Lord Of The Rings: 16 Things You Didn’t Know About Smaug

Smaug has many names – the Golden, the Mighty, the Impenetrable – but how much do we really know about the wicked worm who hoards Thorin’s treasure?

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With teeth like swords, claws like spears, and body plating like strong armor, Smaug the Impenetrable remains one of the most fearsome dragons in fantasy fiction. The infamous antagonist in The Hobbit, Smaug was a titan among his kin. Although response to Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy was mixed, Smaug’s depiction was generally given high praise, thanks largely to Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance.

Although the most famous, he is not the only dragon in Tolkien’s Legendarium, and there are layers of curious details hidden beneath his impenetrable scales that only the most hardcore of Tolkien enthusiasts really know about. It’s these fascinating tidbits of information that make Smaug such a beloved dragon in folklore and myth.

16 Smaug Is Not The First Dragon

Smaug is the first dragon who comes to the minds of Tolkien fans around the globe, but he’s not the only one to have terrorized Middle Earth. That dubious honor goes to Glaurung, the Father of Dragons. As a servant of the dreaded Melkor and Lieutenant of his army, Glaurung was an experiment designed to create new, deadlier creatures to fight his war with the Elves.

After a century of growing in the fetid pits of Angband, Glaurung first emerged in the First Age to lay waste to the armies at the Siege of Angband. Killed by the tragic hero Túrin in The Children of Húrin, Glaurung the Great Worm may not have been the winged monster that followed him, but he was the greatest terror of his age.

15 Where He Came From

The exact origin of Smaug – not to mention dragons in general – is a subject of debate. The theory that dragons were simply beasts corrupted by Morgoth is a popular one, especially in keeping with Orcs being little more than corrupted Elves. However, dragons evolved from wingless worms, to the winged fire-breathers that have become so popular, so it is likely that they have their own unique heritage.

Smaug himself came from the mountains in the north. He was drawn by the great wealth amassed by the Dwarven kingdom of the Lonely Mountain, but little else is known about his birth or creation. There are some questions that should never be answered, and Smaug’s mysterious origins may be one of them.

14 Benedict Cumberbatch’s Inspiration

When Benedict Cumberbatch was cast as Smaug, opposite fellow Sherlock actor Martin Freeman as Bilbo, fans were ecstatic. He did not simply voice the dragon, but also acted out the character in a motion-capture suit. Images of Cumberbatch on set whilst rolling around on the carpet and growling, are as humorous as they are commendable.

To effectively portray the cinematic monster, Cumberbatch reportedly went to the London Zoo to study animals, and get a sense of their movement. He focused primarily on lizards, and noted how they remained still for long periods of time, before moving very swiftly to catch prey, or avoid capture.

13 Fire-Drakes And Cold-Drakes

Dragons are divided into categories based on their ability to fly, and breathe fire. The most infamous is Smaug, along with Glaurung and Ancalogan, who are classified as Fire-Drakes, which are the typical fantasy standard for these creatures. Tolkien used the terms “Dragon” and “Wyrms” almost interchangeably.

Some dragons in the Legendarium could not breathe fire, and are regarded as Cold-drakes. Typically, these creatures did not have legs or wings, while some could breathe either smoke, or mist. Despite lacking the raw power of their Fire siblings, Cold-drakes still possessed sharp claws and armor-like scales.

12 Smaug And The Necromancer

The mysterious Necromancer of Dol Guldur – known to fans as the Dark Lord Sauron – was also voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch. While Smaug’s voice is powerful and bestial, the Necromancer is more whispery and chilling, which channels the bottomless evil of the Sauron character.

The Appendix for Tolkien’s novel Return of the King insinuated the possibility of Sauron and Smaug teaming up, which was something Gandalf greatly feared. Smaug cared little for power or ambition, preferring only to acquire more wealth, but Sauron could have tempted the dragon with promises of riches untold, in exchange for his might in battle.

11 People Keep Saying His Name Wrong

Considering the complexity of Tolkien, it is surprising to note that some of the greatest confusion surrounding Smaug comes from how to pronounce the villain’s name. Most readers have pronounced the mighty Fire Drake’s name “Smog,” which is incorrect. In actual fact, the “au” in Smaug is pronounced “ow.”

The name is derived from the past tense of the early Germanic verb smugan, meaning “to squeeze through a hole.” Tolkien explained that this was a joke regarding Smaug’s inability to squeeze into the small hole Bilbo goes through to escape. Unfortunately, most people still believe it’s a reference to his fire-breathing ability.

10 Smaug is Not The Strongest Dragon

Undeniably, Smaug is the Greatest Dragon left in Middle Earth during the Third Age. Yet, he is not the strongest in its history. That title falls to Ancalagon the Black, the largest dragon ever to have existed in Middle-earth. He was bred by Morgoth during the First Age to fight for the Dark Lord during his campaign of terror.

It took the Giant Eagles and the hero Eärendil, the father of Elrond, to finally cast Ancalagon down. When Ancalagon was killed, Morgoth’s resistance collapsed, and his huge falling body apparently crushed three gigantic active volcanoes to rubble, lending some clues as to just how huge he was.

