Smaug the Golden (His Place in the Lore & True Role) - Epic Character History

[@DamonNomad82]

As one who has been a Tolkien enthusiast since first having "The Hobbit" read to me at age 6 in the late 1980s, I'll admit it never occurred to me that Smaug wasn't simply the greatest of the dragons who were bred at the great dragon breeding ground at the Withered Heath at the eastern end of the Grey Mountains during the Third Age. I never even considered the possibility that Smaug might have been a First Age survivor like Durin's Bane. While the idea that he might have been much older is intriguing, there is at least one passage in "The Hobbit" that strongly implies that Smaug was "only" a few centuries old. During Smaug's boast to Bilbo during their conversation, the dragon describes himself at the time he took the Lonely Mountain and Dale as "then I was but young and tender", immediately followed by boasting that as of that present time "Now I am old and strong, strong, strong!" Smaug had seized the Mountain in the year 2770 of the Third Age and was speaking to Bilbo in 2941, "only" 171 years later, still within the lifetimes of Thorin and Balin in the company of the dwarves. If Smaug had been one of Morgoth's original dragons bred in the First Age, that 171 years would have been a mere blink to him, and he would hardly have made the contrast about growing from "young" to "old". Therefore, it is doubtful that Smaug was more than a couple of hundred years old at the time he stole his treasure.

[@istari0]

That passage also came to my mind and I agree that Smaug was born in the latter half of the 3rd Age as well.

[@melkhiordarkfell4354]

Yeah this lines up with the Silmarillion too, Glaurung's first appearance when he was still soft in the scales and then it was around 200 years later he was "come into his full armoury". Considering Morgoth had only decided to start the dragon experiment about 100 years before Glaurungs first appearance, it's safe to say Smaug is a very late Third Age dragon.

[@ghostdreamer7272]

I just wonder where all these other Smaug-sized/powerful dragons were, and why Smaug seems to have been the only one who bothered anyone beyond the Grey Mountains

[@TheSaneHatter]

I, on the other hand, have long assumed that when Smaug talks about "slaying the warriors of old, whose like is not in the world today," that he meant his activities in the First Age, very likely in the War of Wrath.

[@timonsolus]

@@ghostdreamer7272: Good point. Maybe the Valar were more active in the far north of Middle Earth and suppressed the dragons? Perhaps the Eagles of Manwe fought with them in unknown battles?

[@CoolDude-uj8ob]

I just finished reading "The Hobbit" (better late than never), so great timing on this upload. This is my favorite LOTR channel, awesome stuff!

[@TheCrazyCanuck420]

I finally read Tolkien's works last year. I'm kinda glad my first attempt to read The Hobbit in grade 6 failed so that I could read it, LoTR, the Silmarillion, etc... later in life to really appreciate the works. The Silmarillion and the Children of Hurin are my favorites, so if you keep reading Tolkien, you are in for a treat.

[@CoolDude-uj8ob]

@TheCrazyCanuck420 yup. I discovered it (although I had obviously heard of it before) like a lot of people through the movies and liked them a ton but it wasn't until I got a little older that I really started to appreciate Tolkien's genius. Thanks for the recommendations. As soon as I'm finished with the LOTR trilogy, those are next!

[@TheTrueBobDole]

Never to late to enjoy Tolkien! I'm happy you finally did 👏😄. I've just recently started rereading the books, after 20 years. I hope you read and enjoy all the other 📚

[@TheCrazyCanuck420]

@CoolDude-uj8ob I think it would be OK to read those two after completing LoTR, but I would check out the recommended reading order lists to see what order to read them in. You can skip the Adventures of Tom Bombadil since it's a collection of poems that might not be your cup of tea. Since some of the stories are retold differently in Tolkien's earlier works, be prepared for that. In fact, that's the reason why I skipped the histories of middle earth series for now since the first two books change things up for the 3rd or 4th time. I'll read the histories of middle earth eventually but probably in a different order. I recently purchased the audible versions of a lot of the Tolkien books and plan to do a re-read of a lot of them after I polish off Malazan, and apparently some of them are highly regarded, especially the Children of Hurin read by Chrisopher Lee (Sauromon)

[@spyrofrost9158]

Smaug either dies a villain, or lives long enough for Saruman to call him a "lesser son of greater sires".

