Q: Was Smaug the Last Dragon in Middle-earth?
ANSWER: Many readers ask if Smaug was the last dragon in Middle-earth. After all, after Sauron was defeated and the Balrog of Moria was slain there don’t seem to have been any more great evils left in Middle-earth. But readers sometimes overlook the fact that Shelob was only wounded by Sam; and although Thranduil and Celeborn cleansed Mirkwood the reader is left to wonder if any other giant spiders remained in Middle-earth.
So it is fair to say that Tolkien had not entirely wiped out all the monsters of Middle-earth. Some probably remained, including trolls, and giant spiders, and dragons. But concerning dragons we have a more explicit answer, as Naomi Mitcheson asked J.R.R. Tolkien what happened to the dragons. In Letter No. 144 he wrote back to her:
…Dragons. They had not stopped; since they were active in far later times, close to our own. Have I said anything to suggest the final ending of dragons? If so it should be altered. The only passage I can think of is Vol. I p. 70 : ‘there is not now any dragon left on earth in which the old fire is hot enough’. But that implies, I think, that there are still dragons, if not of full primeval stature….
The reference Tolkien made to the activity of dragons “in far later times, closer to our own” draws one’s attention to the dragons one reads about in Greek and Northern European mythology, and perhaps also to Tolkien’s own Chrysophylax Dives, the dragon in his Farmer Giles of Ham, which is a story set in medieval England.
So, Smaug was NOT the last dragon in Middle-earth. However, he was probably (in Tolkien’s mind) the last GREAT dragon in Middle-earth. But the reader is left to infer something other than that if one so desires.
See also:
- Did Girion Survive Smaug’s Attack on Erebor and Dale?
- What Is the Correct Pronunciation for Smaug’s Name?
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