Tolkien's best Dragon
 

Which do you think is Tolkien's best Dragon:
Ancalagon the Black, Glaurung, Scatha, Smaug, or Chrysophylax (Farmer Giles of Ham)?

[ May 14, 2002: Message edited by: littlemanpoet ]

[ May 14, 2002: Message edited by: littlemanpoet ]

Well, I don't know Chrysophylax, but from the others i'd say Smaug. Maybe i'm biased cos he's the first one i knew, but he has more character than the others, and he was intelligent too, he understood Bilbo's riddling. (ok, so there was the hole in his armour, but otherwise he was smart!) Plus he's more traditionally dragonish than the others, hoardes of gold etc etc. (Dragons are a favourite of mine, no matter what i'm reading. If only they were real...) [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Glaurung, definitely. I haven't read Farmer Giles, and I barely consider Smaug a 'canon' character, due to the nature of The Hobbit. Glaurung's malice was just chilling.

I think that for me, the best is Smaug.

Of those you listed Chrysophylax because he's so funny.

But in Middle earth I'd have to say that Glaurung had the most personality.
Are you insane? [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Everybody who hasn't read Farmer Giles of Ham needs to do so ASAP. It's a laugh riot. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

I'd have to say Scatha the Worm. He must have been pretty important since all of the northerners, and Grey Mountain dwarves wanted a piece of him.

I would say that Glaurung, the actual first dragon of Midlle Earth, he dominated the mind of Túrin Turambar, one of the greatest dark heroes of The Silmarillion, he could have been father to a line of Half elves, just as Tuor, Glaurung is great because he shows a sign of nobility that few dragons have, he´s the king, just that.

Scatha's a nobody. We've got about one paragraph of information on him and that's it. That's not indicative of a 'great' dragon. Dwarves wanted his hoard? Big deal, Dwarves want everyone's hoard.

I'd have to say it's a draw between Smaug and Chrysophylax. They are really the only 2 dragons that have depth to their personality. All the other dragons are usually just described as cunning and evil. Smaug for example enjoyed riddles, town-baiting, and eating maidens. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] Chrysophylax was a He and Smaug were the only 2 (that I know of) that have a real personality.


*Oops, heh. I forgot about Glaurung. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

[ March 13, 2002: Message edited by: Gorin Icearms ]

Glaurung the Golden father of all dragons. The question is who is the mother?

Ancalagon is only mentioned in the War of Wrath, so the amount of lines concerning each dragon does not necessarily denote how great they are. The lines from War of Wrath read as thus:

Now that is a pretty big dragon that can crush the peaks of Thangorodrim. Plus it does say he was the mightiest of the dragon-host, and in the mightiest of the winged-dragons.

yes i am, very much so [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] I'd LOVE a pet dragon, just a little one of my own that'll grow up to love me... and scare the neighbours... and ensure that i never get mugged ever again. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Chrysophylax is a riot but I still like Smaug the best. He scared me and that's not easy to do. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] He was just so...creepy yet so cool!

Did you read the little bit on Scatha, Durelan? Apparently he had a hoard.

Ancalagon appeared in a battle as the mightiest of the dragon-host. Big difference.

true, little is mentioned, but I'd bet that the tales of Smeagols people, and the Rohirrim and Northmen told a mighty tale. Plus, all the other dragons were talked about too much.

Maybe because they were actually important...but Scatha I imagined looking like the Craw wurm from Magic:The Gathering.

Well, I guess those non-existant tales do make Scatha Tolkien's 'best' Dragon. What do you think littlemanpoet meant by 'best'? Surely it wasn't "which one could have been the coolest if someone had told really cool stories about him." You just thought it would be neat to mention a Dragon that most people appropriately pay little attention to. It's like declaring that Garulf was the Rohirrim's best horseman.

[img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] LOL! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Hmm...doesn't sound like a half bad idea now that you mention it.

Obloquy, I agree that Scatha isn't the biggest baddest shut yo mouth in Middle-Earth, I am just saying there could have been another dragon not even mentioned, that was stronger than one like Smaug.

I did not Mention Ancalagon first, twas LittleManPoet and if you were referring to Scatha, well, I did not mention him at all. http://www.plauder-smilies.de/splat.gif [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

What a riot. Glad I asked this one. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Thanks, Keeper of Dol Guldur, for adding Scatha to the list. I'd forgotten about him.

By "best" I meant whatever number of traits you think makes the best dragon.

Chrysophylax gets my vote. Gorin Icearms' quote summarizes why. And if you don't know Chrysophylax, read Farmer Giles of Ham. It's the laugh-riotest thing. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

So far the tally is:
Smaug: 3 1/2 votes
Glaurung: 3 votes
Chrysophylax: 2 1/2 votes
Scatha: 1 vote
Anacalagon: 1 vote

Anti-votes: 1 against Scatha. Did I miss any?

[ March 30, 2002: Message edited by: littlemanpoet ]

I wasn't talking to you, Durelan. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] I happen to value your posts and I am glad you hang around the advanced boards.

