I've heard a theory that the dragon is an externalization of the Morgoth Ingredient. In the same way that Sauron put some of his power/spirit into a ring, Morgoth did it with the dragons. The dragons would then be a simulacra of life. It would be the equivalent of Aulë's dwarves when they did not yet possess the breath of life granted by Ilúvatar. Only in the case of these creatures, they would be living beings corrupted with imprisoned spirits (as Sauron did with werewolves) or pieces of Morgoth's spirit. This explains why Dragons are so fond of gold. For this metal contains a lot of Morgoth Ingredient. The interesting thing is that Ancalagon faced a spaceship that used a jewel that contained a light analogous to the light of the Holy Spirit.
I have a similar theory about Tolkien's dragons. Mine is a bit more intimate. I would equate Glaurung to an anti-Luthien in conception. Perhaps he is the result of Morgoth mating with a Balrog? These "breeding programs" are a great way to bypass not having the Secret Fire of Iluvatar with the added bonus of abusing the Children of Eru and the creations of the Valar to boot. Glaurung is the only other character to match Morgoth is sheer malice and sadism. A real chip off the old block. Capture and abuse one of Manwe's great eagles, mate it with Glaurung or a Balrog, and presto! Granddaddy Morgoth has a new baby fire drake. The being unholy and an offense to Eru and bring grief to Manwe is the whip cream and cherry on top.
Glaurung has great potential and would be cool to see him featured in a game or new series/movie. Also nice to know that dragons still exist in the world nice neat info.
I recently realized how perfect the conflict between the dwarves and dragons is thematically, it goes back before they were even made to thier makers melkor and aule. Melkor wanted to create free life but couldn't and refused to work with the other valar whom he deemed lesser than him so his only joy became in ruining the works of his brethren, aule was this close to falling too but ultimately didn't because of his humility, he creates not to challenge or replace eru's design but for the simple joy of creation, this is reflected in thier greatest creation, dragons are huge weapons of mass destruction, greedy and vindictive, dwarves on the other hand are not only smaller in stature but are known best for thier craftsmanship and great cities, It's no wonder these two races found themselves in odds with each other ages later given how deeply rooted thier differences are This is why I love middle earth so much, even the overly used elements and races like dwarves and dragons have a unique thematic place of origin that other worlds don't have or capture
Dragons have always excited my imagination. Whether serpent fire breathing... flying non flying. With that said, I would have loved to hear more of Ancalogons evil deeds!
Lots of cute little things to look at in this video. Really great job! It makes my lungs feel all full of liquid to see such adorably cute things on the screen. Love this type of content.
Is there a citation for the Cold drakes breathing ice? A brief search for me only yielded that they are given the ability in the LOTR: Online game. I'm curious if the given name of "Cold" Drake is only to further distinguish them from their Fire-breathing kin. In that, they lack any breath ability at all. A convenient way to avoid confusion. Otherwise, if someone were to colloquially refer to a "drake", one might assume it was of the fire-breathing variety.
This isn't D&D, no ice breathing nonsense. Cold drake clearly means not Hot aka fire-breathing. Otherwise the Eotheod would have been obliterated by the single one they encountered in the north. Also, Morgoth is associated with fire more than anything. Cold winds from the North, but even there living withing the Thangorodrim, a chain of three active volcanoes. Dragons can either breath fire, or they cannot, this isn't Skyrim.
@@paulemge9156 Found nothing either. Purely making up Lore. The cold might come from their origins: "Now the least mighty -- yet were they very great beside the Men of those days -- are cold as is the nature of snakes and serpents, and of them a many having wings go with the uttermost noise and speed;"
Smaug is the only dragon being featured but i would like to see ancalagon the black atleast for like a glimpse or a flash back for the future LOTR movies
Evil creatures in Middle Earth are corrupt forms of former good beings. Orcs from Elves, Trolls from Ents and Gollum from Sméagol. Even Sauron and the Balrog were Maiar like Gandalf. What were dragons corrupted from?
"Evil have been all your ways, son of Hurin. Thankless fosterling,outlaw,slayer of your friend, thief of love, usurper of Nargothrond,,captain foolhardy and deserter of your kin. As thralls your mother and sister live in Dor-lomin, in misery and want. You are arrayed as a prince but they go in rags. For you they yearn but you care not for them. Glad may your father be to learn that he has such a son." -Glaurung roasting the ever loving cr*p out of Turin Turambar without even needing to breathe fire As much of a terror Smaug was, Glaurung was 100x more dangerous. He didn't need to breathe fire or crush you to destroy you. He could mess with your mind and manipulate his enemies into believing lies, causing them more suffering than they could ever imagine. With his voice and eyes alone, he could put you under a spell or wipe your entire memory. His final words to Nienor after breaking the spell over her mind were an absolute knife to the heart. Rereading the Hobbit after the Silmarillion/CoH and seeing Smaug pull the same trick on Bilbo gave me chills, luckily the strong little Hobbit didn't let himself be swayed.
