Need a Dragon-Slayer? Just Ask the Edain! - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Hookbill the Goomba · 01-24-2013, 04:50 AM

The elves have a lot of reasons to hate dragons in middle-earth; Glaurung spread horrific destruction, as did his brood, in the Dagor Bragollach, Nírnaeth Arnoediad, the sack of Nargothrond, and the War of Wrath. You'd think elves would have a vested interest in dragon-slaying. But of the dragon-slayers known in middle-earth, they are all human, or part human.

Glaurung was slain by Túrin. A human man. He spent time with elves, though.
(As a side note, in the Nírnaeth Arnoediad Glaurung was held back thanks to Azaghâl and his Dwarves, I seem to recall).

Scatha was slain by Fram son of Frumgar. Though the Dwarves later killed him for the treasure and because he'd been a tad insulting to them.

Smaug was slain by Bard of Laketown. With the assistance of a Thrush.

The only claim to dragon-slaying the elves seem to have comes from Ancalagon the Black, slain by Eärendil, the HALF elven.
There were other dragons in the War of Wrath, but none of their deaths are recorded and their slayers go unnamed, if they had any. Perhaps some were elves, perhaps not. Plenty of men were also in the battle, so maybe their expertise were called upon.

So the elves don't really have a good record on dragon slaying while the humans have a pretty good one.

I took a look through the letters and Tolkien does not say anything specifically about this. However, one does get a sense of his love of dragons, as he often says he has a love for tales "especially those with dragons!" There are also the old tales like Beowulf, Sigurd etc which may have had some impact on some of the specific incidents.
Where Eärendil is concerned there may be an element of revenge to be considered, as Gondolin was destroyed thanks to (among other things) the dragons (and possibly Balrogs riding on dragons), to slay one in the final battle, and not just any dragon but the biggest and baddest of them, has something of a narrative harmony to it.
Indeed, the same can be said of Smaug and Glaurung - Bard is descended from Girion who was slain in Dale by Smaug, and the town itself was destroyed by the same dragon. Bard's killing of him is full of vengeance. Túrin had plenty of reasons to want revenge on Glaurung.
Not much is known of Scatha and Fram so I cannot draw any conclusions.

It is perhaps strange that the act of killing a dragon is seemingly reserved for people with human blood. Any thoughts on why?

01-24-2013, 04:50 AM	#1
Hookbill the Goomba Alive without breath Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: On A Cold Wind To Valhalla Posts: 5,912	Need a Dragon-Slayer? Just Ask the Edain! The elves have a lot of reasons to hate dragons in middle-earth; Glaurung spread horrific destruction, as did his brood, in the Dagor Bragollach, Nírnaeth Arnoediad, the sack of Nargothrond, and the War of Wrath. You'd think elves would have a vested interest in dragon-slaying. But of the dragon-slayers known in middle-earth, they are all human, or part human. Glaurung was slain by Túrin. A human man. He spent time with elves, though. (As a side note, in the Nírnaeth Arnoediad Glaurung was held back thanks to Azaghâl and his Dwarves, I seem to recall). Scatha was slain by Fram son of Frumgar. Though the Dwarves later killed him for the treasure and because he'd been a tad insulting to them. Smaug was slain by Bard of Laketown. With the assistance of a Thrush. The only claim to dragon-slaying the elves seem to have comes from Ancalagon the Black, slain by Eärendil, the HALF elven. There were other dragons in the War of Wrath, but none of their deaths are recorded and their slayers go unnamed, if they had any. Perhaps some were elves, perhaps not. Plenty of men were also in the battle, so maybe their expertise were called upon. So the elves don't really have a good record on dragon slaying while the humans have a pretty good one. I took a look through the letters and Tolkien does not say anything specifically about this. However, one does get a sense of his love of dragons, as he often says he has a love for tales "especially those with dragons!" There are also the old tales like Beowulf, Sigurd etc which may have had some impact on some of the specific incidents. Where Eärendil is concerned there may be an element of revenge to be considered, as Gondolin was destroyed thanks to (among other things) the dragons (and possibly Balrogs riding on dragons), to slay one in the final battle, and not just any dragon but the biggest and baddest of them, has something of a narrative harmony to it. Indeed, the same can be said of Smaug and Glaurung - Bard is descended from Girion who was slain in Dale by Smaug, and the town itself was destroyed by the same dragon. Bard's killing of him is full of vengeance. Túrin had plenty of reasons to want revenge on Glaurung. Not much is known of Scatha and Fram so I cannot draw any conclusions. It is perhaps strange that the act of killing a dragon is seemingly reserved for people with human blood. Any thoughts on why? __________________ I think that if you want facts, then The Downer Newspaper is probably the place to go. I know! I read it once. THE PHANTOM AND ALIEN: The Legend of the Golden Bus Ticket...