Glaurung, also known as The Deceiver, The Evil, and The Father of Dragons, is a major antagonist in The Silmarillion and the main antagonist of The Children of Húrin. He was the first terrestrial, non-winged, fire-breathing Dragon to have ever lived in all of Middle-earth. He functions as Morgoth's servant and Túrin's mortal archenemy, doing all that he can to make the latter's and his siblings' lives as miserable as possible as part of Morgoth's errand in order to punish Túrin's father, Húrin, for defying him.
What Makes Him Pure Evil?[]
- Upon issuing from Angband's gates by night, he proceeds to defile the fields of Ard-galen as the Elves flee before him to Ered Wethrin and Dorthonion in dismay, though he would be temporarily defeated by Fingon, prince of Hithlum, who rode against him with archers on horseback and hemmed him round with a ring of swift riders, resulting in Glaurung being wounded by darts he could not endure since he had not yet come to his full armory, forcing him to flee back to Angband and not come forth again for many years.
- Returns in his full might in the Battle of Sudden Flame, in his train Balrogs and behind, black armies of the Orcs, and proceeds to lay waste to the wide plains of Ard-galen from the hill-forts of the Noldor to the feet of Thangorodrim, causing Ard-galen to perish and fire to devour its grasses, with many charred bones lying about since many of the Noldor perished in the fire before leading the Orcs to assault the fortresses of the Noldor, break the leaguer about Angband, and slay wherever they found them, the Noldor and their allies, Grey-elves and Men.
- After the Orcs overwhelmed the riders of the people of Fëanor upon Lothlann for Glaurung came thither, he passed through Maglor's Gap and destroyed all the land between the armies of Gelion, resulting in the Orcs taking the fortress upon the west slopes of Mount Rerir and ravaging all Thargelion, the land of Caranthir, and defiling Lake Hevorn.
- They passed over Gelion with fire and terror and came far into East Beleriand.
- Leads another attack on the vanguard of the Maedhros with wolves, wolfriders, Balrogs, and dragons, killing many Elves and Men and coming between the hosts of Maedhros and Fingon, sweeping them apart and brood would've withered all that was left of the Noldor had it not been for the Dwarves of Belegost who attacked them.
- He killed off many of the Dwarves of Belegost during his battle against them, and when in his rage, Glaurung turned and struck down Azaghâl, Lord of Belegost, and crawled over him only for Azaghâl, with his last stroke, to drive a knife into his belly, wounding him and causing him to flee the field as the beasts of Angband in dismay followed after him.
- Glaurung would make another return, attacking Nargothrond with an army of Orcs, proceeding to lay waste to and massacring everyone in it as all the pride and hostility of Nargothrond withered away before going over the bridge over Narog and coming in full fire against the Doors of Felagund, overthrowing them and passing within, claiming all the treasures for himself while his Orcs had slain or driven off all that remained in arms and were even then ransacking the great halls and chambers, plundering and destroying, having those of the women and maidens that weren't burned or slain be taken as slaves into Morgoth's thraldom.
- Issuing from the gaping doors and lying behind, Glaurung greets Túrin and proceeds to taunt him on how he screwed up his own life and the unintentional bad deeds he had committed whilst lying to him that his mother, Morwen, and sister, Niënor, live in Dor-lómin as thralls in misery and want.
- Glaurung then spares Túrin to return to them, with Túrin having fellen for his lies, mockingly declaring that he will slay him gladly if he wilt it, though it would be a small help to them, saying that they would curse him if he goes for Finduilas, who was calling for him. When Túrin goes, Glaurung has wiped the memory of Niënor, his sister, completely.
- After having accomplished the errand of his master, Glaurung turns and burns all about him with all the Orcs that were busy in the sack being routed forth and driven away, Glaurung denying them their plunder even to the last thing of worth and killing whoever tries to take it, showing he cares nothing for the Orcs he works with.
- The bridge then he broke down and cast into the foam of Narog before gathering all the hoard and riches of Felagund and heaping and lying on them in the innermost hall, resting for a while.
- Becoming aware of Morwen having come to Amon Ethir, a league before the doors of Nargothrond, with Mablund and many hardy march-wards along with her daughter, Glaurung proceeds to come forth in the heat of wrath and causes a vast vapour and foul reek to go up, resulting in Mablung and his company being blinded and lost.
- The resulting mists would cause the horses to be maddened by the dragon stench, become ungovernable, and dashing against trees and being slain while others borne far away, causing Morwen and Niënor to be lost.
- Upon coming across Niënor when she's left in the woods, Glaurung would proceed to wipe her memories of everything completely to set up a series of events where Túrin winds up encountering her, with neither of the two having any knowledge who the other is, and the two eventually get married, with Niënor being called Niniel and later becoming impregnated, unaware that they're brother and sister and unknowingly engaging in incest in the process.
- Later, he would send Orcs of his dominion against Brethil, and after their defeat at the hands of Túrin and his men, when hearing of the Black Sword's location in Brethil, Glaurung would issue from Nargothrond with the intent to lay waste to Brethil.
- Encountering Túrin upon waking up from his slumber, Glaurung would cause a great noise and blast cast his forward part across the chasm, resulting in Hunthor being slain by a great stone that was dislodged from on high by the passage of the dragon, smiting him on the head and casting him into the river.
- He proceeds to engage in battle against Túrin to defeat him, only for him to stab him in the guts with his sword, Gurthang, causing Glaurung to give a massive scream that would echo throughout all the woods before collapsing to perish.
- After Niënor arrives to help Túrin, whose hand had been burned by a spout of black blood from Glaurung and fell off the dragon unconscious, by bounding his hand with a strip of her raiment and kissing him while crying on him to awaken him, in his final moments as he dies, Glaurung proceeds to sadistically reveal who she and Túrin really were, allowing her to regain her memories, before mocking her on how she unknowingly committed incest with her own brother because of Glaurung and how she'll feel his sins within herself due to the infant she's impregnated with.
- This would result in Niënor committing suicide by jumping off the brink of Cabed-en-Aras and drowning in the water. Túrin would wake up moments later and discover later that Niniel was his sister Niënor the whole time, leading to him committing suicide as well by stabbing himself with a sword.
- Despite Middle-earth's heinous standards, Glaurung stands out not only for the massive body count he racks up but also for what he did to Túrin and Niënor, where he wiped their memories of each other to set up a course of events where they fall in love, get married, and unknowingly engage in incest, with Niënor getting impregnated in the process, revealing this to Niënor with sadism in his final moments, resulting in her, and later Túrin, when he finds out, committing suicide.
External Links[]
- Glaurung on the Villains Wiki
- Glaurung on the One Wiki to Rule Them All
- Glaurung on the Tolkien Gateway
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 Pure Evils
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Mainstream Peter Jackson Ralph Bakshi Rankin/Bass | ||