[@otaku-sempai2197]

Smaug doesn't seem to be more than a few hundred years old since he was, according to 'The Hobbit' notably smaller when he took control of Erebor than he was when Bilbo met him. Smaug even comments that he was still young when he drove the dwarves out of the Mountain, 171 years before the Quest of Erebor. The dragons were probably bred from some other base creature, perhaps infused with elemental fire spirits. They do seem to be able to breed.

[@kaidorade1317]

Such a beautiful dragon

[@timonsolus]

I prefer the ‘golden’ version of Smaug in the Hobbit (with golden scales) than the fearsome but much uglier green version of Smaug in the Hobbit movies.

[@thebatmary5954]

I always got the impression that Smaug was not very old based on this quote: “Then [when Erebor was taken] I was but young and tender. Now I am old and strong, strong, strong,” which he says to Bilbo when they have their conversation. He’s talking of a time when he was “young,” but it was only about 171 years (?) before. If he were thousands of years old, that’s a pretty negligible amount of time to consider himself now old. Edit: fixed typo

[@DJ-dy2cc]

That’s a good note!!!

[@Comicnut64]

Awesome vid yoystan dragon history let’s go

[@bigotis9042]

I love all of Tolkien's writings but the Hobbit holds a special place in my heart

[@paulyv1805]

I remember checking out The Hobbit from the public library when I was a little kid. I have multiple copies of the book. I love Tolkien’s writing. Smaug from the old animated Hobbit movie is the best.

[@TheTrueBobDole]

I grew up watching that movie! Only what an hour long? And more true to the actual story than jacksons 3 movies. I still don't know what the hell sandworms and WOW dwarves were doing in that movie 😵‍💫

[@DamonNomad82]

I had a similar experience. In my case, though, my introduction to the book and to the animated Rankin/Bass movie sort of happened at the same time, as my local library's copy of the book was a special edition richly illustrated with stills from the animated movie. One of my treasures is another copy of that special edition, purchased for me as a gift from a former girlfriend and fellow Tolkien enthusiast.

[@sageofcaledor8188]

Great video! Smaug is one of my favorite characters. Yes cause he is a dragon. From my limited understanding of English lore, there are stories of dragons that were not evil, they were just top predators that attacked humans. The ancestors of the dragons might have been like that. Hence why they could breed. I believe Smaug was a hatchling of a couple who survived the thrid age, he mentioned he was young when he attacked ERabor, likely to avenge the deaths of his kin against the dwarves. I know Evil can not create and only corrupt, but what if dragons are a sort of fire spirit like balrogs? Fire spirit merged with some draconic creature? Anyway, that is my thoughts. Again, great video!

[@orrointhewise87]

"I am king under the mountain" Sounds like am origin story is needed on this classic dragon. Seeing him as a hatchling would b hilariously cute. But if the story had changed and Smaug had killed and eaten Bilbo.......with the Ring? There's a theory worth exploring....

[@EgoEroTergum]

Dracowraith.

[@DraconimLt]

google ''smaug hatchling i am fire'' or something similar, a few artists have already thought of that...

[@radagast7200]

Do you think the people around the area ate Smaug after he died? Its normally a meal reserved for kings, according to Charlie Kelly, so they would have been quite lucky.

[@jerrickothomas8345]

Probably couldn't since he sank to the bottom of the lake and it was said no one wanted to go near him even for all the treasure on him

[@CryptidRenfri]

The people of Laketown actually never went near his remains, not even to retrieve the mass of valuable gold and jewels left there amongst his bones. They feared him that much, even in death.

[@chickenmonger123]

Dragon corpses and their treasure often contain curses. I wouldn’t touch a body of a Dragon as a regular dude.

[@radagast7200]

@@CryptidRenfri sounds like a rumor some guy started so he could keep all the gold and delicious dragon meat to himself.

[@joespeigle1240]

I think dragons smelled so putrid, that even their meat was tainted and toxic

[@shannonjulie2278]

Thanks for this video! I’ve had quite a bit of interest in Smaug and his story and have asked myself the questions in this video. It would be interesting to know the answers for sure! Thanks for exploring it. 😊 I’m definitely interested in the video about possible links between Smaug and Sauron too. 😊

[@CryptidRenfri]

I cant remember the name of the channel, but one similar in quality of research (that is to say, excellent) to yours had a video discussing the likely age of Smaug. They came to the conclusion that he was probably quite young as dragons go, no more than 200 or 300 something years old, if i remember correctly. What little there is in the lore that gives us clues to Smaug's age seem to support this.

