Smaug is the dragon guarding the Lonely Mountain in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit.
Smaug seized the Lonely Mountain and its enormous treasure from the dwarves of Erebor before the events of the novel. The displaced dwarf king Thrór and his descendants preserved the memory of the lost kingdom, and Thorin Oakenshield eventually sets out to reclaim it with a company of dwarves and the hobbit Bilbo Baggins.
Bilbo enters the mountain secretly and speaks with Smaug. The dragon’s conversation reveals his pride, cunning, and suspicion, while Bilbo’s riddling style helps him avoid giving away his identity. Bilbo also notices an unprotected patch in Smaug’s armor-like underside, information that later reaches Bard of Lake-town.
Smaug is sometimes confused with Tolkien’s other dragons. Glaurung appears in the First Age story of Túrin Turambar, Ancalagon is a great dragon of the War of Wrath, and Scatha is a dragon associated with the Grey Mountains. Smaug belongs specifically to The Hobbit’s Third Age narrative.