Hobbit2 - Chapter 14 - Fire and Water

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Originally Posted by jallanite

As to Smaug, Tolkien writes of the place where his body lay in the lake:

But few dared to cross the cursed spot, and none dared to dive into the shivering water of recover the precious stones that fell from his rotting carcass.

Personally that seems to me to be unlikely, possibly a flourish from Bilbo’s diary. Although fear of a zombi Smaug is interesting.

That bit reminds me of Eustace and the curse of the dragon hoard in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Traditionally treasure that has been held by dragons is thought to carry evil with it. There's a similar set of taboos on archeological digs, for example graves of ancient Egyptian Pharoahs. Someone is usually foolhardy and/or greedy enough to try anyway, but the results are said to be catastrophic for that person.