Languages Smaug spoke?

[Barrel-rider]

When I was reading The Hobbit, I became curious as to what languages Smaug spoke. Dragons don't seem to have much of a culture or a relationship with other species (a positive one at least), so how did Smaug learn to speak? What language(s) did he speak?

He spoke to Bilbo, and they could understand each other, so what languages did Smaug speak?



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Three rings for the Elven-kings munchin' on rye, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their nightly drinks alone, nine for Mortal "Men" doomed to cry, one for the Barrel lord on his barrel-y throne in the land of hoarders where the fellows cry.

[Inziladun]

I don't know that I've ever considered this question before.
Smaug would have used the Common Speech (Westron) with Bilbo, since it was the only language the pre Elf-friend Bilbo would have known.

Smaug could easily have known some Elvish Speech too though, at least some Sindarin. Probably not Khuzdul, though.

[Barrel-rider]

But he must have picked up at least a little Khuzdul, I mean, he single-handedly besieged and conquered a dwarf king's mountain fortress. He might know a word or two at the very least.

Of course, his occupation of the Lonely Mountain lasted maybe eighty years, so either he picked up some Khuzdul, or he just didn't care enough about where he was to.

I really wish I could post more than one icon right now

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Barrel-rider

But he must have picked up at least a little Khuzdul, I mean, he single-handedly besieged and conquered a dwarf king's mountain fortress. He might know a word or two at the very least.

Well, killing a lot of Dwarves wouldn't require being able to talk to them.

I said that about Khuzdul because it was such a secretive language, only used by the Dwarves among themselves.

[Zigûr]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

Smaug could easily have known some Elvish Speech too though, at least some Sindarin.

I agree. It seems highly probable to me that an old and cunning creature like Smaug would know some Sindarin, given its comparable ubiquity to Westron.

It would be interesting to know if dragons had their own language. What language did the servants of Morgoth speak in the First Age? Presumably it was some corrupted version of Sindarin, Quenya (Morgoth appears to have spoken both of them) or perhaps of the Primitive Quendian spoken by the first Elves to become Orcs. I could imagine the Dragons of the North retaining vestiges of such language, as they appear to have been long-lived.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Zigûr

It would be interesting to know if dragons had their own language. What language did the servants of Morgoth speak in the First Age? Presumably it was some corrupted version of Sindarin, Quenya (Morgoth appears to have spoken both of them) or perhaps of the Primitive Quendian spoken by the first Elves to become Orcs. I could imagine the Dragons of the North retaining vestiges of such language, as they appear to have been long-lived.

Aside from Sauron's relatively unsuccessful Black Speech, I can't recall an instance of the forces of evil in Arda acquiring a unique language.
I would agree that Morgoth probably would have used some debased Quenya or Sindarin for speech among his minions.

[Barrel-rider]

But weren't at least some dragons bred by Morgoth and Sauron? Because Dark Tongue could apply here if that's so.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Barrel-rider

But weren't at least some dragons bred by Morgoth and Sauron? Because Dark Tongue could apply here if that's so.

Dragons originated from Morgoth. It was Sauron who devised the Black Speech, and I know of no indication of Sauron 'producing' any dragons.

It was said the Black Speech wasn't very widespread anyway, by the time of the Third Age only remembered by the Nazgûl.

[Marwhini]

Originally Posted by Zigûr

I agree. It seems highly probable to me that an old and cunning creature like Smaug would know some Sindarin, given its comparable ubiquity to Westron.

It would be interesting to know if dragons had their own language. What language did the servants of Morgoth speak in the First Age? Presumably it was some corrupted version of Sindarin, Quenya (Morgoth appears to have spoken both of them) or perhaps of the Primitive Quendian spoken by the first Elves to become Orcs. I could imagine the Dragons of the North retaining vestiges of such language, as they appear to have been long-lived.

I thought that Sauron contrived the Black Speech during the First Age (The First Age was what I thought was referred to as the "Dark Years").

I know that many of the Middle-earth Wikias refer to the "Dark Years" as the Second Age, based upon a few Comments of Tolkien regarding the "Men of Darkness" and the "Dark Days" of the rule of Sauron.

But I think that rather a subjective interpretation. I will need to dig out the Peoples of Middle-earth to go over it, and have another look through Morgoth's Ring to see if there is an explicit statement of some sort.

I would think that the period during which Satan Himself ruled in Middle-earth would be considerably "Darker" than a period when his lieutenant was left to meddle in the world.

I know that the Wikis like Tolkien Gateway refer to the "Dark Years" as the Second Age because of an analogy to the "Dark Ages" after the Fall of the Roman Empire as being isomorphic to the Fall of the Elven Kingdoms of the First Age. But I think that might be a stretch without an explicit statement of some sort (which could well exist).

Would that not have been the language that was used by those servants of Morgoth at that time when still largely unified?

And we know that during the first Age Glaurung spoke to both Elves and Túrin in Sindarin (which was the "Common Tongue" of Beleriand in the First Age).

It could also be that Tolkien intended the Dragons to have their own form of Speech, a Draconic-Tongue used solely among themselves.

Also, is it not the case that the Dragons (at least Glaurung) had some form of ability to read the minds of others?

Would this not give them a facility with languages (even Khuzdul)?

MB