The Book of Lost Tales
Dragons are already present in "The Book of Lost Tales". Tolkien had been fascinated with dragons since childhood. As well as "dragon", Tolkien called them "drake" (from Old English "draca", in turn from Latin "draco" and Greek ), and "worm" (from Old English "wyrm", "serpent", "dragon"). Tolkien named four dragons in his Middle-earth writings. Like the Old Norse dragon Fafnir, they are able to speak, and can be subtle of speech.