Editing Bard the Bowman (section)

==Creation==
During the drafting of ''The Hobbit'', Tolkien considered how Smaug should die and who would kill him.{{sfn|Rateliff|2007b|p=563}} Tolkien's notes for chapter nine show him considering the option of Bilbo killing the dragon in his sleep, piercing his weak point with a lance,{{sfn|Rateliff|2007a|p=364}} similar to the events in [[Jack the Giant Killer]].{{sfn|Rateliff|2007a|p=374}} This idea remained in his notes after the writing of chapter eleven, but once chapter twelve was complete, Tolkien penned "Dragon killed in the Battle of the Lake" in the margin of his notes.{{sfn|Rateliff|2007b|p=497}}

Bard appears during the drafting for chapter thirteen, when it is said that he kills the dragon with his ancestor Girion's favourite Black Arrow.{{sfn|Rateliff|2007b|pp=556–557}}{{sfn|Rateliff|2007b|pp=572, 574–575}} Tolkien's keeping Bard alive for the rest of the story significantly complicates it since, as the heir of Girion, Bard gives the inhabitants of Lake-town a legitimate claim to Smaug's treasure.{{sfn|Rateliff|2007b|pp=556–557}}