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Doesn't desolation mean a state of complete emptiness or destruction?

So why doesn't Smaug perish by the end of the 2nd Hobbit film if the film's title was made to describe his end? He only dies at the start of the 3rd film: Battle of Five Armies. Does Jackson say why?

Rand al'Thor
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Lampham
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    This question seems to be asking why the movie was titled Desolation of Smaug, while the linked one is asking why he didn't die from a narrative point of view. – ibid Jun 12 '17 at 09:47
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    @ibid That is most definitely not what they're asking. They're asking why Smaug wasn't killed in the second film considering it's title. That's what they wrote in the title, and in the body. – Edlothiad Jun 12 '17 at 09:48
  • @Edlothiad - the answers in the linked question only explain why he wasn't killed considering the narrative, not considering the title. – ibid Jun 12 '17 at 09:51
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    @ibid Does Jackson say why? Yes he does, he says And so it was a deliberate choice to end the second movie on a cliffhanger. So the although the title calls for his destruction, he wasn't killed because Jackson wanted a cliffhanger. Answered – Edlothiad Jun 12 '17 at 09:57
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    @Edlothiad that is only true if you interpret "desolation" to mean "destruction" in the fist place. – SQB Jun 12 '17 at 09:58
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    To summarise what I've said in chat here, the dupe target is a question of narrative timing, why not end the 2nd film with Smaug's death but instead start the 3rd with it, while this question asks "the title says desolation, I see none", which is answered below by considering different meanings of the word and by quoting from the book to show which one is most likely correct. – SQB Jun 12 '17 at 10:00
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    Scrolling under "Community" shows me this. I voted to close because the linked answer already answered this question, and it seems that the OP subsequently closed it by themselves. – Voronwé Jun 12 '17 at 10:23
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    @SQB If OP thinks their question is a dupe, then IMO none of our arguments are relevant anymore. – KutuluMike Jun 12 '17 at 10:37
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    @KutuluMike: I disagree. This is clearly a completely different question than the so-called duplicate, with a completely different answer, and if the OP thinks otherwise, then either the OP is simply wrong, or the OP needs to learn to express his/her thoughts better. – Martha Jun 12 '17 at 19:54
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    @Martha did you just say the OP is wrong?! How can you say the OP is wrong..? It is literally their question – Edlothiad Jun 13 '17 at 07:22
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    @Edlothiad - New user, may have misunderstood the meaning/purpose of the duplicate prompt. I can definitely see it happening. – ibid Jun 13 '17 at 12:58
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    Either way, the question of what "desolation" here means is a good question and if OP really didn't mean it, then someone else should post it as a new question and have a mod merge these two answers over there. – ibid Jun 13 '17 at 12:59
  • It's a subjective genitive, not an objective. – Matt Gutting Jun 13 '17 at 17:06
  • Who even opened this again? I marked it as a duplicate already... – Lampham Jun 14 '17 at 02:00
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    @Lampham: did you even bother reading any of the comments? This is a totally different question than the timeline one: it's asking about the meaning of the title, not the narrative choices. – Martha Jun 14 '17 at 02:26
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    Excuse me, but I believe I'm the one asking the question here, and I'm completely satisfied with the answer provided in the linked dupe, so I closed this.To make stuff clear, my question has been edited – Lampham Jun 14 '17 at 03:01
  • @Lampham your edit has been rejected as it is harmful to the post. Unfortunately, the post received a wealth of upvotes regardless of the low quality nature of the original post. The post also would not have been deleted as Very Low Quality as it had indeed answered the (wrongly intrerpreted) question. The only action you can take is to accept the other answer, or leave them both unaccepted. – Edlothiad Jun 14 '17 at 07:32
  • truly amazing a 2 sentence answer with no quotes garners 96 upvotes, while I got over 8 downvotes to my question.. amazing how you dont get 96 votes as well for your well-researched post here @Edlothiad. Id accept SQBs answer but the 2 sentence post owner would be getting the populist badge for that... – Lampham Jun 14 '17 at 07:41
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    Please don't make edits which invalidate existing answers to your question. – Rand al'Thor Jun 14 '17 at 07:54

2 Answers2

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It means "the desolation caused by Smaug".

In the book, this is the description given to the barren area around the Mountain, specifically to the south and west. (The map displays north to the left.)

Thror's map from The Hobbit

In two days going they rowed right up the Long Lake and passed out into the River Running, and now they could all see the Lonely Mountain towering grim and tall before them. The stream was strong and their going slow. At the end of the third day, some miles up the river, they drew in to the left or western bank and disembarked. ... The next day they set out again. ... The land about them grew bleak and barren, though once, as Thorin told them, it had been green and fair. There was little grass, and before long there was neither bush nor tree, and only broken and blackened stumps to speak of ones long vanished. They were come to the Desolation of the Dragon, and they were come at the waning of the year.

