"Morgoth loosed upon the people of Narog the great host that he had long prepared; and Glaurung the Urulóki passed over Anfauglith."

—The Silmarilion: Of Túrin Turambar pg. 212

Fire-drakes or Uruloki are a type of Dragon in Middle-earth. They are very large, bigger than Cold-drakes, they can withstand fire, and can kill with their fiery breath. Fire-drake broods often live in hills, mountains, caves, or icy wastelands.

These creatures are described by Tolkien as being more like giant scaled serpents with wings than dragons as commonly depicted today. Fire-drakes often grew to immense size. The fire from one of these dragons was so intense that it was said the great dragons could consume and melt the Rings of Power, with the exception of the One Ring. All the famous dragons throughout the ages were fire-drakes (aka Ancalagon, Glaurung, Smaug, etc.) although only some of them fought for Morgoth.

Tolkien confirmed in a letter that Smaug was the last of his kind (The last of the great Fire Drakes of Middle Earth) in Middle-earth, but dragons of lesser stature (Cold-drakes and such Fire-drakes that were seen in Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 2) lived on.

Contents 1 History 1.1 First Age 1.2 Second and Third Ages 2 Non-canonical appearances 2.1 Video games 3 Fire drake broods 4 Etymology 5 Named Fire-drakes 6 References 7 External link

HistoryEdit

First AgeEdit

Glaurung and Ancalagon were Fire-drakes, and were among the most famous of the breed. Glaurung was a key player in the sacking of Nargothrond and in the fulfillment of Morgoth's curse on the children of Hurin. He was a fearsome bane to the Elves. Ancalagon and his armada of winged Fire-drakes by themselves drove back the Host of the Valar during the War of Wrath at the end of the First Age, such was their incredible power. Fire-drakes also joined the Balrogs in the attack on Gondolin.

Second and Third AgesEdit

All Fire-drakes were thought to have been killed before the Second Age, but Smaug the Golden survived and in the Third Age descended on Erebor in TA 2770 and sacked the Lonely Mountain, at the time held by Thrór, the Dwarven King under the Mountain. In TA 2941 Thrór's grandson Thorin Oakenshield returned with a small group to reclaim his grandfather's kingdom, unleashing a chain of events that led to the death of Smaug when he attacked nearby Lake-town and was slain by the Black Arrow shot by Bard the Bowman.

Non-canonical appearancesEdit

Video gamesEdit

"The Fire-drake has been released"

—Goblin officer in Battle for Middle-Earth II

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II describes another powerful Fire-drake, Drogoth. A contingent of Goblins and Ringwraiths were sent to bring him over to Sauron's side, but the Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain and the Men of Dale were able to kill him. However, this is non-canon.

The Fire-drake is a Drake that destroys the enemies in The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II. This drake has large horns, sharp fangs, frightening eyes large legs/arms, spiny back and long tail but no wings at all. They all breath huge flames and are used with the Goblins with a Dragon's nest, an upgrade for the goblin's base or sometimes summoned by Gorkil the Goblin King as his final power.

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North : Urgost a winged fire drake who lives in the grey mountains.

Agandaur offers him Nordinbard in exchange for his service to Sauron, Urgost responds by saying you will have your answer in my own good time. Later on he meets the company Farin, Eradan and Andriel and makes a deal with them to bring him Carn Dum from Agandaur and he will not fight for Sauron.

Fire drake broodsEdit

Fire-drake broods are similar to the Fire-drake except for their size, being smaller than the larger, level 10 Fire-drake. They arise in groups of three and their combined attack is just as powerful as their larger cousins; only two Fire-drake broods can be recruited at one time.

The Fire-drakes appear in Battle for Middle-earth II while the Fire-drake broods only appear in The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king.

EtymologyEdit

Urulóki was the Quenya name for Fire-drakes in plural form which meant 'Hot', 'Heat', or 'Fire-serpents'.

Named Fire-drakesEdit

Fire-drakes named in Tolkien works were Ancalagon (the black), Glaurung (the worm) and Smaug (the golden).

ReferencesEdit

• The Silmarillion: Of Túrin Turambar pg. 112
• The Silmarillion: Of the Return of the Noldor pg. 212
• The Silmarillion: Appendix pg. 365
• The Complete Guide to Middle-earth

External linkEdit

• Fire-drakes at Tolkien Gateway