9 His Actual Size

In The Atlas of Middle-Earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad, Smaug is recorded as being about 20 meters, or 66 feet in length. In the film, his size in the original design is mentioned to be 130 meters in length, which is bigger than two jumbo jets.

Due to the highly stylized nature of the many illustrations of Smaug and the other dragons in Tolkien’s Legendarium, it is very difficult to use them as guides to their actual sizes. Whatever the case, Smaug is large enough to cause a panic, and send entire armies running away, screaming in terror.

8 He Was The Last Great Dragon

When Bard the Bowman was able to exploit the weak spot in the dragon’s armor and fire his Black Arrow into Smaug’s breast, he freed the people of Lake-town and restored Thorin’s birth-right. Tolkien confirmed in a letter that Smaug was the last of his kind; and the last of the Great Fire-drakes of Middle Earth.

This implies that dragons of lesser stature, such as smaller Cold-drakes or Fire-drakes, may have lived on. In terms of the terrifying dragons that inspired so much folklore and bedtime stories in Middle Earth, however, the threat died with Smaug.

7 His Appearance In The 1977 Animated Movie

Rankin/Bass’s 1977 Hobbit adaptation is a strange version of Tolkien’s novel, with odd artistic direction that was common for the company. They chose to make Smaug furry, with a cat-like appearance, complete with whiskers. This might seem an odd choice, but it actually makes a lot of sense.

The film’s animation team were based in Japan, so they depicted Smaug as a hybrid of Western and Japanese dragon designs. Additionally, Tolkien does make at least one reference to cat-like traits when describing Smaug, though this might have been taken a bit too literally by the animation team.

6 His Physical Design Changes

Weta Workshop’s contribution to the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films is regarded as a huge step forward for computer animated characters. Smaug was one of their best, but he did go through a few design changes throughout production.

Originally, Smaug had six limbs – four legs and two wings – easily spotted in the prologue of the theatrical release of An Unexpected Journey. Eagle-eyed viewers noticed that this was changed for the next film, where the dragon is revealed as having two back legs, and two front legs with his wings attached.

5 He Might Have Lived Forever

It can be gleaned from reference material that Smaug is very old. It is known that Smaug drove the Dwarves out of their mountain stronghold over 150 years prior to the events of The Hobbit, which doesn’t seem like a lot of time in Tolkien years. A general statement about Dragons in the novel says “they guard their plunder as long as they live (which is practically forever, unless they are killed).”

Smaug described how he fought the warriors of old when he was young and tender, but now he is old and strong. Fans may never know how long Smaug might have lived, had he continued to slumber underneath the Lonely Mountain. Many of the dark creatures of Middle Earth live for exceptionally long periods of time, suggesting he might have been immortal.

4 He Can Melt The Rings of Power, Except One

Dragon fire is hot enough to melt the mysterious Rings of Power. In fact, four of the seven rings gifted to the Dwarves were described as being consumed by dragon fire. The lesser Rings of Power were made by the Elven-smith Celebrimbor. These were grouped into three rings for the Elves, seven rings for the Dwarves, and nine rings for men.

The One Ring was forged by Sauron himself at Mount Doom. It is revealed by Gandalf that no dragon’s fire would be hot enough to melt the One Ring, meaning it could only be destroyed in the fires whence it came. Neither Smaug, nor Ancalagon the Black, the Greatest Dragon, would have been capable of destroying the One Ring.

3 His Hypnotic Power

Smaug’s capacity for flight, and his fire-breathing ability are no doubt impressive. Yet, it is not just Smaug’s raw strength that makes him such a compelling antagonist. For all his power, he can be quite subtle and cunning, using mind games to play on fear and doubt.

Smaug also possessed a hypnotic power known as the “dragon-spell,” which could ensnare weak-willed beings into a trance when he spoke. It was the dragon equivalent of the Star Wars Jedi Mind Trick, though the exact nature of this “spell” remains somewhat shrouded in mystery.

2 The Adaptation With Slag The Dragon

Before Peter Jackson and Rankin/Bass, there was a Hobbit adaptation few have seen. With a run time of just 12 minutes, the 1966 short film version was literally created to extend the Producer’s license on The Lord of the Rings. It took less than a month to create, and the production values are as expected.

This story follows Bilbo Baggins, General Torin Oakenshield, and one Princess Mika, who set out to kill the great dragon who has destroyed Mika’s kingdom of Dale – Slag the Dragon. The messy plot ends with Bilbo stealing the Arkenstone, and shooting it through Slag’s heart, killing him. Bilbo then returns to Hobbiton, with Princess Mika as his wife.

1 He’s One Of The Richest Fictional Characters Ever

Smaug joined Scrooge McDuck, Tony Stark and Tywin Lannister on the Forbes Fictional 15, a list of the richest fictional figures in pop culture. His treasure was calculated with a staggering value of over $62 billion dollars, taking into account factors such as the length of the dragon as he lay on his hoard, the height of the mound, and the price of gold, silver, and diamonds.

Of course, many fans had a lot to say about how the figures were estimated, taking issue with everything from the size of Smaug, to the estimated value of the Arkenstone. That doesn’t change the fact that Smaug had enough cash to retire 10 lifetimes over, and still have some left over to donate to charity.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/smaug-trivia-facts-hobbit-lord-rings-dragon/