Smaug

"*I am king under the mountain!*"
—Smaug
**Smaug** was a Fire-Drake from the North and was considered to be the "great" last great dragon to exist in Middle-Earth. Drawn to the enormous wealth amassed by the Dwarves of Erebor, Smaug laid waste to the neighboring city of Dale and captured the Lonely Mountain, driving the surviving Dwarves into exile. For almost sixty years, Smaug hoarded Erebor's treasure to himself and ruled within the Lonely Mountain, but in TA 2941, he was warned at the sound of the Thrust's knocking on the heart of the mountain that the Dwarves would reclaim it. Later when Thorin and Company arrived at the Lonely Mountain, a battle between Smaug and the Dwarves began and after learning that the Dwarves' scheme was shared with the citizens of Lake-town and when Thorin tried to kill him with a golden statue, he left the mountain to wreak destruction upon Esgaroth, destroying it before being slain by Bard the Bowman.

## Biography

### Early life

Little is known about Smaug's early life or if he was born in the Second or Third Age but he was born as a Fire-drake from the North, from unknown parents.

### Attack of Dale and Capturing Erebor

In TA 2770, Smaug came from the mountains in the north when he had learned about the riches of Erebor, including the Arkenstone due to Thrór's greed under the influence of the jewel, and planned to take over the mountain and destroy the city of Dale. During the Sack of Erebor, the fire-drake flew first to Dale, where he had killed multiple citizens and destroyed the town with his flames.

When Girion, Lord of Dale, tried to kill Smaug with his Black Arrows using a longbow, missed every of his scales' mark. But after many attempts failed however, one of the arrows had made its mark and hit one of Smaug's scales. Unfortunately, the dragon had consumed and killed Girion before he would shoot the last arrow. It would cause Smaug to become aware of the Black Arrows with their proper noun ever since the Lord of Dale's failed attempt to kill the dragon.

After he destroyed Dale, Smaug flew to Erebor next and destroyed the door to the entrance, and killed multiple of the guards and took all of the kingdom's gold, gems, and riches as well as placed many onto his underbelly, causing all the surviving Dwarves to leave the mountain in fear to live in exile and take refuge, while Smaug devoured all the corpses of his victims.

### Living waste in the Erebor

For sixty years, Smaug had lived under the mountain, hoarded all the gold that he kept for himself and slept in the the enormous piles. In TA 2941, when a Thrush was knocking on the heart of the entrance, this caused Smaug to wake up and it had warned him that a group of Dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield would someday come back to mountain, kill him, and reclaim the kingdom as well as the Arkenstone. He also had a great disliking on the citizens of Esgaroth as well as their longbows and Black Arrows (which were the arrows that took away one of his scales) but did not know that they were descendants of Dale.

### Bilbo's attempt to steal the Arkenstone

When Thorin and Company arrived at the Lonely Mountain and sent their burglar Bilbo Baggins to find the Arkenstone unwittingly cause a landslide that unveiled the dragon. Smaug stirred from his sleep amongst the vast pile of treasure, as he was suspcious that someone was in the chamber with him. Although Bilbo was forced to use his One Ring to keep out of sight from the dragon, Smaug immediately was aware of his presence by his scent (which the smell of Hobbit was unknown to him). He began to search for Bilbo, beckoning him to come out from where he was hiding and when Smaug got too close, the Hobbit was overcome with fear and attempted to run, only to alert the dragon, who gave chase after him through the chamber. Bilbo evaded from him and hides behind a massive pillar, still under the cloak of the Ring. Smaug continued his search, and claimed that he was aware of the Ring in Bilbo's possession and that he sensed that Bilbo has something "made of gold, but far more precious," which in turn forced the hobbit to remove the ring in front of him. Smaug was amused by Bilbo's knowledge of who he was, and began his conversation with the Hobbit in order to deduce his origins.

The Hobbit then tried to lie to Smaug by claiming that he no more but a simple traveler who came to the mountain alone to have a stare of him as he didn't believe the tales about him. The dragon later doubted that flattery would keep him alive and asked who he was and where he came from. Bilbo later made his riddle talk by claiming that he "came from under the hill and over hills and under hills his path had" and through the air he was "he who walks unseen", Smaug hardly believed him but asked Bilbo what also did he claim to be and the Hobbit answered that he was the "luck-wearer", "riddle-maker", and "barrel-rider". The dragon then revealed that he knew that Thorin and Company was outside of the mountain although Bilbo (whose eyes were on the Arkenstone) tried to deny it, but Smaug did not believe his denies.

Soon, a cat-and-mouse banter began with Smaug and Bilbo, as he had been made unfavorable comments about Thrór and boasted about his armor and invincibility. Smaug then realized that Thorin, Thrór's grandson, had sent Bilbo for the Arkenstone and revealed to him, that he founded out Thorin's goal "some time ago", but it didn't matter to him since he saw that the quest was ultimately futile as he was aware that Sauron was preparing to openly declare himself once more.

