Glaurung

Glaurung (Sindarin: "Gold-worm") was the first terrestrial, fire-breathing dragon in Middle-earth, bred by Morgoth in the depths of Angband. He was known as the Father of Dragons and so was possibly the progenitor of the dragons.
==Biography==
===Early years ===
After suffering several defeats at the hands of the Ñoldor in Beleriand, Morgoth realized that his Orcs were no match for the Ñoldor unaided. As such, he began considering deadlier forces to deploy. After a century of brooding and growing in the dark pits of Angband, the dragon Glaurung emerged in FA 260, and attacked the Elves maintaining the Siege of Angband. Though Glaurung was not of the winged race that would later arise, he was the greatest terror of his time. He burned and ravaged Ard-Galen and the outlying settlements of Hithlum and Dorthonion. However, he was not yet at his full strength, thus being driven back by Fingon ‒ the prince of Hithlum at that time ‒ and his archers. Morgoth was displeased with Glaurung for revealing himself before he had grown to full strength, but this did not significantly disrupt the Dark Lord's plans. 
=== War upon the Elves===
====Dagor Bragollach====
Glaurung was contained in Angband for another two centuries before he was again let loose during the Fourth Battle of the Battles of Beleriand. Known as the Dagor Bragollach for the fires unleashed by Morgoth from the Iron Mountains, Glaurung in full power led Morgoth's forces against the High Elves of Beleriand. Now fully grown, none could withstand his might, and with the Balrogs at his side, Glaurung led the Orcs to an overwhelming victory and broke the siege of Angband.
====Nirnaeth Arnoediad====
In the fifth battle, the Nírnaeth Arnoediad, Glaurung brought more destruction than before, as he had fathered a brood of lesser dragons to follow him into battle. Due to this, even a great army of Elves and Men fell in the onslaught, for none could withstand the dragon-fire save the Dwarves of Belegost who had arrived at the battle to face this foe specifically.
Once the Elven and Edain armies were broken, Morgoth used Glaurung to hold the territories he had gained; but force in battle was not the only power the monster knew. Glaurung brought many under his sway with the binding power of his hypnotic dragon-spell, cast by his gaze.
=== Sack of Nargothrond===
After Glaurung aided Morgoth in the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, he was given the assignment to complete the Sack of Nargothrond, one of the Elven fortress-cities in Beleriand. Glaurung came upon Nargothrond with great force and after easily defeating the kingdom's army in the Battle of Tumhalad, sacked the formerly hidden city. He faced Túrin, son of Húrin, at the gate, freezing him with his eyes. Túrin heard the screams of Finduilas as he stood there, but due to the spell he was unable to move. When the captives had been taken away, Túrin was released from Glaurung's spell and gave him two choices: to follow Finduilas or 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 and rested there, guarding them.
===Last years===
Glaurung received the knowledge of Morwen and Niënor's departure to seek their family members. In the forest where they traveled, Glaurung found Niënor, and caused her to lose her mind with his gaze. She was driven mad and ran through the forest "like a deer." Soon afterward, Túrin found her crying on Finduilas' 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 three years, during which they fell in love.
===Death===
After those years, Glaurung went to attack Brethil. Túrin resolved to waylay and kill the dragon, and at Cabed-en-Aras, he found Glaurung, and stabbed him with his sword, Gurthang. Glaurung felt his death-wound and screamed. When the dragon's blood touched Túrin, Túrin fell into a swoon. Niënor soon found the dragon there, with Túrin unconscious beside him. In his last moments, Glaurung caught Niënor in his hypnotic spell again, but this time restored her own memory of her life. Then, Glaurung died, and Niënor came to, and, thinking Túrin was dead, she cast herself into the river of Cabed-en-Aras.
Túrin soon awoke, discovered what had passed, and threw himself on his sword.[1][2][3]
==Earlier stages ==
In J.R.R. Tolkien's Lost Tales, Glorund was the original name of Glaurung.
==Parallel ==
Túrin's killing of Glaurung greatly resembles the dragon Fafnir's slaying by Siegfried (or Sigurd) in German Mythology, who, knowing Fafnir's scales were impenetrable, dug a hole and waited for Fafnir to pass over it, allowing Siegfried to stab his dragon's vulnerable belly. Also, like Glaurung, Fafnir's last words were a message to poison Siegfried's trust in the ones he loved.
==Gallery==
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Amharic 	ጝላኡሩንግ
Arabic 	غلورينغ
Armenian 	Գլաուրունգ
Belarusian Cyrillic	Глаурунг
Bengali 	গ্লুরুং
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Глаурунг
Catalan 	Glàurung
Chinese (Hong Kong)	格勞龍
Georgian 	გლაურუნგი
Greek 	Γκλάουρανγκ
Hindi 	ङ्ल्औरुङ
Hebrew 	גלאורונג
Japanese 	グラウルング
Kazakh 	Глаұрұнг (Cyrillic) Glaurung (Latin)
Korean 	글라우룽
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Глаурунг
Macedonian Cyrillic	Глаурунг
Marathi 	ग्लॉरुंग
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Глаурунг
Pashto 	علاورونګ
Persian 	گلارونگ
Punjabi 	ਗਲੋਰੁੰਗ
Russian 	Глаурунг
Sanskrit 	ग्लौरुङ्ग
Serbian 	Глаурунг (Cyrillic) Glaurung (Latin)
Sinhalese 	ග්ලුරුන්ග්
Tajik Cyrillic 	Глаурунг
Tamil 	கிளருங்
Tatar 	Глауурунг
Telugu 	గ్లురుంగ్
Thai 	เกลารุง
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Ґлаурунґ
Urdu 	گلاورونگ
Uzbek 	Глаурунг (Cyrillic) Glaurung (Latin)
Yiddish 	גלאַורונג
==References==
ca:Glàurung
de:Glaurung
es:Glaurung
fr:Glaurung
it:Glaurung
pl:Glaurung
ru:Глаурунг
uk:Ґлаурунґ
Category:Villains
Category:Dragons
Category:Servants of Morgoth
Category:The Silmarillion characters
Category:Sindarin names & words
Category:Characters in The Children of Húrin
Category:Characters in The History of Middle-earth