The Hobbit, Chapter 11, "On the Doorstep"

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Daniel Roseman
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    In the film Balin declares the ruins of Dale to be "the desolation of Smaug" as well. – EldritchWarlord Jun 13 '17 at 13:35
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    Please don't make further edits until this Meta discussion has been resolved; https://scifi.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/11022/was-i-right-to-roll-this-edit-back – Valorum Jun 14 '17 at 08:46
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    In accordance with the consensus on the now 3-day-old meta post (four answers with scores ranging from 6 to 9, all saying MG's edits should be left in place), I've rolled back this post to the last edit made by Matt Gutting. Please direct any further discussion about this to the meta post linked by @Valorum. – Rand al'Thor Jun 17 '17 at 16:57
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    I've downvoted. This post was originally very poor quality and low value. – Valorum Jun 17 '17 at 16:59
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The Desolation of Smaug does not mean the Destruction of Smaug.

Dictionary Definition

Definition of desolation

  1. the action of desolating

    the pitiful desolation and slaughter of World War I — D. F. Fleming

  2.  
    1. grief, sadness

      ... he put his trembling hands to his head, and gave a wild ringing scream, the cry of desolation. — George Eliot

    2. loneliness
  3. devastation, ruin

    a scene of utter desolation

  4. barren wasteland

    looked out across the desolation

desolation — Merriam Webster

So while I see how you thought The Desolation of Smaug meant Smaug being laid to waste, a more likely explanation is using the fourth meaning as given above: the barren wasteland around Smaug's lair in the mountain Erebor.

Of course, one of the other meanings could apply as well: the sadness or loneliness of Smaug or the grief or devastation caused by Smaug.

The Hobbit

Now let's turn to the book.

A map showing the Desolation of Smaug

The land about them grew bleak and barren, though once, as Thorin told them, it had been green and fair. There was little grass, and before long there was neither bush nor tree, and only broken and blackened stumps to speak of ones long vanished. They were come to the Desolation of the Dragon, and they were come at the waning of the year.

The Hobbit, "On the Doorstep"

This quote, along with the map, clearly shows that it's indeed the fourth meaning that's used here, the barren wasteland around Erebor, which is what the party had just reached in the quote.

Conclusion

Of course, as is the beauty of any language in which words can have several, related meanings, all these meanings are invoked when used in the film's title like this.

But it is clear that it does not mean Smaug being laid to waste.

SQB
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    “The Desolation of Smaug could be taken to mean the destruction of Smaug” — Not really, no. This doesn’t seem to be a valid usage of the word “desolate”, neither common nor uncommon. While “to desolate somebody” exists, its meaning is “to make (someone) feel utterly wretched and unhappy.”, not “to kill somebody”. And I don’t recall Bard bullying Smaug into unhappiness. – Konrad Rudolph Jun 13 '17 at 13:07
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    @KonradRudolph well, that seems to be more or less the interpretation the querant assumed when asking this question. – SQB Jun 13 '17 at 13:18
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    @SQB Right, so the answer is that's not what that word (ever) means, not the word might also mean something else. – Kyle Strand Jun 13 '17 at 16:41
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    ....so while overall this is a great answer, I can't quite bring myself to upvote it, since you're encouraging OP to keep this (incorrect) definition in their mind (in addition to the multiple correct ones presented). – Kyle Strand Jun 13 '17 at 16:43
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    Given the "bruised and blackened stumps" where "before [the land] had been green and fair", I'll nitpick and say we have the third meaning, not the fourth. But that's a nitpick. – Matt Gutting Jun 13 '17 at 17:24
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    It's somewhat better, and I'll upvote, but I still think the key point is that OP is inventing a meaning for this phrase that it simply does not have in standard English. My guess is that the idea that "desolation" meant that Smaug would be killed, or even "desolated" (emotionally or otherwise), probably didn't occur to Tolkien or Jackson. – Kyle Strand Jun 13 '17 at 21:05
  • @KyleStrand to be honest, English is not my first language, so I'm absolutely open to suggestions. – SQB Jun 13 '17 at 21:08
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    I would just strengthen your statement--instead of saying that "desolation" here "could be taken to mean Smaug being laid to waste", I would say that the "laid to waste" definition can't really be applied to Smaug. (To be more specific, I don't believe that to "desolate" an individual being ever means "lay to waste"; even the meaning suggested by @KonradRudolph of emotional desolation is fairly rare as a verb.) – Kyle Strand Jun 13 '17 at 21:14
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    This answer could be vastly improved with freehand circles. – ibid Jun 14 '17 at 01:20
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    +1 This is the right answer (before MattGutting's edits to Daniel's answer). I'm very surprised that this answer wasn't given more upvotes. It shows more research effort and less of a commentary post. – Voronwé Jun 14 '17 at 02:09