Smaug

In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, Smaug was a greedy, reddish-gold dragon of Middle-earth, who laid waste to Dale and captured the Lonely Mountain (Erebor) with all its treasure, which he gathered in a central hall and slept upon. 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 gifted to Bilbo by Thorin Oakenshield, and was later to save Frodo Baggins from the spear of a goblin captain in Moria.

Smaug's scales rendered him almost invulnerable, but when Bilbo Baggins confronted him in his lair, he discovered a bare patch on his underbelly. 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 eventually exploded into the Battle of Five Armies.

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 destroyed Mirkwood.

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 Smugan, to squeeze through a hole" (Letter No. 31); others have noted that it has echoes of "smoke" and "smog".

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.