Where did the name Smaug come from?

Question

So I was wondering what the origin of this name is for the dragon? Is it a known word from a language with a meaning or is it a completely made up word?

Or perhaps it evolved from another word... its a pretty unusual name, and unlikely to originate from an english word (unless it originates from the word smug?)

Did Tolkien ever say where he got the word from ?

Valorum · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-29T17:55:04.597

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In his 1938 letter the the Editor of the Observor, Tolkien explicitly stated that the name Smaug is derived from the low Germanic; "To squeeze through a hole".

"The dragon bears as name – a pseudonym – the past tense of the primitive Germanic verb Smugan, to squeeze through a hole: a low philological jest. The rest of the names are of the Ancient and Elvish World, and have not been modernised."
_{^{The Letter of JRR TOlkien - Number 25}}

In earlier drafts, Smaug was also know as Pryftan (from the Welsh meaning 'Fire Worm') and Trāgu, a corruption of the Old English meaning 'to burrow [into the ground]'. As @jimmyShelter has noted, the root is identical to Sméagol and smial.

edited Jul 29 '14 at 17:55

answered Jul 29 '14 at 06:10

Valorum

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Interesting fact: this is the same name as Old English Sméagol. – Jul 29 '14 at 07:30
Jimmy Shelder officially succumbed to the Dark Side of the Stack – DVK-on-Ahch-To Jul 30 '14 at 17:53
@DVK - Well, it's a new look, certainly. – Valorum Jul 30 '14 at 18:13
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Another interesting fact: pryftan (or rather, pryftân) does not mean ‘fire worm’ in Welsh—it means ‘worm fire’. It ought to be either pryf tân or tânpryf (or perhaps that should be tânbryf; I'm not quite up to scratch on when lenition does and does not occur in Welsh compounds) to mean ‘fire worm’. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Jan 21 '16 at 06:39

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 04 '14 at 18:24

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I have always thought that the name "Smaug" was related to Polish "smok" = dragon. Tolkien might have had more than one source for this name.

answered Aug 04 '14 at 18:24

Mrs Maggot

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score -2 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 13 '16 at 20:12

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"Smaug" probably came from the name "zmaj" for Slavic dragons.

edited Jun 13 '16 at 20:12

Community

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answered Jun 13 '16 at 16:42

John Doe

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Could you expand on this? – Molag Bal Jun 13 '16 at 16:42

score -5 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 30 '14 at 14:53

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I see the name somehow related to "smog", for the smoke coming from the dragon.

answered Oct 30 '14 at 14:53

algiogia

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Not completely implausible; the word "smog" goes back at least to 1905. – Keith Thompson Oct 30 '14 at 15:12
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But is this just a guess ... – Dave Oct 30 '14 at 21:53
Why the downvote? – algiogia Nov 07 '14 at 16:48
It's really good practice (and matter of politeness) to explain downvotes – algiogia Jan 27 '16 at 09:21
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The upvotes on Dave's comment probably indicate why you got downvotes. – Molag Bal Jun 13 '16 at 16:48

score -5 · Answer 5 · edited Apr 05 '15 at 16:21

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There is a type of Lizard Called a Smaug giganteus or Giant Girdled Lizard, which somewhat looks like a dragon; perhaps he was referring to that.

edited Apr 05 '15 at 16:21

Niall C.

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answered Apr 05 '15 at 15:46

Smaug

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The genus was named in reference to the character. – Piper Apr 05 '15 at 17:35

Where did the name Smaug come from?

5 Answers5

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