[@Jakblade]

Amazing video as always!!!! Much love 🤘😌🤘

[@cmosser144]

The Elven greeting is back!!!

[@WhispyWoods.]

Another good video 👍

[@Airehcaz]

Great job, as always. Thank you for the video friend!

[@kennkoala]

Listening to this I just realised, from the movie, that residential toilets let directly into the Lake, one which they fished from, and presumably got their drinking water from unless the lake was salty. Recurrent outbreaks of cholera would be a thing. There would have to be a major current under the surface to keep waste from piling up, and it would have to be nearby for a source of drinking water.

[@CorpusCrispy]

Wasn’t one of gandalfs chiefs concerns about Smaug was the potential for him to partner with Sauron?

[@IanHeins]

Nice work dude thanks

[@timw483]

I don't know about his origins but I agree that from the writing, Smaug is most likely a younger dragon. As far as an alliance with Mordor, I think that Sauron just hadn't gotten around to it yet.

[@shadowofchaos8932]

The most popular Dragon in all of Fantasy!

[@TheTrueBobDole]

I went to a trivia contest once. One of the categories was fantasy dragons. I was angry that Smaug, or any if the GOT dragons, wasn't an answer to any question.

[@rowsdower84]

I've always thought of a crazy "what if?" in that if Smaug had not been slain at the end of The Hobbit (maybe driven away from Erebor somehow?) and in a crazy twist Smaug would later side with the heroes of Middle Earth against Sauron during the War of The Ring but only because Smaug would understand that if Sauron reclaimed The One Ring, Sauron would use The One Ring to subjugate and control him.

[@DraconimLt]

My take: Morgoth 'created' the dragons from some lizard-like creature that already existed, powered them up with magic and infused spirits making them far stronger. Then used the template of something like the fell beasts to make the winged dragons. Cos Smaug, Glaurung etc definately made their own decisions and they'd need to be truly sapient for that - Glaurung actually went against Morgoth's plans/orders a couple of times, if he was part of Morgoth's essence he wouldn't have been able to surely?

[@marcusblackwell2372]

I have a theory: What if Smaug guarded the treasure hoard because Morgoth (or Sauron) knew of the immense grred that Dwarves and (especially) humans have for riches? My thought is that his cave was so close to Lake Town that the citizens would either be forced to turn to worshipped the Dark Lords in order to survive, or die resisting

[@gstvntt]

If I remember correctly sauron didn't anticipate the Dwarven rings of power having no control over those they were given to. However the one side effect noticed was the insatiable greed that was breeding inside them. Hence, I don't think the greed was taken into account from the conception of their plans.

[@crazykids2004]

He is said to be the last great fire drake so it could mean one as big and strong as he was maybe he did have kids who knows what Tolkien may have thought on this topic

[@Jayjay-qe6um]

Tolkien noted his lack of enthusiasm for the dragon in Beowulf. Instead stated his preference for the dragon-like creature Fafnir from the late Norse versions of the Sigurd-story. Indeed Tolkien wrote that Smaug's character owed much to Fafner.

[@Jay-ql4gp]

Thank you!

[@istari0]

My own personal theory on the creation of dragons (and I want to emphasize that this is my theory and I do not claim there is any textual support for it) is that Morgoth created Dragons by having a Maia, perhaps even Sauron, shapeshift into a suitable form and then crossbreed with some dinosaur-like or reptilian creature. This would give them free will and the ability to reproduce.

[@theemissary1313]

It could be assumed that Smaug was drawn to Erebor by some artifice of Sauron, to diminish the Dwarves as a fighting force, similar to how Gondor was riven, and Arnor fell to the Witch King.

[@istari0]

The lore says that the great treasure hoards the Dwarves accumulated after receiving their Rings of Power attracted the attention of Dragons. I suspect that most likely the Dragons simply heard of the great wealth of the Dwarves through conventional means.

[@TheTrueBobDole]

There is no connection between smaug and sauron. Peter jackson wanted to make it seem like there was.

[@TheSaneHatter]

My impression is that the Ring of Power that the Dwarves wielded brought them short-term wealth, but then long-term misfortune, and that Smaug was the latest example of that happening: prosperity in Moria followed by Durin's Bane, wealth in the Grey Mountains followed by dragons, and then paradise at Erebor followed by Smaug. After Sauron took the last Ring back from Thrain, I observe, the Dwarves got revenge for the first time, and then their luck began to stabilize.

