The “dragon’s sickness” is the lust for gold, and the madness that accompanies it; it is the lust for power, to gain capital to the individual, and to be greater than anybody else. There are a variety of examples of characters within The Hobbit who experience their own conflicts with greed as the main antagonist. For example, Smaug the dragon, who originally had simply been thought to have taken Thorin’s kingdom, is personified to show the true effects of greed. Portrayed similarly to other dragons of mythology, Smaug is given armored scales, intelligence, the ability to fly, immortality, and the love for treasure.. Smaug, despite his powers, was solely driven by his greed, rather than the idea of being entirely evil. “Dragons covet gold though they have no practical use for it, and derive no intrinsic benefit from its possession-yet, they defend it with their lives and visit a fiery death upon those who threaten their hoard.” (Rateliff 280) Thorin describes Smaug’s relationship with gold as simply “they’ll never enjoy a brass ring as long as they live” (Tolkien 23), and suggests that “[dragons] don’t know a good bit of work from a bad one” (Tolkien 23), but the power that Smaug felt while maintaining the treasure was enough to drive him into selfishness and madness. The dragon made many enemies due to his greed, including characters like Thorin and Bilbo, for the sickness led to his own destruction at the hands of Bard in the town of Esgaroth (Tolkien 228-9). “It is here we see how Tolkien criticizes those that lust after wealth and are completely selfish and driven by greed; to hard vast wealth and to keep it all to one’s self of the greatest vices an individual can be guilty of, with the eventual end proving that no good will come from it.” (Laimore
The “dragon’s sickness” is the lust for gold, and the madness that accompanies it; it is the lust for power, to gain capital to the individual, and to be greater than anybody else. There are a variety of examples of characters within The Hobbit who experience their own conflicts with greed as the main antagonist. For example, Smaug the dragon, who originally had simply been thought to have taken Thorin’s kingdom, is personified to show the true effects of greed. Portrayed similarly to other dragons of mythology, Smaug is given armored scales, intelligence, the ability to fly, immortality, and the love for treasure.. Smaug, despite his powers, was solely driven by his greed, rather than the idea of being entirely evil. “Dragons covet gold though they have no practical use for it, and derive no intrinsic benefit from its possession-yet, they defend it with their lives and visit a fiery death upon those who threaten their hoard.” (Rateliff 280) Thorin describes Smaug’s relationship with gold as simply “they’ll never enjoy a brass ring as long as they live” (Tolkien 23), and suggests that “[dragons] don’t know a good bit of work from a bad one” (Tolkien 23), but the power that Smaug felt while maintaining the treasure was enough to drive him into selfishness and madness. The dragon made many enemies due to his greed, including characters like Thorin and Bilbo, for the sickness led to his own destruction at the hands of Bard in the town of Esgaroth (Tolkien 228-9). “It is here we see how Tolkien criticizes those that lust after wealth and are completely selfish and driven by greed; to hard vast wealth and to keep it all to one’s self of the greatest vices an individual can be guilty of, with the eventual end proving that no good will come from it.” (Laimore