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"I laid low your warriors of old. I instilled terror in the hearts of Men. I am King under the Mountain!"
Smaug, to Thorin Oakenshield, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Smaug, also called the Terrible or simply the Dragon, was the last great fire-breathing Dragon (i.e. Fire-drake) in Middle-earth. In his greed, he became the secret ally of Sauron and the self-proclaimed King under the Mountain. During his short-lived reign of terror in the late Third Age, he was reviled as the Chiefest and Greatest of Calamities.

Hailing from the Grey Mountains, the Dragon was enticed by rumors of great Dwarven riches in the Lonely Mountain, coveting gold with a dark and fierce desire. Coming as a tempest of fire and hurricane from the north, Smaug laid the city of Men, Dale, to ashes, before driving Durin's Folk out of their stronghold of Erebor and seizing their treasure hoard for himself. Unbeknownst to the Free Peoples, the Dragon was also in league with the Dark Lord, who had lured him to his side with promises of wealth and power. Their secret pact required Smaug to join Sauron's Orc armies at Erebor as part of a campaign to reclaim the former lands of Angmar and conquer northern Middle-earth. Biding his time until the Dark Lord's summons, the Dragon became concerned that the Dwarves would return to depose him and take back their homeland.

After a game of cat and mouse with the "thief" Bilbo Baggins and a confrontation with the rest of Thorin Oakenshield's Company, Smaug deduced that the nearby Men of Esgaroth had aided his enemies. Angered by the Dwarves' attack and believing a a greater conspiracy against himself to be at work, the Dragon left his domain to exact his "revenge" by destroying Lake-town. But this proved to be the final mistake owed to his vanity. Long before, during his assault on Dale, its Lord Girion had shot at him with Black Arrows; one hit had removed a scale, exposing Smaug's bare unprotected flesh. As he burned Lake-town, Girion's descendant, Bard, released one final Black Arrow that found its mark. After clawing at the sky in the agony of his death, Smaug was slain at last; his lifeless body fell on the Master of Lake-town's barge, taking the corrupt official with it to the watery depths.

History

Flames of War

Smaug the Terrible was a fire-drake from the North, hailing from the Grey Mountains.[3] The last of the great Dragons, Smaug held allegiance to no one,[4] with sloth and greed being his only masters.

Near the end of the Watchful Peace, however, Smaug secretly became the ally of Sauron, who had enticed him with promises of wealth and power. As required of their pact, the Dragon would join the Dark Lord in a campaign to conquer Middle-earth.[5] At Sauron's command, Smaug would lead the army of Orcs and Trolls from Dol Guldur in reclaiming Angmar,[6] before ultimately attacking Lothlórien, Rivendell, the Shire and even Gondor.[7]

Destroying Erebor

News of the wealth of the Lonely Mountain had traveled far and wide across the northern lands until they reached the ears of the Dragon. Coveting the gold with a fierce desire, Smaug came down upon Dale and Erebor as a tempest of fire. As the buildings and walls of the city of Men crumbled to the enemy's deadly breath,[4] Girion, Lord of Dale, attempted to slay Smaug with Black Arrows, firing one shot after another from a Dwarvish wind lance. The Black Arrows were the only weapons strong enough to pierce a Dragon's hide, but Girion only managed to dislodge a scale under the left wing of Smaug. The Lord of Dale himself subsequently perished in the Dragon's all-consuming fire.[5]

After laying Dale to ashes, Smaug forced his way into Erebor, breaking down the gates and crushing many of the defending Dwarven warriors beneath his claws as he went for the treasury. Lying on the gold, Smaug claimed the wealth of Erebor, including the Arkenstone, which Thrór had dropped in his haste to flee. Once all the Dwarves were either burned or driven out, the Dragon sealed off the Lonely Mountain with rubble.[4]

For the next sixty years,[4] Smaug remained the unchallenged lord and master of Erebor and the nearby Desolation, and he had taken the title of "King under the Mountain" for himself.[5] No one dared disturb him while he stood dormant, buried beneath the mounds of treasure; this led to rumors that questioned whether Smaug was still guarding the treasure of Erebor or if the Dwarven wealth lied unprotected.[4]

