[Formendacil]

Esty, you must be a saint, keeping up this task week after week, with so little public response...

As one of the tardy, I can only seek forgivenes.

And post.

Which I shall do now.

Anyway, this chapter, with the dialogue of Bilbo and Smaug, is the true high point of the story- for me. Dragons in general fascinate me, and dragons as Tolkien painted them in particular. Glaurung is probably one of my favourite characters in the Silmarillion, and I really have to thank and commend Aiwendil for his comparisons between Glaurung and Smaug.

Alas, but I still itch for more... what was the tale of Scatha? What of the other dragons, who drove Thrór and his kin out of the North? What, indeed, of Ancalagon the Black?

Ah well... at least there's Chrysophylax in Farmer Giles of Ham...

The dialogue, of course, is what makes the chapter. Smaug is probably the most entertaining character in the entire Hobbit. I would love to see him in conversation with other characters, like Thorin, Gandalf, Elrond, or someone from elsewhere in the Legendarium. Saruman would be particularly interesting, I think. Imagine the seductive power of his voice pitched against that of Smaug.