One of the most difficult aspects of writing about a given subject within Tolkien's legendarium, you want to give as much information that the subject demands, and try to be clear and not let all the names and dates and such get in the way, while also trying to add as much context as to the author's intent and how his idea of dragons influenced the dragons of middle-earth. When deciding what to include, a writer has to be careful. For these videos, you want to do a number of things, first, you want to leave the glow to any new reader that is learning the information for the first time, so nothing you do as a writer can take away from the enjoyment of the story. I generally try to avoid 'ruining' great moments in these scripts, but it's hard not to include very important moments. It's a balancing act. One of my favorite pieces of the Silmarillion, which I should have included in this script, is the way that Glaurung was able to really tear people to pieces just by insight. The great wyrm was more dangerous as a brain than a monster which breathes fire. It is a subversion, allowing the typically physically imposing beasts become more formidable still by using their mind, which proves to always be as sharp as if not more so than their tongue. Thanks for leaving a comment, and being generally kind enough to check out these videos. Being able to write these has been one of the greater privilege of my life, and I'm sure the same could be said for the rest of TBS. If you enjoy these vids, share them, if you have questions or would like to see us answer something specifically, leave them in the comments, since we go through and discuss each to suggest a question or make a suggestion. Cheers!
It is not said, but Earendil was wearing a Silmaril when he fought Ancalagon. My belief is the Silmaril was proof against a dragons power to mesmerize, and in fact may have also mesmerized Ancalagon. At Gladden field, Isildur wore the Elendilmir. When he put on the ring, the Elendilmir blazed. He put a hood on and was not seen by men again. Jewels from valinor have unstated power
Maybe because you’re thinking in terms of “real-world” physics, rather than fantastic world . To steal a line from another realm of fantasy, “You must UNlearn what you have learned.”
@@tomlienert882 there is no way Tolkien envisioned Ancalagon that big. At least that is my understanding having read lots and lots of Tolkiens writings
REALLY IMPORTANT QUESTION!! Did Aragorn cameo in the Hobbit book? Was he the unnamed character that “strided over”and picked up Bilbo after he was knocked out during the War of 5 Armies?
Id imagine he would have been really young then.. not sure where the timeline would be with him being in rivendell and when he found out his lineage and left to be a ranger
This is speculation, but I believe there is a link between the Silmarils and the creation of dragons, as they appeared after Melkor captured the Silmarils, and the free will and consciousness dragons possess is based on this. I will not go into this theory here, as I will need to go into detail to be understood.
I dont think cold drakes refer to dragons that breathe ice, rather that they lost the ability to breathe fire. All dragons became less and less after Ancalagon the black. He was a personal creation of Morgoth and all subsequent dragons are lesser versions of him. I think after time, dragons lost a lot of their strength until they lost the ability to breathe fire.
Seeing clips from those stupid hobbit movies still annoys me. why even use them? As for Smaug, i feel broken sword underestimates him. He caused great and long-lasting devastation - 'the desolation of Smaug' comparable to Glaurang and Gondalin, at least as far as i know 😂. And unlike any of the other novels, it's Smaug, not Morgoth or Sauron who's the main villain in the hobbit.
Smaug is my favourite dragon. It was The Hobbit which first introduced me to the lotrs. I've read them a lot, but not the simillarion. No other dragon can beat smaug in my opinion.
Love dragons. They're probably the quintessential being of fantacy literature for sure. Never bought into the whole fire breathing business as a possiblly actual thing though. Metal dragons having the ability sure.. but not flesh and bone creatures. Magical creatures or not, fire and soft fleshy innards just don't mix. I feel the same way about xenomorphs having sulfuric acid for blood.
Love you man thanks for everything you post. But please work on you cadence. I find it very hard to understand every word when you change volume so much. :-)
Aaaa Dragons..... i have a little problem here.... First up, u ur self stated that a Dragon was Melkors General. And this dosent realy add up with Saroun being the "most powerfull servent" now dos it, when he was only a Lutenint.... can U or enyone explane this to me? (But great story👍)
Sauron normally worked through trickery, like when he tricked Gorlim into betraying Bergen’s outlaw band to the orcs, or conning Celebrimbor and the smiths of Eregion into creating the Rings of Power. Only once that I can recall does he come out and fight openly-and he loses to Gil-Galad, Elendil and Isildur. Glaurung, on the other hand, lead Morgoth’s armies to war more than once, even though he gets stuck in the belly by the dying dwarf-lord Azaghal on his first assignment.
@@tomlienert882 what has eney of this to do with what i ask m8? non of what u sayed anser, why Saruon is called "the greatest servent".... and this statment just proofs what what sooo many people think is "fact" is enything but that,( cus Saroun clearly wasent the greatest or most powerfull, he was just what was left and forgotten) and this "good and Evil" is more complex then Black and White
Since Tolkien gives no sizes on his dragons, everything is conjecture. There is absolutely no proof that Smaug is smaller than Scatha or any other dragon other than Ancalagon. That picture comparing the dragons is fan fiction.
