They sweep down from the sky, spewing flame over the town below, scattering its defenders; they are dragons. Or are dragons different from that? A dragon and its rider serenely gaze at a sunset sharing a silent moment in a tumultuous world. Well which is it? Each of these can be accurate descriptions of dragons from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth and Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle, respectively. But why are they so different? The difference is simple when you examine the experiences of the two authors leading up to when they each began to write.
First we’ll examine the dragon as described by Christopher Paolini in his Inheritance Cycle (the books: Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, and an as-yet unnamed fourth book). These books have gathered a sizeable following since Eragon’s publishing in 2003 and there was even a film adaptation; it however did not prove to be successful (rottentomatoes.com).
First of all, the Dragons are an equal race with humans, elves, and dwarves in Alagaesia. They are sentient creatures with an amazing amount of magic within them. This equality was not always the case. While they were powerful and magical beings, this put them into direct conflict with the Elves, also very magical. After a five-year war
which shattered both races, a truce was made and the Dragon-Riders were introduced to keep the peace (Paolini Eldest).
Dragon-Riders are either Elves or Humans for whom a dragon hatches. While in their eggs, dragons are fully ready to hatch but wait for the best conditions or the person to be their rider to come into contact with their egg. Once an egg hatches and touches their rider the rider receives a gedwey insignia, a mark through which a rider channels their magic (Paolini Eragon). The rider is then changed, typically receiving extra strength and endurance, speed, heightened senses, and the ability to use magic to an extreme degree. Dragon-riders are telepathic with their dragons and the bond is stronger than any other bond in Alagaesia. Dragons don’t actually speak to anyone in the basic sense of the word; their magic enables them to use telepathic communication with Riders, dragons, and occasionally elves or magicians. A Dragon does not succumb to old age and may live forever if it is not mortally wounded or killed. Despite the longevity of Dragons however, the Dragon Riders and the wild dragons were nearly exterminated by the evil Galbatorix and his own dragon-riders. At this point in the Inheritance Cycle there are only three dragons alive and only one dragon egg in existence (Paolini Brisingr).
Dragons are physically impressive and imposing beings. With large wings and spikes on their backs, small fangs and large, powerful legs, they are a force to be reckoned with. Dragons never stop growing either, so even when it seems that they couldn’t possibly get any larger, they can still grow. Small dragons can have wingspans over a hundred feet while the some of the oldest ones could pass as large hills. As dragons grow they also develop their fire breathing ability. Dragons cannot breathe fire until they are at around five to six months (also the time when the dragon can mate). This ability gets stronger over time so the duration and intensity of the flames can grow to extraordinary levels, making the dragon an even more dangerous opponent.
The most unique aspect of the dragons of Alagaesia is their Eldunari or heart of hearts. A dragon’s heart of heart is a gem-like organ in which a dragon can place its soul. This can then be coughed up by a dragon and gifted to some one. This does not cause any distress or discomfort to the dragon however, it is actually sometimes done out of convenience. If a Dragon Rider is carrying the Eldunari of a dragon, he can communicate over any distance with the dragon and also draw on the dragon’s massive store of magical energy. After a dragon dies, if their Eldunari has been removed the dragon can still live on in the Eldunari and still supply the carrier with a massive amount of energy, which can grow over time. This can be used for good or evil purposes; the ex-Dragon Rider Galbatorix broke the minds of dragons still in their Eldunari and was able to enhance his power and the one he trained to an immense level that outmatched any of their opponents.
The magic that dragons can perform is extravagant. In addition to their ability to communicate telepathically, share their energy, and the Eldunari, there are some amazing things that dragons have done through magic that not even dragons can explain. In Eldest, two dragons use magic to effectively remake Eragon’s physical body (a human); he is healed of a cursed injury, gains extreme strength and agility, even keener senses, and a fairer image which is much more elf-like than before (Paolini Eldest).
The dragons of the Inheritance Cycle center on their magical powers and their relationship with the dragon riders. In Tolkien’s Middle Earth the dragons are typically tools of a more powerful evildoer and the dragons themselves are exclusively evil.
Dragons in Middle-Earth come in several varieties. The first are the worms or land-bound dragons who could breathe fire, then there are the winged Uruloki (fire-breathers), and lastly the cold-drakes (dragons who couldn’t breathe fire). We’ll take a look at their history and a quick glance at each the separate breeds before viewing their common characteristics (Day Encyclopedia 196-198).
The first dragon to appear in Middle-Earth was Glaurung, the first of the fire-drakes of Angband, having been bred by Morgoth (an evil valar or fallen angel) from some unknown creatures and then shaped by his sorcery (Tolkien Children of Hurin). Glaurung took several centuries to mature fully, but once he had matured his scales were hard enough to resist the spears and arrows of his attackers. It took at least 400 years to reach this level of strength. Glaurung is known as the “Father of Dragons”, since he sired all of the rest of his race. In the First Age only flightless dragons appeared in Middle Earth.