Later on, Smaug tried to take away Bilbo's friendship with Thorin by lying to him, claiming that the dwarf was using him and found his fate worth nothing, but the hobbit refused to believe him. Smaug was intrigued by his word and wanted to know what reward Thorin was willing to give him if he succeeded in finding the Arkenstone before stating that he would never give away any of treasure, not even a single coin. During the game, Smaug discerned the hobbit's attempt at stealing the jewel and kept Bilbo from catching the Arkenstone, boasting about his superiority. During the chase, Smaug showed Bilbo his underbelly, coated in gems, and the hobbit caught a glimpse of a single missing scale. Smaug then caught Bilbo's eye on the jewel and claimed that he was almost tempted to let him take it, only to let it consume Thorin to madness just like it did to Thrór, though, at that point, the dragon ended the banter with Bilbo and snapped toward the hobbit. Bilbo used his ring to escape and managed to get the Arkenstone while Smaug flew around in rage and unleashed a torrent of flames around the treasure chamber in an attempt to roast the Hobbit alive before he can escape.

When Smaug saw Thorin with Bilbo, who pointed his sword at him to see if he found the Arkenstone, the dragon started to charge at him and the other Dwarves who appeared to defend their friends and attempted who charge after them and burn them to death with his fire breath, but they managed to elude him, and Smaug began to silently stalk the abandoned halls in search of them but after the Dwarves avoided him.

### Confrontation with the Company of Oakenshield

Upon realizing the dragon was blocking their only path out of the mountain, the dwarves hatched a desperate plan to lead Smaug to the Lonely Mountain's forges in hopes that they can trick him into rekindling the smelting vats with his fire breath. They revealed themselves to Smaug, initiating a perilous game of cat-and-mouse through the halls of the mountain, doing everything in their power to encumber the pursuing dragon as they raced towards the entrance to the Lonely Mountain. As Bilbo leads the dragon into the Gallery of the Kings, he is quickly overrun by Smaug, who deduces that Bilbo and the dwarves were aided by the men of Lake-town, and leaves to destroy the town, and when Bilbo protests Smaug cruelly and gleefully tells him that now their deaths will be on their heads. As he is leaving, Thorin appears and taunts him, unveiling an enormous, freshly cast golden statue of a dwarf, which distracts the greedy dragon long enough for the statue to melt into liquid gold and engulf him. However, Smaug survives the scalding gold and erupts from the molten pool, roaring that he will show the dwarves what revenge really is. He then breaks through the walls of the mountain, shakes off his gold coating, and takes flight toward Lake-town.

### Destroying Esgaroth

Smaug, after reaching Lake-town, proceeds to destroy the city for their part in aiding the dwarves. Bard, having escaped imprisonment from the Master of Lake-town, climbs atop the belltower and begins firing arrows at the dragon, though each attempt fails, harmlessly bouncing off Smaug's armor. Eventually, Bain, Bard's son, arrives to aid his father with a Black Arrow. Unfortunately, as Smaug flies over, he claws at the tower, toppling most of it. With the bell tower now half-destroyed, Bard is forced to make a makeshift crossbow using a rope that held the bell, some pieces of broken wood, and Bain as a stand. Smaug lands, and looks towards Bard, sneering at his attempts to stop him. Ignoring this, Bard notches the arrow, while Smaug charges him and his son. Bard fires his arrow, which hits Smaug straight in the chest, the shaft sinking into the missing scale. The dragon stumbles, knocking Bard and Bain off their perch, before flying back up. Clawing and biting at the sky, his internal glow fades as he dies in mid-air. Smaug's body, upon falling to the water, lands on Laketown's corrupt master, killing him.

### Legacy

Even after his death, Smaug's influence is felt. Aside from the damage he inflicted on Esgaroth, driving the residents to try and stay in Dale, as Thorin falls under the influence of the sickness, Bilbo begins to hear him speak in Smaug's voice, and Thorin experiences a hallucination of Smaug while walking on the golden floor that they created while trying to 'drown' the dragon.

## Personality

Smaug is considerably more malicious and cruel. He takes much more pleasure in psychologically tormenting Bilbo, making suggestions that Thorin was just using him, that flattery wouldn't keep him alive, choosing to spare Bilbo just so that he can watch Esgaroth burn and showing pleasure that Bilbo cared about the people of Laketown and tell him that their deaths would be on his head, and sarcastically asking him how he would like to die.

During his attack on Esgaroth, Smaug went out of his way to mock and sneer at Bard and Bain. He was also aware of the return of Sauron, and was apparently intent on joining forces with him. He is extremely arrogant, and the mere implication that he may possess a weakness made him visibly angry; being insulted by Thorin was also quick to earn his anger. Smaug was supremely confident in his own powers, shown in his famous speech about how certain components of his body were weapons of destruction. He was utterly ruthless, completely capable of committing genocide in pursuit of his goals. Due to his hubris, egomania, and overall extreme narcissism, Smaug clearly suffers from a superiority complex.

## Appearances

* *The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey* (First appearance)
* *The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug*
* *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies*