Smaug
| House / Order | |
|---|---|
| Race / Culture | Dragon |
| Status | Slain |
| Origin | Erebor (the Lonely Mountain) |
| Born | |
| Died | Third Age, over Lake-town |
| Weapon | |
| Fate | Slain by Bard the Bowman of Dale |
| Portrayed by |
Smaug was a great fire-drake of the North, one of the last and mightiest dragons of Middle-earth, whose conquest of Erebor and slaying are told in The Hobbit. He was a creature of vast size, cunning, and greed, who seized the Dwarf-kingdom under the Lonely Mountain and its treasure-hoard.
Description
Smaug was a winged, fire-breathing dragon of enormous bulk, with red-gold scales and a hide so thick that no weapon of the Dwarves or Men could pierce it. Long lying upon the gold of Erebor had embedded gems and golden plates into his underside, seeming to armour even his soft belly, though one bare patch remained near his left breast. He was wily, vain, and given to flattering speech, and he was greedy beyond measure, knowing every piece of his hoard.
The Sack of Erebor
In the time of King Thrór, Smaug descended without warning upon the Lonely Mountain, drawn by the great wealth of the Dwarves. He destroyed the town of Dale, slew or drove off the Dwarves, and took the mountain and its hoard for his own, upon which he lay for nearly two hundred years, a terror to all the North.
Death
Smaug was roused at last by the quest of Thorin Oakenshield and the burglar Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo, entering the mountain unseen, spoke with the dragon and spied the bare patch in his jewelled armour. This knowledge was carried by a thrush to Bard, a grim archer of Lake-town. When Smaug flew out in his wrath to burn Lake-town, Bard loosed the Black Arrow into the hollow of his left breast, and the great dragon fell dead into the waters of the Long Lake. The fall of Smaug left his vast hoard unguarded, leading to the Battle of Five Armies.