- "Morgoth loosed upon the people of Narog the great host that he had long prepared; and Glaurung the Urulóki passed over Anfauglith."
- —The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XXI: "Of Túrin Turambar"
Fire-drakes (in Quenya Urulóki) was one term used for fire-breathing Dragons in J.R.R. Tolkien's writings. They may have been a sub-species.
History
First Age
Glaurung, the Father of Dragons, by Vaejoun
Glaurung and Ancalagon were fire-drakes, and were among the most famous of the breed. Glaurung was a key player in the sacking of Nargothrond and in the fulfillment of Morgoth's curse on the children of Húrin. He was a fearsome bane to the Elves.[1]
Many fire-drakes also joined the Balrogs in the attack on Gondolin in the year 510.[2] One of them arrived over the western walls of the city, bearing enemies to the assault upon their back. In the ensuing chaos, Ecthelion and Tuor were confronted by this dragon, and they were almost trampled. Tuor hewed its foot, at which the fire-drake was said to sprout flames and scream, lashing their tail and killing many Orcs and Elves. In this moment Tuor and Ecthelion were able to escape the beast. Another fire-drake dried up the Place of the Fountain.[3]
Ancalagon and his armada of winged fire-drakes by themselves drove back the Host of the Valar during the War of Wrath at the end of the First Age, such was their incredible power.
Second and Third Ages
Smaug over Lake-town, by John Howe
All but two of (winged) fire-drakes were thought to have been slain during the War of Wrath,[4] and the surviving drakes eventually started to multiply in the far north. During the Second Age, they still posed threats to Men,[5] and Sauron at one point summoned all of Morgoth's remaining forces, but the presence of dragons were not mentioned in the War of the Last Alliance. In TA 2770, Smaug came down from the North and sacked the Lonely Mountain. Later, in TA 2941, Thrór's grandson Thorin Oakenshield returned with a small group to reclaim his grandfather's kingdom, unleashing a chain of events that led to the death of Smaug when he attacked nearby Lake-town and was slain by the Black Arrow shot by Bard the Bowman.[6]
According to Gandalf, there were still dragons shortly prior to the War of the Ring, though they were said to be lesser in nature.[7]
Description
Fire-drakes often grew to immense sizes, and breathed destructive flames and vapours from their mouths and nostrils. The fire from one of these dragons was so intense that it was said to be able to consume and melt the Rings of Power (as became the case with some of the Dwarven Rings), with the exception of the One Ring.[7] The fire also emitted extreme heats from their bodies, enabling them to dry up a river and potentially melt their passage through snow.
Most of the famous dragons throughout the ages were fire-drakes, although only some of them fought for Morgoth.
Tolkien confirmed in a letter that Smaug was the last of his kind, the last of the "great" fire-drakes of Middle-earth. Dragons of lesser stature, such as smaller kin of Cold-drakes and fire-drakes lived on. This was also mentioned by Gandalf.
Etymology
Smaug the Golden, by John Howe
In Quenya, Fire-drakes were called Urulóki ("Fire Serpent" or "Fire-dragon"[8][9]), from ur ("heat") and lókë ("snake, serpent").[10][11]
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In adaptations
The Hobbit film trilogy
In The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Thranduil had claimed to face a "fire drake of the North", and presumably suffered damages caused by dragon's fire. It is unknown whether this dragon was in the First Age, or those in the Grey Mountains in later days including Scatha, but seemingly in the Third Age after Smaug's attack on the Lonely Mountain.
Video games
A Fire Drake in BFME 2
In The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II, "fire-drake" is redefined as a wingless, four-legged dragon, much different and smaller than Tolkien's dragons or "great worms". They breathe flames, and are used by the Goblin faction. Gorkil the Goblin King can summon three of them as his final power.
"Fire-drake broods" are triplets of smaller fire-drakes, introduced in The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king. They arise in groups of three and their combined attack is just as powerful as their larger cousins; only two fire-drake broods can be recruited at one time.
In The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, Úrgost is a winged fire-drake who lives in the Grey Mountains. Agandaûr offers him Nordinbad in exchange for his service to Sauron, Úrgost responds by saying you will have your answer in my own good time. Later on he meets the company Farin, Eradan and Andriel and makes a deal with them to bring him Carn Dûm from Agandaûr and he will not fight for Sauron.
