Skip to main content

the hobbit - How did Smaug transport all of his gold and jewels?


Smaug first appeared in TA 2770 as a mature Fire-drake. I'm not sure if there are canonical sources which say his age or maturity, but he must have been quite large and quite old at the time in order to destroy the city of Dale and capture Erebor.


Since it is safe to assume that Smaug would have been attacking towns and stealing all of the gold and jewels he could get his claws on for most of his life, then he must have amassed a huge fortune prior to taking residence at Erebor. How did he transport his existing horde to Erebor? It seems unlikely that he would have simply abandoned all of his treasure that he had previously accumulated.


EDIT: It has been established that Smaug was not a mature drake at the time of his appearance. However, he may have already had a small horde (compared to Erebor).



Answer



In The Hobbit, Smaug specifically denies that he was "quite large and quite old" when he attacked Erebor and Dale:




"I laid low the warriors of old and their like is not in the world today. Then I was but young and tender. Now I am old and strong, strong, strong, Thief in the Shadows!"



(The Hobbit, Chapter 9, "Inside Information")


Thus it is quite possible that Smaug had no particular hoard of his own before the attacks. Thorin, after describing the wealth of the Mountain and Dale, states, "Undoubtedly that was what brought the dragon" (Chapter 1, "An Unexpected Party"). Thus, there would have been no need for him to transport gold and other treasure from the Withered Heath (or whatever particular place in the North he came from).


The real question, I believe, is the related "How did Smaug get the treasure of Dale from Dale to his lair under the Mountain?" We know that there were some such treasures (for example, the emerald necklace of Girion) which Thorin and Company found in Smaug's hoard. How did they get there?


This is a question which appears to have no answer in the canon. Unless Tolkien stated it in one of his letters, I am aware of no canon information bearing on it. The Hobbit simply accepts the presence of those treasures in the hoard as a matter of fact; and The Lord of the Rings (to the extent that it discusses the matter, which is at best minimal) does not investigate the question at all.


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

What is Tolkien trying to say in this letter?

In a draft of a letter, later recorded as #246, Tolkien makes a strange statement. I am interested in the first few sentences of the letter, but I will include the remainder for the sake of context. In the 'Mirror of Galadriel', 1381, it appears that Galadriel conceived of herself as capable of wielding the Ring and supplanting the Dark Lord. If so, so also were the other guardians of the Three, especially Elrond . But this is another matter. It was part of the essential deceit of the Ring to fill minds with imaginations of supreme power . But this the Great had well considered and had rejected, as is seen in Elrond's words at the Council. Galadriel's rejection of the temptation was founded upon previous thought and resolve. In any case Elrond or Galadriel would have proceeded in the policy now adopted by Sauron: they would have built up an empire with great and absolutely subservient generals and armies and engines of war, until they could challenge Sauron and destroy ...
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Was Galadriel's temptation of Boromir instrumental to his fall?

We know Galadriel tempted the members of the Fellowship, did she tempt Boromir with visions of taking the Ring and saving Gondor? In the books, Boromir willingly accepts the judgement of the council that the Ring should be destroyed, but after the meeting with Celeborn and Galadriel his personality seems to change. Was the temptation offered by Galadriel in some way responsible for Boromir's fall? Answer It's likely, but not certain I believe it is likely Galadriel tempted him with the ring, and in doing so re-ignited a pre-existing idea to take the ring, but to be clear lets break this down into three parts. Boromir at the Council of Elrond Boromir after setting off Boromir after being tempted Boromir at the Council of Elrond Boromir pleas for the ring to go to Minas Tirith, to help Gondor in its defense against Mordor. “ Why should we not think that the Great Ring has come into our hands to serve us in the very hour of need? Wielding it the Free Lords of the Free may surely...
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