As he awaited the Dark Lord's summons, the Dragon became concerned by the thought of losing his treasure. Smaug mused that a day would come when the Longbeards would "come crawling" back to Erebor - to try reclaim the Arkenstone and their homeland- and so expected the eventual arrival of Thorin Oakenshield. Once the Quest for the Lonely Mountain failed and the Dwarves had been dealt with, the Dragon ostensibly planned to join Dark Lord in his last war against the Free Peoples.[5]

Dealing with intruders

As the Dragon had foreseen, the Dwarves returned to reclaim their homeland. They sent the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins into the hoard to retrieve the Arkenstone for Thorin. However the burglar accidentally awakened the fire drake. Playing dormant, Smaug slowly moved underneath the gold mound towards Bilbo, before rising and calling out to the "thief". While confused as to whatever the thief was, the Dragon had sensed the Ring that he carried, noting that it was different from ordinary gold and "precious". Lulled by Smaug's voice and the sudden apparition of Sauron's Eye, Bilbo removed the Ring, becoming visible to the Dragon. Smaug interrogated him through a cat-and-mouse game, trying to pry his nature and homeland; though he denied it, Smaug's ego was extremely pleased at Bilbo's seemingly awestruck compliments about his sheer size and splendor. Unbeknownst to Smaug, Bilbo had glimpsed his weak spot: a missing scale owing to the late Girion's Black Arrows.

While the Hobbit tried not to give away the quest, he was fooled into mentioning the word "barrel", thus allowing the Dragon the much needed time to realize that the burglar had something to do with Lake-town. Suffering a persecution complex due to his vanity, Smaug concluded that Thorin's Dwarves, who were apparently conspiring with the Lake-men to oust him, had sent Bilbo to steal the Arkenstone from him; as they continued the cat-and-mouse game, the Dragon kept moving the King's Jewel out of range to frustrate the burglar. Still trying to taunt Bilbo, Smaug claimed that Thorin would not fulfill his oath to him and that the quest would fail, hinting at Sauron's return. Having become bored with their "little game", Smaug unleashed a wave of fire upon Bilbo, who barely escaped his wrath with the Arkenstone. Pursued by the Dragon, the Dwarves form a plan to bring down the Dragon once and for all. After Smaug unwittingly lit the stone-cold furnaces in an attempt to burn Thorin, the Company formed a statue of Thrór. Filled with awe at the sight of it, the Dragon failed to see the structure's made of molten gold until it was too late and the liquid came down upon him. Unrelenting, Smaug rose, vowing revenge on Thorin's Company: his intention was now to destroy to the defenseless Lake-town, as payback for its inhabitants' part in helping out the Dwarves.[5]

Bane of Lake-town

Bard, scion of Girion and the keeper of the last Black Arrow was captured in the Esgaroth gaol and as Smaug approached, the Master of Lake-Town and his men left without letting him out. Unchallenged, the Dragon begins to slowly destroy Lake-town one piece at a time, delighting in the fear and suffering he was inflicting. However, Bard soon escaped and started shooting arrows at Smaug, which caught the latter's attention. As Bain hurried to deliver his father, Bard, the Black Arow, Smaug knocked the upper part of the tower the two were in, before settling down to confron them. The Dragon then taunted the bowman, musing that "no help [would] come" and that he could even save his child from the all-consuming fire. As Smaug charged towards Bard, Bard created a makeshift wind lance with his bow, two poles and Bain. Just when the Dragon was about to strike, the Black Arrow is launched and hits the mark. In the agony of death, Smaug knocks down the tower and rises into the air, groaning, clawing and squirming at the sky. After his final scream of anguish and the fading of his eyes' light, the Dragon's lifeless body fell on the barge of the greedy Master of Lake-town, crushing everyone and everything on it.

The beast's reign of terror at an end, the Lake-men eventually reclaimed Dale and the Dwarves re-established Erebor, bringing prosperity to northern Middle-earth for a time. Smaug's death, which had been the by-product of Gandalf the Grey's careful planning, deprived Sauron of his valuable ally; without the Dragon to aid his legions, the Dark Lord suffered a heavy defeat in the Battle of Five Armies and he was forced to stall his war, just as his nemesis, the Grey Pilgrim, had hoped.[7]

Appearances

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