# Last of the Dragons?



## Mr. Istari (May 2, 2009)

I've been reading through the timeline of the Third Age in the appendix of my copy of LoTR (One-Volume Edition) and I noticed something that I found a little odd. I had always thought that Smaug was the last of the dragons, but what I read doesn't seem to support that thought. It tells us that:

_2570 - Baldor son of Brego enters the Forbidden Door and is lost. About this time dragons reappear in the far North and begin to afflict the Dwarves.
...
2770 - Smaug the Dragon descends on Erebor. Dale destroyed. Thr_ _ór escapes with Thr_ _áin II and Thorin II.
...
2941 - ... Bard of Esgaroth slays Smaug. ..._

I don't recall reading anything of the deaths of the dragons in 'the far North' after their mention in the timeline, yet I do remember thinking that Smaug was the last of the dragons. Is there something I missed or were my conclusions of Smaug just ill-informed? Possibly someone here with more knowlegde than I (that would be pretty much anyone ) could tell me what happened to those dragons in the north?


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## chrysophalax (May 2, 2009)

Dragons being the sly, secretive, highly intelligent creatures that they are, after hearing of Smaug's demise, surely made themselves scarce. That is to say, even more scarce than before! 

There are probably a few of the critters still stalking the Withered Heath to this day, I have no doubt!


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## Elthir (May 2, 2009)

In letter 144 JRRT responded: 
'Some stray answers. _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....'

So Smaug was not to be the last, in any case.​


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## Mr. Istari (May 3, 2009)

Ah! Answers we have! Thank you both for your input. It looks like I was a bit uninformed on the subject. I shall be on the lookout for lurking dragons from here on out. 

I'll have to pick up a copy of Tolkien's letters sometime soon. They seem to be a good source of information on all things Tolkien.


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## Bucky (May 16, 2009)

Besides that Letter, Gandalf tells Frodo in 'The Shadow of the Past' that "there is not any dragon left on earth in which the old fire is hot enough (to destroy the Ring of Power)."

Also, Gandalf makes the remark in Minas Tirith about "dragon fire in Eriador" if Kings Bard & Dain had not defeated Sauron's Northern Armies in Dale......

It's in 'Durin's Folk' in Appendix A I believe.


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