The Sack of Erebor refers to the fall of the dwarven city of Erebor and the human city of Dale to the dragon Smaug in year 2770 of the Third Age. It is a major event in the backstory to J. R. R. Tolkien's novel The Hobbit.
History[]
Background[]
The city of Erebor had existed beneath the Lonely Mountain for several hundred years at the time of its destruction. The dwarves living there had become famous throughout Middle-Earth for their great wealth and the high quality of their craftmanship with metal and stone, and they had a thriving trade relationship with nearby Dale. Unfortunately, word of their riches reached Smaug, who decided to take them for himself.
Attack[]
The first sign of Smaug's coming was a hot, dry wind from the north. The dragon himself appeared shortly thereafter, attacking and killing the dwarves manning Erebor's great gate by strafing it with his fiery breath. After this preliminary assault, Smaug turned toward Dale, apparently because they had rallied soldiers to aid Erebor.
Smaug killed several hundred people in Dale, soldiers and civilians alike, as he burned the city from above. In the live-action film continuity, Lord Girion of Dale fired several black arrows at Smaug, eventually managing to dislodge a scale from Smaug's chest just before the dragon killed him. Had Girion been able to fire another arrow into the wound, it would have killed Smaug, and Girion's grandson Bard would eventually kill the dragon by doing exactly that.
After finishing with Dale, Smaug returned to Erebor. He tore through the great gate and the soldiers on the other side, then rampaged through the city itself. There, he murdered thousands of dwarves, burning, crushing, and eating them with abandon. As the surviving dwarves fled, Smaug gathered the city's treasure into a massive hoard, buried himself in it, and went to sleep.
Aftermath[]
The entire population of Erebor was expelled from the city, as Smaug would allow no one else near his newly claimed treasure. King Thror survived, as did his son Thrain II and his grandson Thorin II Oakenshield, but they and their people were left homeless and destitute until they settled in the Iron Hills.
Dale was abandoned as well. In the original novel, the Men of Dale remained in their city for some time after the Sack, but left after Smaug began leaving the mountain at night to raid Dale and carry off residents as food. In the live-action films, Smaug is never stated to have eaten people in Dale, and it is implied that the initial devastation was severe enough to force its people to leave. In any event, the Men of Dale resettled in Lake-town.
Smaug's reign under the mountain lasted 171 years, when Bilbo Baggins broke into the mountain to steal the Arkenstone at Thorin's request. Enraged at the intrusion and believing Lake-town's residents responsible, Smaug attacked and destroyed Lake-town, but was killed in the process by Girion's descendant Bard. Afterwards, Erebor and Dale's displaced inhabitants returned to the two cities.
Trivia[]
- Only small portions of Smaug's body can be seen onscreen in the prologue of An Unexpected Journey, the film in which the Sack of Erebor appears. This is partially because his full-body appearance in The Desolation of Smaug and Battle of the Five Armies was not yet finalized. In the theatrical version of the Sack of Erebor sequence, Smaug has six limbs (four legs and two wings), while in the second and third films he only has four (two legs and two wings).
- Smaug's fire breath during the Sack of Erebor sequence is shown as a focused, napalm-like stream with heavy concussive force. In his final design, however, his fire covers a much wider area and does not seem to have the same concussive effect.
- In the original novel, the Sack of Erebor took place at night. However, in the live-action film continuity, Smaug attacks in broad daylight.