Quote:
Originally Posted by The Sixth Wizard
Those who think it would be smarter to attack Smaug while he was landridden, I don't think you get the fear factor here. Fighting him with bows as he swoops lazily over your burning town is scary enough; fighting a monster who can breathe fire on wood (again, wood) with close range weapons is just too much for even the bravest warriors. No-one would stay to fight, except maybe Bard.
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That's a good point, although I'm not convinced it was the primary reason they wanted the bridge gone.
But imagine yourself being a soldier of Lake Town and watching Smaug approach, ablaze and terrifying in all his might. What would you rather have him do? Sweeping down and blasting the town from above, or raiding it on foot?
I for one would much prefer the former. At least you see him coming and have the chance to hide or dive into the water (if available) if his attack looks like it's coming your way. And if you're lucky, his arial assult is directed at another part of town and you get a chance to fire away a few arrows in his direction.
For as
The Sixth Wizard notes, no one would dare face him on foot. We don't know exactly how big and strong Smaug was, but we do know he single-handedly wiped out a great dwarven city with plenty of warriors much tougher than the men of Lake Town. There an arial attack would be useless too, as the city was underground. He must have been formidable indeed: the fear and dread of seing him up close would put panic and despair into the most hardy of warriors. And even if Bard and a few stout men would stand to face him it would without doubt avail to nothing, he would've crushed those he didn't roast.
As
Davem said, destroying the bridge a better option than not destroying the bridge, although they still had it coming if it wasn't for great luck.
And please
StW, don't ask me to explain how they managed to do so. I do not know how they did it, no one here knows. JRRT perhaps had a good idea in his head of how this was done, perhaps he didn't. All we know is what he wrote, and in
The Hobbit the bridges of Lake Town were "cut" before Smaug could get there.