# Why does Smaug prefer "maidens"?



## Rivendell_librarian (Jun 21, 2019)

I've just started re-reading _The Hobbit_, and I noticed this in a section describing dragons:

_After that there were no dwarves left alive inside, and he took all their wealth for himself. Probably, for that is the dragons' way, he has piled it all up in a great heap far inside, and sleeps on it for a bed. Later he used to crawl out of the great gate and come by night to Dale, and carry away people, *especially maidens*, to eat, until Dale was ruined, and all the people dead or gone.
_
Is this misogyny from Tolkien and/or Smaug or a reference to the myth of St. George. Googling I found two interesting views on this:

1. 
_Ancient Symbology in Fantasy Literature: A Psychological Study_
By William Indick

According to Indick, dragons represent rapacious greed. Dragons steal and horde gold and maidens even though they have no practical use for them. In fact elsewhere in chapter 1, we are told Smaug did not appreciate the value of his treasure: "_they hardly know a good bit of work from a bad, though they usually have a good notion of the current market value_". Wilde's "price of everything and value of nothing" is suggested. Rather Smaug covets these things simply because men (and dwarves?) crave them?

2.
_Bilbo's Journey: Discovering the Hidden Meaning of the Hobbit_
By Joseph Pearce

Pearce says Smaug is not just hungry but wicked. They defile the undefiled. The struggle against the dragon is not just a struggle against a physical monster, but wickedness itself: something we can encounter in our daily lives. Bilbo chooses to engage in this conflict rather than hide away in his comfortable hobbit hole.


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## CirdanLinweilin (Jun 22, 2019)

Rivendell_librarian said:


> I've just started re-reading _The Hobbit_, and I noticed this in a section describing dragons:
> 
> _After that there were no dwarves left alive inside, and he took all their wealth for himself. Probably, for that is the dragons' way, he has piled it all up in a great heap far inside, and sleeps on it for a bed. Later he used to crawl out of the great gate and come by night to Dale, and carry away people, *especially maidens*, to eat, until Dale was ruined, and all the people dead or gone.
> _
> ...




I wouldn't accuse the man of misogyny, rather he was using an old dragon trope, or I'd say euphemism for deflowering maidens, in a way that would suit a Dragon, such as Smaug, therefore, Smaug devoured them.


CL


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## Deleted member 12094 (Jun 23, 2019)

My impression is that the two views quoted by Rivendell_librarian and the one of CirdanLinweilin are probably all three complimentary and in harmony. I think that the mentioning of "maidens" somewhat enforces the notion of something defenseless and pure that is being plundered and destroyed by Smaug's evil.

Maybe we should not seek a deep truth behind every word that JRRT wrote, though. I had noticed that word "maidens" as well but had never given it much thought before.


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## Ithilethiel (Jun 24, 2019)

...and not only dragons prefer maidens... sorry just couldn't resist


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## Miguel (Jun 24, 2019)

Vermithrax prefers virgins. This is a she-dragon btw.


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## Rivendell_librarian (Jun 24, 2019)

I wasn't thinking "deep truth". Rather I was wondering if it was just about smaug's stomach then wouldn't he prefer to eat men since men, on average, are heavier than women.


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## Deleted member 12094 (Jun 25, 2019)

Ithilethiel said:


> ...and not only dragons prefer maidens... sorry just couldn't resist



Euh... that's a different fire than the one from a dragon you're confusing with, Ithilethiel! 



Rivendell_librarian said:


> Rather I was wondering if it was just about smaug's stomach then wouldn't he prefer to eat men since men, on average, are heavier than women.



Good point Rivendell_librarian.
On the lighter side, who'd say "no" to a juicy, freshly hunted maiden, served on a plate of dwarven gold? Ask Smaug!


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## Olorgando (Aug 19, 2019)

Often outsized critters demanding maidens as sacrifice seems to go back at least to bronze age Greek legends – perhaps even to the Sumerian stuff that was copied by others (though that minotaur on Crete seems to have been a bit indifferent on the topic).
But then there is one aspect that doesn’t seem to have been “ventilated” here yet:
Who went on quests to rescue the occasional maiden?
Heroes. Male heroes. For about 5000 years this was the normal script. How to motivate them? Duh. 😄


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Aug 19, 2019)

Spoiler: Possible 'Mature' Content 









Virgin Sacrifice


Watch Saturday Night Live highlight 'Virgin Sacrifice' on NBC.com




www.nbc.com


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## user16578 (Aug 20, 2019)

Why... wouldn't you prefer maidens? ... 

I think the pure, innocent life of maidens fed Smaug the most satisfying...


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## Rivendell_librarian (Aug 20, 2019)

Hurin was a captive of Morgoth in Angband for many years but no maiden came to his rescue.


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## Olorgando (Aug 20, 2019)

Belthil said:


> Why... wouldn't you prefer maidens? ...
> 
> I think the pure, innocent life of maidens fed Smaug the most satisfying...


Ye-hes, but my wife and I met about 38 years ago, so as to rescuing maidens it has for me been reduced to a spectator sport (as in films, TV, DVDs) for a long time.
_(There are also some minor issues such as advanced age, seriously defective combat abilities compared to the usual hero, getting uncomfortably close to the Hobbit phenotype …)_
In terms of a delicacy (more of a high-end snack) that may have been true, but if Smaug had been really hungry, I'm guessing he'd prefer Bombur (a kind of double whopper or quarter-pounder, if you take my meaning  )



Rivendell_librarian said:


> Hurin was a captive of Morgoth in Angband for many years but no maiden came to his rescue.


That confirms the general trend of the past millennia ...

*BUT!!!* _(Oh dear, it has been two years since the publication of the book! 😞 )_
Just think of Beren and Lúthien!!! Just like LoTR was actually an _*anti*_-quest (*destroy*, not *regain* something …)
It was permanently Beren who had to be rescued or was passive!
Lúthien got out of that tree-house by her own resources, got Beren out of the First Age's Minas Tirith (by then renamed - and OK, here, she had some minor assistance by some overgrown pooch  ), sent Carcharoth beddy-bye when they entered Angband, did the same for Morgoth and all in his throne room (including Beren), managed to make Mandos (Námo) change his mind for the only time in the history of Arda …
Beren's having made it from Dorthonion to Doriath (and breaching the Girdle of Melian protecting the latter in the process) was quite a feat. But afterwards, next to Lúthien, he does appear relatively wimpy ...


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## Thouaweek (Aug 21, 2019)

Would the old lore be based on the fact that killing maidens would be the most effective way of controlling the population?


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## Olorgando (Aug 21, 2019)

Thouaweek said:


> Would the old lore be based on the fact that killing maidens would be the most effective way of controlling the population?


I doubt that was much of a reason. Besides uncontrollable stuff like plagues, natural disasters and famines, the “favorite” method was generally warfare.

Perhaps it has more to do with much of Bronze-age and older “theology” – Eve and that forbidden fruit in Paradise being the currently best-known example - that it’s their fault, anyway.

Then again, the men were needed as warriors (in later eras with more mechanized warfare the “favorite” term was cannon-fodder) and could not so easily be spared. And deriving from the fact that warfare was also rather common, men were constantly being killed off, leading to a surplus of widows, one of the perhaps major reasons for polygamous societies (there are others). But as any economist will tell you, surpluses can be used for other purposes …


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## Rivendell_librarian (Aug 22, 2019)

Beren and Luthien - a tale waiting for the PJ treatment!


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## Olorgando (Aug 22, 2019)

EEEEEK! Along the lines of Kili and Tauriel?!? 🤮


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