[@theemissary1313]

@@istari0 Yup, I remember reading dragons can smell gold, so the more of it is lying around, the more it attracts the dragons. BUT... if King Thror indeed had one of the seven rings of power gifted by Sauron, that would make the bearer wealthy, then it starts sounding like a monkey paw "careful what you wish for" curse.

[@oscarstainton]

I wonder how many people who red The Hobbit for the first time had any idea that he could talk, whether its from seeing other talking dragons in other stories or a lucky guess just from reading the book.

[@TheTrueBobDole]

I seem to recall that one of the abilities the ring gives the bearer is the ability to understand creatures speaking the black speech 🤔. I always assumed that's how bilbo understood the spiders and Smaug. I could be wrong, I've just recently started rereading the 📚.

[@timonsolus]

@@TheTrueBobDole: Bilbo could not understand the spider speech without the Ring on. However, in the Silmarillion, Glaurung spoke to Tuor and Nienor, who understood him just fine without wearing rings of power. So maybe Bilbo could have understood Smaug without wearing the Ring.

[@marionbaggins]

Man, It’s Interesting Why Smaug is for a timeline point in Arda's History...I just reread the Hobbit and it's quite interesting to see all what Tolkien did for his Lore!!! Thanks, Mellon for another Great Video Until, What If...The Dwarves Sold out Bilbo... *Hey, I going to reread that part soon...The What Really Happened and Talked About* Marion Baggins Out!!!

[@TheTrueBobDole]

People always look at me funny when i tell them smaugs belly is bejeweled and thats why he's so hard to kill. Then when i tell them Bard learns about his weak spot from a talking thrush, then uses an ancient magic arrow to slay Smaug, they think I'm making it up. 😭 READ THE BOOK PEOPLE!!!

[@jggimi]

But for a chance meeting in Bree....

[@LLaw7158]

I've always assumed that Sauron didn't need to have Smaug for the war, similar to the Belrog, Smaug was indirectly assisting Sauron. Just by being in the lonely mountain and keeping dwarfs away, one less powerful enemy to deal with. Imagine if the dwarfs didn't succeed, during the Battle for middle-earth the easterlings would have been able to send much more support to Mordor for the invasion of Gondor, that could have changed the outcome of the war.

[@claytonbarnett7084]

IIRC, Morgoth grew weaker over time as he deliberately allowed his essence to permeate the world, to corrupt creation. And, a large part of that was focused in precious metals, hence dragons and gold and the balrog and mithril. Could be remembering that wrong, though.

[@stephensmith3111]

'Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup.' Or words to that effect.

[@jacobshore5115]

I never knew that’s what Smaug’s name meant! Squeezed through a hole…

[@wagon9082]

Good video

[@jdw0426]

Perhaps dragons grow with gold and other precious metals. Maybe that's why Sauron hoarded Mythriel to feed a dragon somewhere

[@AdventuringJD]

Bilbo exemplified the fact that it takes great courage to stand up to great evil... but it takes courage too, to stand up to those you know and hold them accountable.

[@jamesbodnarchuk3322]

Smaug was his own reptile he had no use for Sauron

[@BigBWolf90]

I think Morgoth gave dragons some element of free will given how Glaurung enacted a plan of his own making during the Children of Húrin (the curse being Morgoth's will but the actions being up to the individual players). I think Smaug is part of that where he's got his own desire for gold but took it as a personal challenge given he says he achieved his sacking of Erebor when he *"was young and tende."* Mayhaps he wanted to do it to remind people that dragons were still a threat

[@Steel-101]

It still terrifies me that Smaug is one of the “small” dragons. Yeesh I love reading about Middle Earth but I don’t want to live there lol 😂

[@maximus3160]

Small? Where did you get that from?

[@Steel-101]

@@maximus3160 the Middle Earth lore. There were dragons in the first age much bigger than him

[@jamesbodnarchuk3322]

Plus he could talk

[@animistchannel]

Good covering of the bases! Since The Hobbit predates and is a little outside of Tolkien's attempts to unify his cosmology, I think we have to look at this material as being "what Bilbo would have written or told as stories for young hobbits," and not as some encyclopedic definitive lore. That whole "thunderstorm as giants playing rockball" bit is pretty much proof of it. You can't take it as some puritannical fundamentalist literalism, or you will either go mad from inconsistencies or start spouting weird BS the same way most old tales will lead people who try to do that. The best you can hope for is "a point of view on a point of view" if you want to keep your wits about you.

