Fire-drakes

Fire-drakes (in Quenya Urulóki) was one term used for fire-breathing dragons in J.R.R. Tolkien's writings. They may have been a sub-species.
== History ==
=== First Age ===
Glaurung and Ancalagon were fire-drakes, and were among the most famous of the breed. Glaurung was a key player in the sacking of Nargothrond and in the fulfillment of Morgoth's curse on the children of Húrin. He was a fearsome bane to the Elves. Ancalagon and his armada of winged fire-drakes by themselves drove back the Host of the Valar during the War of Wrath at the end of the First Age, such was their incredible power.
Fire-drakes also joined the Balrogs in the attack on Gondolin.
=== Second and Third Ages ===
All but two of (winged) fire-drakes were thought to have been slain during the War of Wrath, and the surviving drakes eventually started to multiply in the far north. During the Second Age, they still posed threats to Men, and Sauron at one point summoned all of Morgoth's remaining forces, but the presence of dragons were not mentioned in the War of the Last Alliance. In TA 2770, Smaug came down from the North and sacked the Lonely Mountain. Later, in TA 2941, Thrór's grandson Thorin Oakenshield returned with a small group to reclaim his grandfather's kingdom, unleashing a chain of events that led to the death of Smaug when he attacked nearby Lake-town and was slain by the Black Arrow shot by Bard the Bowman.
According to Gandalf, there were still dragons shortly prior to the War of the Ring, though they were said to be lesser in nature.
== Description ==
Fire-drakes often grew to immense sizes, and breathed destructive flames and vapours from their mouths and nostrils. The fire from one of these dragons was so intense that it was said to be able to consume and melt the Rings of Power (as became the case with some of the Dwarven Rings), with the exception of the One Ring. The fire also emitted extreme heats from their bodies, enabling them to dry up a river and potentially melt their passage through snow.
Most of the famous dragons throughout the ages were fire-drakes, although only some of them fought for Morgoth.
Tolkien confirmed in a letter that Smaug was the last of his kind, the last of the "great" fire-drakes of Middle-earth. Dragons of lesser stature, such as smaller kin of Cold-drakes and fire-drakes lived on. This was also mentioned by Gandalf.
Thranduil had claimed to face a "fire drake of the North", and presumably suffered damages caused by dragon's fire. It is unknown whether this dragon was in the First Age, or those in the Grey Mountains in later days including Scatha, but seemingly in the Third Age after Smaug's attack on the Lonely Mountain.