Skip to main content

tolkiens legendarium - Is Smaug a reptile?


Basically, as the title asks. Dragons are often referred to as reptilian in various stories, but I don't think I remember Tolkien ever specifying this about Smaug. I looked a bit, and couldn't find any info, other than this spiny southern African lizard named after Tolkien's Smaug.


Anyway - any authoritative word/hint on Smaug's class?



Answer



Although Tolkien never makes any outright claims to Smaug being reptilian he does make a few statements about Smaug being a Lizard or lizard-like




“Oh yes, very much so. Except no, Fafnir was a human or humanoid being who took this form, whereas Smaug is just pure intelligent lizard.”
The History of the Hobbit - Endnotes, Note 10



Tolkien clearly thought of Smaug as some form of lizard, less like Fafnir, who was humanoid but took the shape of a dragon, but more like a real dragon, similar to a dinosaur (but not a dinosaur). Tolkien mentions of the relation between snakes and lizards and his dragons, although again makes the clear distinction between dinosaurs



“He describes dragons as ‘legendary creatures founded on serpent and lizard’, unlike the dinosaurs ”
The History of the Hobbit - Endnotes, Note 5



In the published book however, the only mention to lizard is claiming that either Men are evil or Smaug is not a dragon but a lowly-lizard (as pointed out by @Nacht in the comments below).




Lake-men, some nasty scheme of those miserable tub-trading Lake-men, or I’m a lizard.
The Hobbit - Chapter 12, Inside Information



Although Smaug enjoys talking in riddles it seems abundantly clear here, he does not consider himself a lizard, but a dragon of great majesty.


In conclusion, Smaug is decidedly reptilian and has been described as a lizard by Tolkien, although Smaug (and Tolkien) make it clear he is something different to a lizard.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...
Post a Comment
Read more