NEW LOTR THREAD

I was asked to do a specific thread focusing on the topic of the Dragons of Middle Earth. These creatures are a major part of the Legendarium and the expanded universe outside of the Lord of the Rings books. So let’s jump in:

Through this thread I hope to explain the origin of the race of the Dragons and some major individual characters in the Legendarium that are apart of the race.

The origins of the Dragons are straightforward but there is some debate on their true nature. In my opinion the Dragons have two possible origins:

1. Fallen Maiar that joined with Morgoth (like Balrogs)

2. Bred and corrupted from pre-existing creatures. (like Orcs)

We learn from The Silmarillion after Morgoth’s humiliating defeat against the Noldor he bred the first Dragon to make a more powerful weapon of war.

However, Morgoth doesn’t have the ability to create life from scratch, so this leaves only the two possibilities I left above.

So, whether they were Maiar spirits that fell, or a race corrupted from living Eagles is up for some debate; but we do know that after coming into existence they bred and multiplied becoming their own race that existed well into the third and possibly the 4th age.

Tolkien’s Dragons can be divided into categories based on characteristics:

-Cold Drake (Can’t breathe fire)
-Fire Drake (Take a guess)
-Flightless (Often called “Worms”)
-Winged

They are all categorically evil with high intellect, cunning, and communication ability.

Now for a list of famous individuals, and a brief description. Starting with the first and most cunning Dragon to emerge to lead Morgoth’s armies.

There is too much to say about Glaurung due to his heavy involvement so I’m not even going to tell a story. You’ll have to read it.

Glaurung (The Great Worm) was first bred of the Dragons. Glaurung is a recurring character in The Silmarillion and one of Morgoth’s top lieutenants. A cunning leader; he was flightless, and a major threat until being slain by Turin Turambar (a member of Aragorns family line)

Another named Dragon we know of us is Scatha. Scatha is a third age Dragon that hails from a place known as the Withered Heath far in the North.

Before the ancestors of the people of Rohan migrated to the Gap, they lived in the North and were called the Eotheod. One of their kings of old “Fram” was able to slay Scatha and take some of the treasure that he’d stolen from the Dwarves of the Grey Mountains.

The horn that Eowyn gifts to Merry in The Lord of the Rings is said to have come from that hoard brought down from the North ago.

Another third age Dragon we know of is of course Smaug. Smaug is the main antagonist of The Hobbit and one of the Dragons that had been living and breading in the Withered Heath in the North. He was slain by Bard the Bowman after attacking Lake Town at the end of The Hobbit.

Going back to the climactic battle of the first age, we have Ancalagon. In The Silmarillion when the Valar (finally) come to the aid of the free peoples Morgoth his deadliest weapon. The biggest Dragon to ever walk the Earth. Ancalagon the Black.

Apparently he was so big that upon finally being slain by Earendil (Aragorn’s ancestor) that he fell on the fortress of Morgoth and smashed the towers (which were literally mountains)

Gandalf actually mentions Ancalagon when discussing the Ring saying that “nor was there ever any dragon, not even Ancalagon the Black, who could have harmed the One Ring”

And that wraps it for the “Named Dragons” although there were many others. We have mention of another Dragon referred to as “The Fire Drake of Gondolin” that was present at the Fall of Gondolin and was hewn in the foot by Tuor (another ancestor of Aragorn and cousin of Turin)

Another unnamed Dragon was a Cold Drake responsible for killing King Dain the 1st of the Dwarves of the Grey Mountains. This event led the Durin’s folk to abandon the Grey Mountains in favor of Mount Erebor

Hope you found this informative. I find Tolkien’s portrayal of Dragons fascinating because they are actual sentient antagonists capable of reason and in many cases are more intelligent then the men sent to slay them.