[ March 15, 2002: Message edited by: obloquy ]

I don't have ANY explanation, so don't ask (watch, everybody'll ask just cuz I said that!) but my favorite Dragon was Smaug. [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]

All you people who put Smaug are crazy. I mean, he was slain by a single arrow(I don't care if it was a sacred black one), and what did he do but take over Erebor?

Also, notice the people who have the most experience say Glaurung. I place my vote alongside.

<center><font color="red">I love all the dragons but I'd have to say Ancalagon because he is so big and black and powerful and can fly...

At one of my other boards I got a Dragon Egg which is going to hatch into a black dragon... I have christened him "Ancalagon" [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Yup, I too would say Ancalagon or Glaurung. Smaug is.....just cute. [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

I have to go with Chrysophylax-- he has the most winning personality. Aside from being witty and clever, he's a sensible peace-loving coward-- if I actually encountered a dragon, that's exactly what I'd want in him (or her)-- so I'd survive the encounter! Furthermore, Chrysophylax ends up far more politically enlightened than the others, although this enlightenment is mainly owing to the business end of Farmer Giles' blunderbuss. He teams up with Giles, a member of the farming class, thereby enabling a populist hero to take the kingship. All those other dragons serve elitist tyrants. Only Chrysophylax is a good socialist dragon.

[ April 27, 2002: Message edited by: Nar ]

I've always liked Ancalagon the Black, ever since I read Gandalf's mention of him in "The Shadow of the Past." A blast that could destroy even the rings of power (if not the one ring) - wow.

But personality-wise I like Smaug's cool intelligent arrogance the best. Glaurung is chilling, but petty in his mean-spiritness.

I like ancalagon the black the most im not sure why ,but any way smaugs arrogance and not much brains but intelligent make him interseting but vague.


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one by one they take flight and above their
wings gold lays

Ancalagon the black was probably the most powerful of the dragons, due to his size, the fact he could fly, and the heat of his flames (id fancy him taiking out quite a few balrogs [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]).
But as for personality... well, id have to give that to smaug... as tolkien went to lengths to give us a good picture of him in the hobbit.

All of you are CRAZY!!! Ancalagon the Black is by far the COOLEST dragon to ever exist!!! I mean, Ancalagon could have won the War of the Ring easily, if he hadn't been killed. He was big, mean, and nasty. [img]smilies/evil.gif[/img] I'll admit that Scatha and Glaurung were cool, too. But Ancalagon was the best. Oh, and Smaug was a wuss to be killed dso easily.

Latest tally:
Smaug: 5 1/2
Glaurung: 4 1/2
Chrysophylax: 3 1/2 (thanks Nar) since I started this I get an extra vote: 4 1/2 nya nya nya [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]
Scatha: 1 (still)
Ancalagon: 5 1/2 (like a late breaking horse)

It's Smaug and Ancalagon neck and neck with Glaurung one length back and Chrysophylax two lengths back and Scatha has stopped to smell the roses...

All the best reasons have already been put out so let me make it simple. ANCALAGON THE BLACK!!!!! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

My vote goes to Glaurang, for sheer malevolent evil.

Smaug the Magnificent was a great character, and not just a slimy groundworm, but what did he really achieve? Not as much as Big G. Not as much evil or horror. They're only Dwarves, after all!

Favourite name: Scatha the Worm.

Special mention: Ancalagon the Black, winner of the All Hype award.

Chrysophylax was just a little bit too reasonable. I like Tolkien's dragons because they are incarnations of great evil, as I think dragons should be. Not prissy little things with people flying around on their backs. Or something called Norbert.

Tolkien's best dragon was Smaug. Most dragons had a soft underside. Smaug had strong armor on his stomache with the exeption of the small hole in the upper left part.

Cold Drakes were also really cool.

Ancalagon. He was said to be the greatest dragon ever-Smaug was a *****cat compared to him. Glaurung was O.K, if a bit overweight. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

[ January 16, 2003: Message edited by: Inderjit Sanghera ]

The best dragon is Smaug, hands down!! He has a fiery (haha) personality, and is the first one I read about, so I might be biased. *And* he's red, and red is the best color. One whole vote for Smaug right here!!!!!!

Oh, and I give half a vote to Chrysophylax, 'cause he's cool too. If you haven't read Farmer Giles of Ham, do so now!!!!

Also, add me to the list of peeps who wants a pet dragon!!! Kudos to Dragon-lovers!!!!

[ January 17, 2003: Message edited by: Sapphire_Flame ]

Add another vote for Glaurung.

[img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] Hee hee! What fun. Hokay doke. Latest tally:

Smaug: 7 1/2
Glaurung: 6
Chrysophylax: 3 1/2
Scatha: 1
Ancalagon: 7 1/2

It's Smaug and Ancalagon neck and neck with Glaurung a length and a half behind....

I can't let my dear Chrysophylax down. My vote's for him. Alas! If I'd only read Farmer Giles sooner I'd have a much cooler nickname here at the 'Downs. [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img]

Could I also get half a vote in for Smaug?

EDIT: What a not-very-funny coincidence: my votes are the reverse of Sapphire's.

[ January 17, 2003: Message edited by: Galadrie1 ]

No. It should be one vote each. I vote for Ancalagon. *Hopes no one notices his previous vote* [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]