons tend to be sinuous, serpentine creatures, having the appearance almost of a winged snake rather than the more traditional dragon-form. This would explain the term ‘long-worm’easily. It’s interesting to note that Tolkien gave this form to another northern dragon, Smaug, which strongly suggests that he, too, was one of the long-worms.

Glaurung

Kjell Arne Brudvik — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 08:24:03 +0000

After only a century of brooding and growing in the dark pits of Angband, Glaurung in fiery wrath burst from the gates of the realm and came into and startled the races of Middle-earth. Though Glaurung was not of the winged race that would later arise, Glaurung was the greatest terror of his time. He burned and savaged the land of the Elves in Hithlum and Dorthonion. However, he was not yet at his full strength, so was driven back by Fingon, the prince of Hithlum at that time, and Fingon’s archers. Melkor was displeased with Glaurung for revealing himself before he had grown to full strength, as Melkor had planned to allow the Dragon to grow to full power before unleashing him.

To Glaurung, this attack was but an adolescent adventure, a youthful testing of power. Terrible as he was to the Elves, his strength was barely developed, his scale armor still vulnerable to the attack of weapons; this was just a taste of his power.

Battle of Sudden Flame

Glaurung was contained in Angband for another two centuries before he was again loosed. This was the beginning of the Fourth Battle of the Battles of Beleriand. It became known as the Battle of Sudden Flame when Glaurung in full power led Melkor’s forces against the High Elves of Beleriand. His vast bulk and scorching fire cleared a path into the enemy armies, and with the Balrogs at his side, Glaurung led the Orcs to an astounding victory and broke the siege of Angband.

Battle of Unnumbered Tears

In the fifth battle, the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, Glaurung caused even more terrible destruction, as he had in the mysterious way of Dragons fathered a brood of lesser Dragons to follow him into battle. So a great army of Elves and Men fell before the onslaught, for none could withstand the Dragonfire save the Dwarves of Belegost, who had come to battle a common foe.

Melkor used Glaurung as well to hold the territories he gained; but force in battle was not the only power the monster knew. He brought many under his sway with the binding power of his serpent eye and hypnotic Dragon spell.

The Sack of Nargothrond

After Glaurung aided Morgoth during the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, he was given the assignment to sack Nargothrond. Glaurung came upon Nargothrond with great force, and sacked the kingdom easily. He was faced with Túrin, son of Húrin, at the gate.

Glaurung froze Túrin with his eyes. Túrin heard the screams of Finduilas, daughter of Orodreth, as he stood there. When the captives had been taken away, Glaurung unfroze Túrin and gave him two choices: the first to follow Finduilas, and the second to aid his mother and sister, who were suffering in Dor-lómin. Túrin chose the latter, and in this way he was deceived by the dragon, for his mother and sister were living well in Doriath. Glaurung then gathered up all the treasures of Felagund and hoarded them deep within Nargothrond’s underground halls, he then sat atop his hoard, guarding it jealously, and rested.

Last Years

Glaurung got knowledge of Morwen and Nienor’s departure to seek their family members. In the forest where they were traveling, Glaurung found Nienor and caused her to lose her mind. This caused her to run through the forest “like a deer”. Soon after this, Túrin found her crying on Findulias’s grave. Not knowing that she was his sister, Túrin named her Níniel (Tear maiden) and took her to his home with the folk of Brandir. There they lived for the next three years. After those years, Glaurung attacked the area around their home. Túrin resolved to kill the dragon. Two men went with him.

One became afraid and fled, and the other was crushed by rocks. However, Túrin was able to kill Glaurung by thrusting his sword, Gurthang, into Glaurung’s belly. Glaurung felt his death wound and screamed. When the dragon’s blood touched Túrin, he fell into a swoon. Glaurung screamed until his strength was gone. Nienor found him there, with Túrin beside him. With his last breath, Glaurung gave Nienor her memory back, and died. Shortly thereafter, Nienor jumped into the river below, and Túrin awoke and threw himself on his sword.

Fire-drakes

Kjell Arne Brudvik — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 08:20:38 +0000

“?but the mightier [ dragons] are hot and very heavy and slow-going, and some belch flame, and fire flickereth beneath their scales?”
Turambar and the Foalókë in The History of Middle-earth volume II, The Book of Lost Tales 2

The more powerful of the two fundamental divisions of dragon-kind, who, as the name suggests, were able to breathe fire. Glaurung, Ancalagon and Smaug were all fire-drakes. The only explicit reference is in The Silmarillion (Of the Return of the Noldor); “?Glaurung, the first of the Urulóki, the fire-drakes of the North, issued from Angband’s gates by night.”

Smaug, the last of the truly powerful dragons, was slain by Bard in the late Third Age. We can be sure that he was not the last of the fire-drakes, though, because Gandalf refers to fire-breathing dragons in the time before the War of the Ring, nearly eighty years after Smaug’s death. Tolkien even goes so far as to hint that some of these creatures might have survived to our own times.

Father of Dragons

Kjell Arne Brudvik — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 08:19:48 +0000

A title given to Glaurung, the first of the Dragons. Whether Glaurung was literally the father of all dragons, as for example Durin was father of all his folk, is unknown; the origins of dragon-kind remain mysterious. On balance, however, this seems unlikely due to the differences between individual dragons – for example, Glaurung was wingless, whereas many of the later dragons had wings.

Dragons

Kjell Arne Brudvik — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 08:12:15 +0000

Mighty reptilian creatures who ranked among the most feared of the servants of the Dark Lord. Of the origins of dragons, no tale tells; the first of them to be seen was Glaurung, Father of Dragons, who issued from Angband in the middle of the First Age. After Glaurung came many others to strike fear into Elves and Men for the next three ages. kinglistWrapper”> Ancalagon the Black The greatest of the flying Dragons, who took part in the final defence of Angband during the War of Wrath at the end of the First Age. After a long and terrible battle in the air, Ancalagon was slain by Eärendil, and his fall destroyed the mountains of Thangorodrim. Glaurung the Golden The first of the Dragons to be seen, Glaurung ravaged Beleriand throughout much of the First Age. He fought in the Dagor Bragollach and the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, and later led the defeat of the forces of Nargothrond. Passing northwards to attack the Men of Brethil, he was ambushed and slain by Túrin Turambar. Scatha the Worm During the Third Age, the wastes to the north of Middle-earth became infested with Dragons, especially of the kind known as Cold-drakes. Scatha was one of these, a monster that plundered the gold of the Dwarves who lived in the Grey Mountains, but was slain by Fram of the Éothéod. Smaug the Golden Another of the Dragons out of the northern wastes, it was Smaug who famously descended on Erebor in III 2770, driving out the Dwarves into the wilderness. After the sack of the Lonely Mountain, the Dragon remained within for more than a hundred and seventy years. When Thorin Oakenshield returned to reclaim his grandfather’s kingdom, the chain of events that followed led to Smaug being shot and killed by Bard the Bowman of Esgaroth.

Dragons have powers of intelligence and speech, and many are also able to cast the dragon-spell, a bewildering confusion that affects any who gaze into the eye of the creature.

The dragons were not destroyed at the end of the Third Age; some are said to have survived to our own time, but the great worms and drakes of the Elder Days are no more.