Sometime in the Second Age the first flying dragons were seen outside of Morgoth’s lair, Angband. They were quite large, had four legs and wings, and could breathe fire. The largest known dragon was Ancalagon the Black who was recorded as being able to block out the sun while approaching his victims, even from afar. Ancalagon was finally defeated in an unknown manner by Earendil (half-elven king) in the Second Age. A large number of these flying Uruloki were bred by Morgoth; however most of them were killed off by the time of the Third Age with Smaug being the last of the great Uruloki. The Hobbit gives the most detailed description of a Uruloki. Smaug had red-gold scales that were impervious to the arrows that were shot at him by the citizens of Elbaroth. He had a keen sense of smell and was, like other dragons of Tolkien’s, very intelligent and clever, often speaking to Bilbo Baggins in riddles.
The third kind of dragon in Middle-Earth is just referenced, but never seen, the cold-drake. Cold-drakes were also bred by Morgoth but could not breathe fire; there is also no definitive record on whether or not they could fly (Tyler 108). There are only references to cold-drakes and how they were not of the dragon nobility like the Uruloki and the occasional report of how a dwarf was killed by a cold-drake. Not much else is known about them except that they were organized and powerful enough to cause the dwarves to abandon their settlements in the Grey Mountains and relocate to Erebor and the Iron Hills.
Tolkien’s dragons also have some very similar characteristics to the dragons from Anglo-Saxon mythology. The dragons are very greedy and often amass vast hordes of treasure and do nothing but admire it and lust for more; this is referred to as ‘Dragon Sickness’ (Harvey). They are very intelligent, capable of leading armies, devising elaborate plans, and solving problems effectively. These characteristics are evident in the dragons Glaurung and Smaug specifically. Glaurung led the army of Morgoth to victory many times over his foes and was able to use trickery and deceit to defeat the armies of the Elves and the defenders of Gondolin. Another important characteristic the more powerful dragons had was their flames. These flames were destructive enough to torch towns and cities in minutes. Their fires were even hot enough to melt or consume rings of power; the Dwarves lost four of their rings to dragons
Tolkien is, as mentioned earlier, heavily influenced by the Anglo-Saxon and European views of dragons. These dragons of myth are great hoarders of treasure and follow a similar description physically. Tolkien was a professor of English literature and helped translate works such as Beowulf and other ancient writings. Yet this is still not the primary influence on the Tolkien dragon. It is much more personal; it is World War I (Humphrey).
Tolkien as a 2nd Lieutenant was sent to France during World War I, there he lived and fought in the trenches until he was sent back to England due to illness. Three of his four best friends died in the fighting, something he would never forget. While recovering in England, Tolkien began to write the first of the poems that would become part of the Middle-Earth legendarium. These stories showed a clear-cut good vs. evil situation and emphasized the long-reaching effects of war on people, cultures, and the world. Therefore he recreated some of the elements of World War I in his stories. In a poem about the fall of Gondolin, the earlier drafts replaced dragons with iron machines that were fueled by internal fires and that shot flame. It isn’t hard to recognize that these are tanks that Tolkien saw in WWI only altered to be in Middle-Earth. These tanks eventually became dragons. Dragons are the tanks of Morgoth in the poems of early Middle-Earth; they are little more than tools, sometimes they lead armies, but they often overwhelm defenses by emphasizing power, strength, and flame to annihilate the enemy, just like tanks.
Paolini has a much different influence for his dragons. He is young and has never experienced the pain in Tolkien’s life. He instead has been privileged and educated differently (i.e. home schooling). In Paolini’s studies he would have encountered more environmental and animal rights ideas being presented as well as more delving into the causes behind behaviors. Paolini has a much more centrist view point on whether something is pure good or pure evil; dragons, humans, dragon riders, and even urgals (bloodthirsty goblin-like creatures) all have good and bad sides. His dragons also share more in common with the Eastern ideas of dragons as being very wise creatures and other similar, noble traits. He was more motivated to write for himself since his work began as a personal hobby which was then self-published by his family and he began actively marketing it at schools and libraries.
These psychological differences are what make the difference in the portrayals of the dragons. Tolkien is the scarred man depicting the dragon as a tool for destruction similar to what the world had seen while Paolini is the privileged child trying to see the good in everything. Tolkien’s dragon comes from a personal wound and his writings are meant to convey a message about war and suffering. Paolini wrote a book based on the “daydreams of a teen” (http://www.alagaesia.com/christopherpaolini.htm). His result was a book that draws significantly from Tolkien, Star Wars, and Anne McCaffrey’s books among others (commonsensemedia.org). Both interpretations have proven to be popular with drastically different roots from within the author’s minds and experiences. Time will tell whether Paolini’s dragon-as-a-partner interpretation will have the longevity of Tolkien’s dark phantoms of World War I.
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