tolkiens legendarium - How could Thranduil have met a dragon?

In The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Thranduil

angrily tells Thorin not to speak of dragon fire, then reveals a vision of half his face burned away.

The conversation implies that Thranduil has been in battle with a dragon. Considering that he leads a Silvan kingdom far to the east and south of what was once Beleriand and Angband, and there is no record of Smaug having visited the Woodland Realm, when and how could Thranduil have experienced dragon fire?

Answer

There are other dragons Thranduil could have encountered. During 'An Unexpected Party', Thorin says

There were lots of dragons in the North in those days, ...

where 'those days' refers to the reign of his grandfather Thror before the sack of Erebor, and 'the North' refers to the Withered Heath. There is also relevant material in the Lord of the Rings. In 'The Shadow of the Past', Gandalf says

It has been said that dragon-fire could melt and consume the Rings of Power...

and also

Seven the Dwarf-kings possessed, but three he has recovered, and the others the dragons have consumed.

Hence, Smaug was not the only fire-breathing dragon alive after the forging of the Rings of Power. Thranduil's realm is mentioned at the start of Appendix B (The Tale of Years), so we know it dates back as far as the early days of the second age, some 15-1600 years earlier.

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