Bilbo Baggins encounters Smaug at the Lonely Mountain in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit.
Smaug is a powerful dragon who seizes the Lonely Mountain and its treasure from the Dwarves of Erebor. Thorin Oakenshield leads the company that sets out to reclaim the mountain, and Bilbo joins them as their burglar. Bilbo’s first task inside the mountain is to discover information about the dragon and the treasure.
Smaug is intelligent, proud, suspicious, and highly skilled at conversation. During their exchange, Bilbo uses riddling descriptions rather than immediately revealing his identity. The dragon’s weakness is later connected to a bare patch in his protective armor of scales and jewels.
Smaug should not be confused with Glaurung or Ancalagon, dragons from Tolkien’s earlier mythology. Those creatures belong to different ages and stories. Smaug is specifically the dragon of The Hobbit and the ruler of the Lonely Mountain’s hoard.