| Dragons of Middle-earth | |
|---|---|
| Ancalagon • Glaurung • Gostir • Lhamthanc • Scatha • Smaug | |
| Cold-drakes • Fire-drakes • Long-worms • Sea-serpents • Spark-dragons | |
Translations
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afrikaans | Vuur drakes |
| Albanian | Dragoi zjarrit |
| Armenian | Կրակ Դրակոններ |
| Azerbaijani | Yanğın əjdahaya |
| Basque | Sua herensugeak |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Вогненныя драконы |
| Bengali | আগুন ড্রাগন |
| Bosnian | Vatreni zmajevi |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Огнените дракони |
| Cambodian | ភ្លើងឆេះ - នាគ |
| Catalan | Dracs de foc |
| Corsican | Dragoni di focu |
| Croatian | Vatreni zmajevi |
| Czech | Oheň draci |
| Danish | Ildsprudende drager |
| Dutch | Vuurdraken |
| Esperanto | Fajrega drakoj |
| Estonian | Tulekahju lohesid |
| Faroese | Eldurdrekar |
| Finnish | Tulikäärmeet |
| French | Drakes d'incendie |
| Frisian | Fjoerdraken (Western) |
| Galician | Dragóns de lume |
| Georgian | ცეცხლი დრაკონები |
| German | Feuerschlange |
| Greek | Φωτιά δράκους |
| Gujarati | ફાયર ડ્રેગન |
| Hebrew | אש דרקונים (Fire-drakes)
אורולוקי (Urulóki) |
| Hindi | आग ड्रेगन |
| Hungarian | Tűz sárkányok |
| Icelandic | Elddrekar |
| Indonesian | Api naga-naga |
| Irish Gaelic | An Dragain dóiteáin |
| Italian | Draghi del fuoco |
| Japanese | 火竜/ウルローキ |
| Kannada | ಬೆಂಕಿ ಡ್ರ್ಯಾಗನ್ಗಳು |
| Kazakh | Өрт драконы (Cyrillic) Ört drakonı (Latin) |
| Korean | 불 드래곤 |
| Kurdish | Ejdeha agir (Kurmanji) |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | От-ажыдаарлар |
| Laotian | ໄຟມັງກອນ |
| Latin | Ignis dracones |
| Latvian | Uguns pūķi |
| Lithuanian | Ugnies drakonai |
| Luxembourgish | Feierdraachen |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Огнени змејови |
| Maltese | Draguni tan-nar |
| Maori | Nga tarakona ahi |
| Marathi | अग्नि ड्रॅगन |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Гал луу |
| Nepalese | आगो ड्रेगन |
| Norwegian | Branndrager (Bokmål)
Elddrakes (Nynorsk) |
| Old English | Dracan Fyr |
| Persian | آتش اژدهایان (Fire-drakes)
اورولوکی (Urulóki) |
| Polish | Smoki ogniste |
| Portuguese | Dragões de fogo |
| Punjabi | ਅੱਗ-ਡਰੈਗਨ |
| Romanian | Dragoni de foc |
| Russian | Драконы огня |
| Scottish Gaelic | An Dragain teine |
| Serbian | Ватрени змајеви (Cyrillic) Vatreni zmajevi (Latin) |
| Sindhi | باهه ايجنٽ ? |
| Sinhalese | ගිනි මකරෝ |
| Slovak | Požiaru-drakoch |
| Slovenian | Ogenj-zmajev |
| Spanish | Serpiente de Fuego |
| Swedish | Branddrakar |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Оташ аждаҳои |
| Tamil | தீ டிராகன்கள் |
| Telugu | అగ్ని డ్రాగన్లు |
| Thai | มังกรไฟ |
| Turkish | Ateşsakallar |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Вогонь драконів |
| Urdu | آگ ڈریگن |
| Uzbek | Йонғин аждаҳо (Cyrillic) Yong'in ajdaho (Latin) |
| Vietnamese | Rồng lửa |
| Welsh | Dreigiau tân |
| Xhosa | Ii dragons zomlilo |
| Yiddish | פייַער דראַגאָנס |
| Yoruba | Ina dragoni |
References
- ↑ The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XXI: "Of Túrin Turambar"
- ↑ The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter XXIII: "Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin"
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. II: The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, III: "The Fall of Gondolin", pgs. 181, 184
- ↑ "The Tale of Years", The War of the Jewels, The History of Middle-earth
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien, 1977, Akallabeth, The Silmarillion
- ↑ The Hobbit, Chapter XIV: "Fire and Water"
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book One, Chapter II: "The Shadow of the Past"
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. II: The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, chapter II: "Turambar and the Foalókë"
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. V: The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part Three: "The Etymologies"
- ↑ The Silmarillion, Appendix: Elements in Quenya and Sindarin names
- ↑ Parma Eldalamberon, Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
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Races of Arda
Ainur | Dwarves | Elves | Ents | Great Eagles | Hobbits | Huorns | Men | Petty-dwarves | Skin-changers (Beornings) Servants of the Shadow:
Barrow-wights | Ettens | Dragons (Fire-drakes and Cold-drakes) | Ogres | Orcs | Spiders | Trolls | Úmaiar | Úvanimor | Vampires | Wargs | Werewolves |