Editing Smaug (section)

===Character===
[[File:Beowulf and the dragon.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Beowulf (hero)|Beowulf]] fights [[The dragon (Beowulf)|his dragon]] to the death in a 1908 illustration by [[Joseph Ratcliffe Skelton]].]]

Tolkien made Smaug "more [[villain]] than [[monster]]", writes the author and biographer Lynnette Porter; he is "devious and clever, vain and greedy, overly confident and proud."<ref name="Porter2014">{{Cite book |last=Porter |first=Lynnette |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KxwCczpFceAC&pg=PA37 |title=Tarnished Heroes, Charming Villains and Modern Monsters: Science Fiction in Shades of Gray on 21st Century Television |publisher=[[McFarland & Company|McFarland]] |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-7864-5795-3 |page=37}}</ref> The fantasy author Sandra Unerman called Smaug "one of the most individual dragons in fiction".<ref name="Unerman 2002"/> The Tolkien scholar Anne Petty said that "it was love at first sight", describing Smaug as "frightening, but surprisingly knowable".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Petty |first1=Anne C. |title=Dragons of Fantasy |date=2004 |publisher=Kitsune Books |isbn=978-0979270093 |page=46 |edition=2nd}}</ref>

The Tolkien scholar [[Tom Shippey]] notes the "bewilderment" that Smaug spreads: he is enchanted by gold and treasure, and those who come into contact with his powerful presence, what Tolkien describes as "the effect that dragon-talk has on the inexperienced", similarly become bewildered by greed.<ref name="Shippey 2005"/> In Shippey's view, however, the most surprising aspect of Smaug's character is "his oddly circumlocutory mode of speech. He speaks in fact with the characteristic aggressive politeness of the British upper class, in which irritation and authority are in direct proportion to apparent deference or uncertainty."<ref name="Shippey 2005"/> In sharp contrast to this is his vanity in response to flattery, rolling over "absurdly pleased" as Tolkien narrates, to reveal his marvellously armoured belly.<ref name="Shippey 2005"/> Shippey comments that such paradoxes, "the oscillations between animal and intelligent behaviour, the contrast between creaking politeness and plain gloating over murder" join to create Smaug's principal attribute, "wiliness".<ref name="Shippey 2005"/>

The Christian commentator [[Joseph Pearce]] describes Smaug's weak spot as his [[Achilles' heel|Achilles<!--BE spelling--> heel]], noting his boastful over-confidence in his own indestructibility, and seeing in the fact that the vulnerability is over his heart a sign that "it is the wickedness of his heart which will lead to his downfall".<ref name="Pearce 2012"/> Pearce likens Smaug's pride to that of [[Achilles]], whose pride leads to the death of [[Patroclus|his best friend]], and of many Greeks; and to the cockerel Chauntecleer in [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]'s "[[The Nun's Priest's Tale]]", where a boastful reply to the flattering fox causes the cockerel's fall.<ref name="Pearce 2012">{{cite book |last=Pearce |first=Joseph |author-link=Joseph Pearce |title=Bilbo's Journey: Discovering the Hidden Meaning of the Hobbit |publisher=[[Saint Benedict Press]] |year=2012 |at=Chapter 10: Dragon Pride Precedeth a Fall |isbn=978-1-61890-122-4 }}</ref>