“Tolkien’s Dragons: Sources, Symbols, and Significance” (original) (raw)

Tolkien’s dragons are well-known to readers of The Hobbit and The Silmarillion, and scholars have long been interested in exploring the influences he drew upon in creating Smaug and his kindred. To date, however, most of their attention has focused on sources from the literary traditions of Old English and Old Norse, especially the dragons mentioned in Beowulf and in the Prose and Poetic Edda of medieval Iceland. In this article, I examine some of the more neglected sources that may have inspired Tolkien’s conception of these creatures, focusing on classical mythology, the Bible, and medieval English literature. My main interest is in how the symbolic roles of dragons within these traditions influenced their counterparts in Middle-earth. It is clear that, in making use of dragons as symbols of evil or tests of courage, Tolkien owes much to these ancient sources. At the same time, and in the manner of all great authors, he clearly adapts them to serve new ends that reflect his concerns as a Catholic living in England during the twentieth century. A more comprehensive understanding of how Tolkien’s dragons function as symbols may provide additional insight into certain postlapsarian themes and the importance of eucatastrophe within the legendarium as a whole.