Glaurung
Known as
The Deceiver,
The Golden, and the
Worm of Greed,
Glaurung was the first and greatest of the land-bound fire-breathing
Dragon, in
J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional
Middle-earth legendarium.
Glaurung was a very powerful and cunning dragon, and he at times used his abilities to achieve his desired ends without resorting to direct physical violence (at which he was equally proficient). Glaurung appears to have been more cunning than
Gothmog, a contemporary in the hierarchy of
Morgoth. Like
Sauron, another of his contemporaries, it was his nature to trick and deceive, and to spread lies and deceptions so cleverly that they could not be discovered until it was too late. In this manner, he accomplished much more damage than he could have with brute force, and caused the destruction of the
Elven stronghold of
Nargothrond and the suicide of mankind's greatest hero to date,
Túrin Turambar. He caused amnesia in Túrin's sister
Nienor, and since neither recognized the other when they met (Nienor was born after Túrin had left home), she eventually married her brother. Glaurung himself was slain by Túrin's blade Gurthang before he committed suicide.
Glaurung was called
Father of Dragons. It is not known with certainty, but it is largely suspected that he sired the rest of his race (or at least of his own sub-species, the
Úruloki: wingless firebreathing dragons). He was bred by Morgoth from some unknown stock and was the first dragon to appear outside of
Angband. This first appearance occurred during the Siege of Angband in 265 (First Age), when he came forth to attack, but too early because he was still young and immature. He was defeated and driven back to Angband by mounted Elven archers.
After the sack of Nargothrond, he made a nest of treasure in the abandoned tunnels of the city. It is likely that he is the dragon that appears in Tolkien's poem "The Hoard" in
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, which seems to be based on the events at Nargothrond. The memory of Glaurung lives on in the many creatures that he apparently sired.
The "Wyrm", a snakelike dragon, summonable by evil players in
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II, could have some sort of relationship with Glaurung, as they are both ground dwelling dragons, and one of Glaurung's names is the "Worm of Greed".
