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Revision as of 17:15, 3 July 2006 by Morwen (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Smaug is a dragon in J. R. R. Tolkien's novel The Hobbit. Smaug is the main antagonist in the book, having in the back-story who laid waste to Dale and captured the Lonely Mountain (Erebor) with all its treasure. The Hobbit recounts the tale of a party of Dwarves (a few of the original residents of the Lonely Mountain and their descendants) to recapture the mountain and kill or evict the dragon.
The Hobbit
Smaug is reddish-gold and was sometimes described as Smaug the Golden. Despite having accumulated such vast wealth, Smaug was intimately familiar with every last item within his hoard, and instantly noticed the theft of a relatively inconsequential item by Bilbo Baggins. Among the items in his possession were the Arkenstone, and a number of mithril chain shirts, one of which was given as a gift to Bilbo by Thorin Oakenshield, and was later to save Frodo Baggins from the spear of a goblin captain in Moria.
Template:Spoiler Smaug, having slept for so long on his treasure had a belly covered in gems which rendered him almost invulnerable, but when Bilbo Baggins met him in his lair, he discovered a bare patch on his left breast. When Bilbo told his dwarf companions about Smaug's weakness he was overheard by the thrush that roosted by the mountain's secret door. The thrush in turn told Bard the Bowman of Esgaroth, and when Smaug attacked Esgaroth, Bard was able to slay Smaug with his Black Arrow.
After Smaug's death, Thorin and Company claimed the treasure as theirs by birthright. This created a conflict with Bard and the Elvish king Thranduil of Mirkwood, who each wanted a portion of the gold as reimbursement for all the damage Smaug had caused their kingdoms over the years. Thorin refused to share the treasure and declared war on both of them. The conflict was avoided by the arrival of the Goblin and Warg Army, and the dwarves decided to ally with the elves and men to fight this greater evil. This conflict was know as the Battle of Five Armies.
After the Hobbit
According to Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings it was fortunate that Smaug had been slain, since had he lived he would almost certainly have come under Sauron's control and done much damage to Sauron's enemies, as Smaug would have caused destruction in Wilderland and Eriador, to which Sauron was not able to extend his power during the War of the Ring.
Name
In the books, the name Smaug is presented as a translation of the "original Dalish" Trâgu, and is related to Sméagol/Trahald. According to Tolkien, the name Smaug is "the past tense of the primitive Germanic verb smeugan (Old Norse smjúga) = "to squeeze through a hole"" (Letter No. 31); others have noted that it has echoes of "smoke" and "smog".
Portrayal
In the 1977 animated version of The Hobbit, Smaug was voiced by Richard Boone.
In the 2003 video game release, Smaug was voiced by James Horan.
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