[@Steven-op5zv]

In the LOTR book Appendices, Tolkien put a mostly-monologue conversation between Gandalf and Fellowship members about why Gandalf wanted Thorin to perform the quest of Erebor and why Gandalf felt so urgently about it when he met Thorin that evening in Bree. Did Jackson, Walsh & Boyens make that meeting more intentionally sought by Gandalf in the Hobbit movies?

[@jimikrentkowski4073]

I see Bilbo using his ring during his discussion w/ Smaug- being protected in a sense. Smaug was trying to put a spell on Bilbo, asking questions and conversing with the Hobbit. Do Smaug perceive power from the ring? Was he uneasy when talking with Bilbo🤔

[@DaDude2011]

HAH! I’m actually watching through the Hobbit trilogy now! Haven’t seen these extended scenes yet so loving it! My goodness how wrong Amazon has gotten it.

[@matouskulhanek3320]

Yeah, I get you even though the Hobbit movies dont come close to the greatness of the masterpieces of the LOTR trilogy, they are still great compared to recent hollywood productions and like heaven compared to the rings of power

[@TheSaneHatter]

My biggest question about Smaug has long been, why did he LEAVE to the North at all, and his kin with it? Especially so if he were the greatest of his kind at that time, and surely an asset among them? Could he have been somehow denied a share of the spoils in the war against the Dwarves, and resented it? Was he unconsciously called to Erebor by some great power, such as the influence of the last Dwarven ring? (I talk about this in one of the other threads below.) Or, as I've strangely suspected for a long time, was he DRIVEN OUT of the North by the other Dragons for some reason? Was he such a despicable being that his own "people" couldn't stand him? I find it easy to believe in some way . . . . Anyway, I favor the First Age origin (as also mentioned elsewhere), and LotR's appendices state that the threat of Smaug joining Sauron was considered very real by Gandalf: that was why he helped the Dwarves dislodge him in the first place.

[@pinkace]

I think Smaug 'smelled' the great treasure hoard under the mountain. Dragons love treasure right? Maybe like other animals they instinctively seek out nesting grounds.

[@edwardmcintosh7952]

since we're touching on the hobbit i had some questions: 1) what if thorin took the ring; 2) what if smaug took the ring?

[@neildaly2635]

Smaug was a rolling stone, my son. Wherever he hung his scales was his home.

[@Jakblade]

Much like pippin pondering Gandalfs age in rotk, Ive never actually thought to ask myself “how old IS Smaug?” lol 🤔 I wonder what menacing nonsense he might have been up to in previous ages?? 🤯 🤷‍♂️

[@logansfury]

Who painted the image of Smaug at 1:32 in the video? I put it into google image search but it found a million different dragons, and the artist list is far to long to single out the individual painter.

[@cm275]

I suspect Morgoth used some existing creature to create the dragons. Smaug is obviously intelligent and self aware, he possesses a very human like ego. If he was just a mindless beast powered by Morgoth’s rage he’d act more like a dragon from Game of Thrones or the archetypical fantasy dragon that’s simply a big animal.

[@jankythug]

why do you think the thrush could communicate with bard?

[@Svinfylka]

The description Smaug gives of himself being young when he took Erebor makes me think he’s a relatively young dragon of the 3rd Age. However he is the greatest of those that still breathe fire. I guess being most commonly the enemy of dwarves and their hoards it would seem appropriate that the dragons would reproduce slowly like their enemy, otherwise they would have overrun the dwarves. It would seem unlikely that they would require being created by Melchor based on this later birth though.

[@maximus3160]

Melkor

[@jackolantern147]

I wonder what would've happened if Sauron himself had come to the Black Gate when challenged like Morgoth before him. Could the captains of the west have held out against the Dark Lords presence? Would they even try to fight him? And if they did, could they hold out long enough for Frodo to suceed?

[@charlespayne2002]

Maybe drakes and Morgoths dragons are different species all together. Perhaps drakes were corrupted into dragons. Which would explain why Sauron would keep his distance from Smaug. While not an ally of the free people's. You still wouldn't want him running amok while you're trying to run a campaign.

[@Byenie0912]

I was really hoping Smaug was reproducing eggs while he was in the mountain Or like he was sent as a scout from the other dragons if it is safe to venture south for the frozen wastelands of the north

[@josephlamonica4167]

When I was little I always thought his name was pronounced as Smog. Thought it was a cool dragon name. Then the way they said it in the movie threw me lol.

