The Annoying Hobbit

[Aiwendil]

Ruotorin wrote:

Yes, there is a dragon, but I never could vision Smaug to be in the same league as Glaurung.

Interesting. To me, Smaug has always seemed to be one of the things that most emphatically connected The Hobbit with the rest of Tolkien's mythology. Smaug and Glaurung are different characters, yes. But I have always thought that, like Glaurung, Smaug epitomizes a peculiarly Draconian kind of evil - a mix of malice, cunning, arrogance, and playfulness. Smaug's riddling conversation with Bilbo has, I think, very much the same tone as the exchanges between Turin and Glaurung.