the lord of the rings - Why did Smaug gather a treasure of gold and other precious objects?

In The Hobbit, the Dwarves, Bilbo and Gandalf are on a mission to rob Smaug. But why did he have so much to steal from? He's a Dragon! He is not the kind of dragon that eats gold and gems. He doesn't need wealth to buy a luxury cavern and/or pay his servant.

Why did Smaug gather his treasure?

Answer

It is just something that Dragons do in Tolkien's legendarium. It's in their nature. From The Hobbit:

Dragons steal gold and jewels, you know, from men and elves and dwarves, wherever they can find them; and they guard their plunder as long as they live (which is practically forever, unless they are killed), and never enjoy a brass ring of it. Indeed they hardly know a good bit of work from a bad, though they usually have a good notion of the current market value; and they can't make a thing for themselves, not even mend a little loose scale of their armour. ... There was a most specially greedy, strong and wicked worm called Smaug.

Dragons are simply greedy by nature, and that combined with an inability to "make a thing for themselves" has apparently driven them to horde precious items made by others.

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