This article is part of a directory: Sauron's Lord of the Rings History, Powers, Relationships and Theories
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Middle-earth is no stranger to monstrous creatures, and during the time of The Hobbit, Smaug the dragon was easily one of the most powerful of them all. Yet few could challenge the might of Sauron, even with or without his One Ring. And so, if Smaug were still alive during the events of The Lord of the Rings, would the dragon be forced into Sauron's army, as happened with many other foul beasts before him?

While Smaug was sleeping away in Erebor, he had no clue that Sauron was regaining strength at the fortress of Dol Guldur. Over time, those with evil intent succumbed to Sauron's power and ended up under his rule, both willingly and not. And Smaug was undoubtedly evil, as despite choosing to stay with his treasure hoard, he had killed thousands and taken over an entire kingdom in order to obtain it. But did this make him susceptible to the might of Sauron?

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While the Dark Lord was immensely powerful, taking on a dragon would've been quite the challenge. Smaug could easily have cut through the armies of Mordor, and delayed the invasion of Middle-earth by years. So it wasn't in Sauron's interest to take on the dragon, but that doesn't mean he saw it as a lost cause, as he fully planned on creating an alliance.

In the book titled Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, numerous pieces of Tolkien's writings were compiled into short stories. In one such story, Gandalf and Thorin have a conversation about facing-down Smaug, in which the wizard says, "Far away from here, I wonder if you fully realize the strength of a great dragon. But that is not all: There is a Shadow growing fast in the world far more terrible. They will help one another."

While it's not confirmation, it shows that Gandalf fully believed the two would form an alliance. Although, what's more likely is that Sauron would trick Smaug into joining his army, as he had always been a master manipulator. Sauron often recruited through promise of riches and power; it's how he corrupted the old kings with nine rings, and how he gained a huge army of Men during his previous attack on Middle-earth. And if there was one thing Smaug was susceptible to, it was the promise of wealth.

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The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Smaug wouldn't have been the first dragon to aid a Dark Lord, as thousands of years before, many dragons had fought against the peoples of Middle-earth with Morgoth. As the original Dark Lord, it's rumored that dragons were created by Morgoth and stayed at his side as he laid waste to kingdoms. This included the mighty Ancalagon, who is said to have been a dragon "the size of a mountain." But luckily, Smaug was the only dragon left by the time of The Hobbit.

The main reason Gandalf encouraged the Dwarves to retake Erebor was so the Orcs could not claim it for themselves. But it seems like he also wanted Smaug to be slain before Sauron could reach him, which turned out to be a huge aid in the war to come. During The Lord of the Rings, the Dwarven kingdom was also under attack by Sauron's armies, and if they had gotten hold of a dragon, things may have taken a far more tragic turn.