While they are not necessarily a large part of the story, the dragons in The Lord of the Rings are still incredible creatures, and only four were killed in the books. There are countless dragons in the world of LOTR, and there were even wars where several dragons fell in the past, notably in the War of the Dwarves and Dragons.

That said, there were only four dragons named in The Lord of the Rings. While Smaug is an easy one to remember thanks to The Hobbit movies, the other three were Scatha, The Long-Worm, Glaurung, and Ancalagon. All four of these mighty dragons were killed by men, although in very different ways.

Not included since their deaths were never individually revealed were dragons from the Great Cold Drake, who were involved in the War of the Dwarves and Dragons, Gondolin’s Fire-Drakes, which were involved in the Fall of Gondolin, and several of the Winged Dragons of the War of Wrath.

Turin Turambar – Glaurung

Glaurung was the firstborn of all the world’s dragons that Morgoth created in The Lord of the Rings. This dragon was also a force of nature in the First Age of Arda. Glaurung is a devious and unique dragon. While he has no wings, he possesses the ability to manipulate people into doing things they would never otherwise do via hypnosis.

This was especially true when he was dealing with Túrin Turambar, whom Glaurung placed under a hypnotic spell. Túrin sets out to rescue Finduilas, but Glaurung manipulates him into going after his mother and sister. Glaurung also erased Turin’s sister’s memories, which led Níniel to marry her brother, not realizing who he was.

This story was told in The Silmarillion, chapter 21, тιтled “Of Túrin Turambar.” It was also retold later in The Children of Húrin, which focused heavily on Glaurung and showed how the dragon decimated Hurin’s children, leading to the warrior’s downfall.

The great dragon had already destroyed Nargothrond, which was Galadrie’s brother, Finrod Felagund’s realm, and before this, Nargothrond was considered one of the greatest realms of the First Age. However, it was Túrin Turambar who killed Glaurung.

After Glaurung had ruined Túrin Turambar’s life, and his schemes to have the warrior marry his sister and bear children ended in tragedy, fate brought the dragon and warrior back together. Túrin tracked down the dragon and drove his sword Gurthang into the beast’s stomach. However, pulling it out, the blood sprayed Túrin, and he collapsed.

The dragon had the last bit of revenge. Níniel raced to save her husband, but realized he was ᴅᴇᴀᴅ. At that moment, Glaurung awoke and spoke one last time to Níniel, releasing the spell he had cast upon her. He died, she remembered everything, and then she died by suicide when she realized the truth.

Eärendil – Ancalagon The Black

Ancalagon the Black was the most powerful dragon ever to exist in Middle-earth since the dawn of time. He was the chief of the Winged Dragons of the War of Wrath, and while there were many in this group, he was the only one named in J.R.R. Tolkien’s books.

Known as the greatest of all dragons Morgoth created, it was also winged, which made it a clear upgrade on Glaurung, and it made this beast even more dangerous. It was also the largest, and when it fell in battle, it not only shook the world but also destroyed the towers of Thangorodrim.

Gandalf spoke of Ancalagon with respect when he described the power of the One Ring, saying that “not even Ancalagon the Black could have harmed the One Ring.” Despite this, Ancalagon was a ᴅᴇᴀᴅly dragon, fighting with Morgoth at the War of Wrath during the Wars of Beleriand, an event that ended the First Age.

This makes Ancalagon’s death a big deal. He was killed by Eärendil the Mariner​​​​​​, Elrond’s father. However, one man couldn’t achieve this feat alone, as he had help from the Great Eagles. With the Great Eagles’ help, Eärendil attacked Ancalagon from the sky, which sent him crashing into the towers of Thangorodrim.

The story was told in The Silmarillion in the 24th chapter, тιтled “Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath.”

Fram Of The Éothéod – Scatha The Worm

Scatha, the Long-Worm, was the least powerful of the four named dragons in The Lord of the Rings. Like Glaurung, he was also a wingless dragon and one of Morgoth’s earlier creations. It is possible that Scatha was the ancestor of every dragon since that age, since he was one of only two dragons to survive the era.

Unlike both Glaurung and Ancalagon, there is not much about Scatha’s past in J.R.R. Tolkien’s writing. He had a mᴀssive amount of Dwarven treasure hoarded away, and he survived until the Third Age, where he lived ona mountain range at the top of Rhovanion.

Éowyn even gave Merry a horn that she said was from the hoard of Scathia the Worm. According to Éowyn, it was the old Rohirrim king, Eorl the Young, who brought the horn with him from the north. However, Fram of the Éothéod finally killed him in the Third Age.

In his writing, Tolkien referred to Scatha as “the great dragon of Ered Mithrin” and his story was told in “Appendix A” of The Lord of the Rings. However, his death was never revealed in any of Tolkien’s books other than the fact that he was killed by Fram, son of Frumgar, in the early days of the Éothéod.

While the dragon’s death finally brought some peace to the land, there was a dispute between the Men of Éothéod and the Dwarves of the region concerning the treasure. It was said that the Dwarves killed Fram when he refused to share any of the stolen treasure with them.

Bard The Bowman – Smaug

The one dragon that all fans of The Lord of the Rings know, thanks to his appearance in The Hobbit movies, is Smaug. While not as powerful as Glaurung or Ancalagon the Black, Smaug was mighty in his own right. His most devastating mode of attack is his fire-breathing skills, which are greater than almost any other dragon.

He kept a mᴀssive hoard of treasure in the Lonely Mountain after taking it from King Thror, and most people left him alone since even Gandalf believed Smaug to be invincible. He also mostly kept to himself in the mountains, which is good since he was extremely ᴅᴇᴀᴅly when on the rampage.

However, while Smaug mostly kept to himself with all his stolen treasure, Bilbo Baggins came upon the beast on his quest. It was the Hobbit who discovered the one possible weakness that could potentially kill the mighty dragon, which was located near the beast’s heart.

Bilbo Baggins revealed his findings to Dale, who then pᴀssed them on to Bard the Bowman. This led Bard to set out and take an almost impossible sH๏τ that killed Smaug and brought the dragon to the ground for good. This story was told in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, as Smaug was the main antagonist in that tale.

However, for anyone who might wonder, Gandalf told Frodo that there was no dragon left on Earth that could hurt the One Ring, which makes it sound like Smaug was the most dangerous dragon when he died, but was likely not the last one in the world of The Lord of the Rings.