Smaug drawn by Tolkien himself

Among the mythical creatures of Tolkien’s universe, Smaug, the dragon of the Grey Mountains, occupies a special place. Known for his greed and power, this fearsome dragon makes the heroes of The Hobbit tremble at his mere mention. Yet, despite his central role in this novel, Smaug’s exact appearance remains relatively vague. Simple descriptions in the text leave room for the reader’s imagination. But what few people know is that Tolkien, in addition to being a visionary writer, was a draftsman and painter in his spare time, and he himself attempted to give form to this imposing creature.

Smaug, a disturbing figure

Smaug is described in The Hobbit as a gigantic dragon with red scales and golden highlights, with bat-like wings and a huge tail. Its strength lies in its size, cunning, and ability to breathe fire. Yet in Tolkien’s words, the creature remains largely mysterious. On several occasions, the author speaks of its piercing eyes, sharp fangs, and menacing tail, but he never gives a full description of the dragon. The clues scattered throughout the story, such as the mention of his stomach which would be his weak point, notably because of a spot on the left of his chest which makes him “as naked as a snail out of its shell”, leave a part of mystery.

However, its precise size or simply the shape of its “face” or muzzle are not clearly described. Smaug’s actual size is thus never explicitly mentioned in The Hobbit, and the illustrations by Tolkien, Alan Lee, and John Howe vary considerably in size within each portrait. The Atlas of Middle-earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad, Smaug is estimated to be about 18 meters in length, but this element is not considered canonical. Additionally, it is known that The fall of Smaug’s lifeless body almost completely destroys Lake-town. while falling.

These elements, together with Tolkien’s description of the dragon population as having elongated bodies, suggest that Smaug, in the book, could be much larger than estimated non-canonical by Karen Wynn Fonstad.

One of the few other descriptions available from Tolkien states that Only the tip of Smaug’s snout can fit into the five-foot-high secret passage.wide enough for three people to walk side by side, where Bilbo takes shelter. However, thanks to some sketches made by Tolkien himself, we now have a direct glimpse of the author’s vision of Smaug. These drawings, which are not as well known as his writings, show us a much more graceful and elegant dragon than the crude and imposing version presented in the film adaptations de Peter Jackson.

The first sketches of Smaug

In reality, There are at least four depictions of Smaug by Tolkien and the drawing of a dragon whose name is not given. The first sketches of Smaug, which Tolkien made while writing The Hobbit, reveal a long dragon which, to be honest, looks like a crocodile whose body would be extended by a long tail evoking that of a snake. This form is more or less the same in each of his representations of dragons.

Tolkien’s best-known illustration of Smaug shows him lying on his hoard, a huge pile of gold coins and jewels. His head is thin, with piercing eyes and a mischievous expression that seems to capture the very essence of Smaug: cunning incarnate. The creature is elegant, and its wings are thin and relatively small compared to its body. almost reminiscent of those of a bat.

Unlike Peter Jackson’s film version where Smaug is depicted as a massive and intimidating creatureTolkien’s sketches give it a more delicate and subtle look, closer to a giant serpent than the heavy, massive dragon one might expect. To its right, we can make out Bilbo and, next to him, the dragon no longer seem so disproportionately large.

However, The author himself indicates that this drawing cannot fully reflect the appearance of Smaug. and therefore completed it with indications and two other representations which finally allow us to get a more precise idea of ​​the monster.

Smaug par Tolkien

This drawing of Bilbo next to Smaug, who is sleeping on his treasure, is the best known. It has even served as a cover for many editions. However, the size scale between Smaug and Bilbo is puzzling, and Tolkien himself admits that he was not able to transcribe his original idea. On this subject, Tolkien later gave some indications in The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien: “The hobbit in the picture of the treasure of gold, chapter XII, is of course (apart from being big in the wrong places) much too big. But (as my children, at any rate, understand) he is really in a separate picture or ‘plane’ – being invisible to the dragon.” The true size and appearance of Smaug are therefore to be found in two other drawings by Tolkien.

The first one (you can see just below) presents a Smaug so large that his entire body can span a river, his head lying on a bank while the end of his tail has not even completely emerged from the cavern from which he has just emerged. He does not appear to have wings and his “face” here is much more disturbing and monstrous than in all other representations.

The second one (you can see just below) depicts Smaug mortally wounded by the character of Bard (which we talked about in more detail here). The dragon here is gigantic and is almost the size of Laketown, which although being below him is therefore normally smaller. Smaug, for Tolkien, is therefore a creature far more monstrous and gigantic than any representations we have seen so far of him, whether in Jackson’s films or the various previous adaptations. So, if you thought you knew Smaug, these drawings might just change your mind. They offer us a unique insight into the mind of one of fantasy’s greatest authors. of our time.

And if you liked this article, don’t hesitate to discover The Lord of the Rings: this drawing of Sauron by Tolkien himself will amaze you or our files on the villains of Middle Earth The Goblin King part 1 and 2, Azog, Bolg, Sauron, The Balrog, Gollum, the oliphants, Shelob, The Uruk-hai, Smaug, R, The Mouth of Sauron, The Easterners, Grima Serpent-tongue, or The Witch-king of Angmar.