What is the Correct Pronunciation for Smaug’s Name?

Q: What is the Correct Pronunciation for Smaug’s Name?

ANSWER: I say “smOg” (or “smAWg”). I will always say “smOg”. Some people (who probably have more education in Old English than I) say it should rhyme with “loud” — sort of as in “smOWg”. Okay. Whatever.

Oddly enough, some (perhaps quite a few) people point to the guide on pronunciation in Appendix E of The Lord of the Rings as the source for their chosen pronunciation. The only problem with this source is that Tolkien was only providing guidance on the Sindarin and Quenyan words. Smaug is a modernized form of an Old English word. According to Tolkien in Letter No. 25, “The dragon bears as name – a pseudonym – the past tense of the primitive Germanic verb Smugan, to squeeze through a hole: a low philological jest.”

So the whole argument for “smOWg” seems to be rather weak.

On the other hand, some people pronounce the dragon’s name “smORg”. I have no idea of where that pronunciation comes from — perhaps New Zealand, where in times gone by and happier days you could occasionally hear the actors say “zEEnER” when trying to pronounce “Xena” from Xena: Warrior Princess.

One might look at other English words using “au” — such as “laudenum” (an old drug), “laundromat”, “laundry”, “launch”, “paunch” — but they all sound like “xxAWxx” to me.

If there is a recording of Tolkien pronouncing Smaug’s name I cannot find it. Of course, I don’t have much time to work on this question. I also thought about seeing if I could find a Christopher Tolkien recording where he pronounces the dragon’s name but I was equally frustrated in my search.

There are today still living people who knew J.R.R. Tolkien and who probably heard him pronounce the dragon’s name. I would trust their memories more than I would trust what people are writing on the Internet. And, of course, there is a coterie of Tolkien scholars who have conversed with Christopher Tolkien himself (and/or his siblings) — and perhaps they have heard the “correct” pronunciation of the dragon’s name.

So if Wayne Hammond, for example, were to say, “Yes, the dragon’s name is pronounced ‘smOWg'” then I would accept that.

But I would continue to pronounce the dragon’s name as “smOg” or “smAWg”. Why? Because I’m not going to change a life-time of mispronunciation in some misguided attempt to be perfect or correct. I’ve butchered just about every pronunciation Tolkien invented. I’m not going to hang myself now over one dead dragon’s name.

Your mileage may vary.

And I have no idea of how Peter Jackson’s crew are pronouncing the name. Presumably they have done some linguistic research. I just hope they didn’t rely on what is most easily found on the Internet, because all the easily found arguments are completely wrong in their reasoning.

See also:

• Was Smaug the Last Dragon in Middle-earth?
• Did Girion Survive Smaug’s Attack on Erebor and Dale?
• “The Pronunciation of Smaug” on Arrant Pedantry, by Jonathan Owen

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