Smaug is the dragon who occupies the Lonely Mountain in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit.
Smaug drives the dwarves of Erebor from their kingdom and takes possession of their treasure. The dragon’s presence is the central danger of the quest undertaken by Thorin Oakenshield and his company, with Bilbo Baggins accompanying them as their burglar. Bilbo enters the mountain and speaks with Smaug, learning that the dragon has a weak spot in his armor-like scales.
That information reaches Bard of Lake-town through a conversation involving Bilbo’s description of the dragon. Bard uses a black arrow to kill Smaug when the dragon attacks Lake-town. Smaug’s death does not end the story’s conflict: humans, elves, and dwarves then dispute the treasure, while an army of orcs approaches.
Smaug is distinct from other Tolkien dragons. Glaurung belongs to the First Age stories of The Silmarillion, while Ancalagon the Black appears in the history of the War of Wrath. Smaug is the best-known dragon in Tolkien’s published children’s novel.