[@FrankBarnwell-xi8my]

My personal disappointment of, The Hobbit, movies. Bilbo meeting Smaug. I'm no director, but had that scene imagined for a long time. That was far from even .. acceptable

[@Adam-ot9lr]

After watching Delicious in Dungeon... yeah I'd cook this boy stem to stern.

[@michaelroy7754]

What might happen smaug claimed the one ring from bilbo?

[@charlespayne2002]

I would think the rotting carcass of a dragon would poison the lake and river for centuries.

[@esjope]

What do you mean by "one of the best known dragons in all of fiction"? Smaug is among the few known dragons that actually existed. There are plenty of fictional dragons but Smaug was a real deal. I have personally seen the aftermath of Smaugs attack and his body falling on the buildings.

[@upschutt4842]

Why do dragons love gold that much?

[@radagast7200]

They eat it. Most people think they eat people, but that's a misconception. And no... I've never tried it myself. It's more a meal for kings than the common man.

[@CryptidRenfri]

​@@radagast7200I've never heard that in reference to Tolkeins dragons

[@CryptidRenfri]

Smaug is quite literally described as having eaten many, many dwarves. Probably as many people and horses too over the years.

[@radagast7200]

@@CryptidRenfri just wait until I get into the fine points of bird law.

[@christianogden2825]

Tolkien’s original plan was actually to have bilbo kill smaug

[@vesawuoristo4162]

I don't think dragons even in Lord of Rings are inherently evil exactly.

[@dlevi67]

Read "The Children of Húrin" (or its summarised version in The Silmarillion), and then tell me...

[@travisgould5423]

By watching lord of the rings and the hobbit. Sauron was just using Smaug as a distraction to keep middle earth off of his tracks. Another is all Sauron wanted was his ring, so the dragon was primary bait and took advantage of Gandalf's obsession of defeating him by having a hobbit who was the only one who could find it. So Smaug was just a means to an end, so by his death served his purpose and the orcs would retrieve the ring from Bilbo without Gandalf suspecting until the lord of the rings came into the lore.

[@jeremy2958]

Tolkien dragons > Martin dragons

[@stegura83]

Smaug was able to effortlessly destroy a Dwarven Kingdom and a city of men within a few minutes but in "Desolation of Smaug" he was outwitted, outmatched, and defeated by 9 Dwarves and 1 Hobbit! 😅

[@vesawuoristo4162]

He was defeated by one very lucky or skilled shot by a desperate human, not by dwarves or hobbits.

[@tmbarton1961]

He was killed by a human called Bard with one of his fathers black arrows. Dragons had a tendency to feel immune from attacks by humans, dwarves, etc. Their scales were impenetrable. Smaug was killed because one of his scales on his belly was missing, thus exposing his softer underbelly. I think the scale was hit and dislodged by Bard's father with a black arrow when Smaug first attacked Erebor and the town of Dale.

[@lordnamelessofsomnium5824]

According to the movie. In the book the black arrow is the last arrow bard has and he has always been able to reclaim after he has shot it. Smaug's flaw in the book is that he has gold and jewels covering every part of his soft underbelly except for one spot. Bilbo relays this to a thresh I believe and the thresh tells Bard. A certain group of men from dale were able to communicate with the thresh from that area.

[@yodaslovetoy]

"Smaug the git, is more like it" - some dwarf

[@Ryan-vl2nn]

Smaug’s essentially a product of Morgoth’s Ring. As the dragons were originally created by Morgoth using a part of his essence to create them.

[@DavidOfWhitehills]

Morgoth had a ring? Are you not thinking of Sauron?

[@Ryan-vl2nn]

@@DavidOfWhitehills No. Morgoth’s Ring. It’s not an actual physical ring like Sauron’s. Where Sauron placed a part of his soul or essence/power within his ring. Morgoth instead split up his essence/power up over time to create destructive entities like the dragons. Which is how Morgoth goes from being the most powerful of the Valar in the earliest days of Arda. Only for him to eventually become weaker and weaker the more he spread/embedded his essence/power into Arda itself. Which is how he became increasingly weaker by the end of the First Age. Basically his ‘ring’ is just simply a metaphor for his eternal mark on Arda. It (Morgoth’s Ring) is also the name of one of Christopher Tolkien’s books on the subject of the first Dark Lord.

[@DavidOfWhitehills]

@@Ryan-vl2nn Cool. Thanks.