Why destroy Laketown's bridge?

[Sauron the White]

In THE HOBBIT, in the chapter Fire and Water, the people of Laketown are alerted to the coming of Smaug. They begin preparing for him and one of the things they do is throw down and destroy the bridge to the land?

Why would they do this? Smaug flies. He does not need a bridge to walk across the way some land based invaders would need it. Are not the people of Laketown cutting of their fastest way of their own retreat? Does Smaug need the bridge to land upon? If so there would be other areas of Laketown suitable for that purpose including some of the larger buildings. And then it brings up the questions of size regarding both the dragon and the bridge. In a pre Industrial society, how does a group of people quickly destroy a large bridge in what JRRT describes as "little time".

Could somebody explain this?

[alatar]

Maybe they were prepared for any type of land invader, and so designed the bridge to be 'thrown down' easily. This would be a nice security device.

And how much did they know of Smaug? From the histories that they may have learned from the elves, removing the bridge as a means of access may just have been prudent, as would have been helpful at Nargothrond when Glaurung came calling.

Was Smaug more birdlike or more like a helicopter? What I mean is that I don't see the old worm perching on the weather vane of the tallest building in Laketown. He may have needed some space to land, and that space may not have been available. Would he have come down anywhere, unsure whether the structure would hold him, not knowing if he were going to soon test his swimming skills?

Just some thoughts.

[Sauron the White]

Regarding him needing space to land. I tend to agree. However, there were some sizable buildings in Laketown and - while not on the weather vane - the roof area would probably be amply suited to his landing or at least hopping onto and quickly off again. But even if that were not the case, any water based town has docks for the loading and unloading of supplies. Every dock area I have seen is at least as wide as a bridge. So perhaps Smaug could have landed there. Of course, all this brings up the question of the size of Smaug, his comparison to the landing abilities of a plane versus a helicopter, and the technology necessary to quickly destroy a bridge.

JRRT does the bridge destruction almost as a throw away passing phrase without any detail or explaination. Its very confusing.

I just do not get the necessity of destroying a bridge to stop a dragon who is flying at you.

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Now, it was many years since I read The Hobbit (too many) but destroying the bridge makes a lot of sense to me. In fact, the only reason they built the town on the lake and not next to it was because of the dragon. Although the inhabitants of lake town didn't have any experience of dragons themselves, their not-so distant ancestors did and it was dire, as Smaug brought complete ruin to Dale.

Of course, had Smaug been able to land in the middle of Lake Town, destroying the bridge would've made no sense, as you pointed out. We'll have to assume he couldn't. I guess there would've been too many rooftops, towers, canals and such, for him to make a safe landing. Furthermore, Smaug would've been afraid to get wet and cool down, which would've made him less potent. If he tried to land on a rooftop it might have collapsed, causing him to plunge into the water. In fact, since Lake Town was built as it were in order to offer protection against Smaug, the constructors would have made sure there wasn't any place for him to land safely.

And if we assume Smaug couldn't land on Lake Town, it's clear why destroying the bridge makes sense. Had he been able to land on the shore and cross the bridge on foot, he would have smashed the town to smithereens and killed everyone foolish enough to defend it without any doubt. A known fact about dragons is their soft belly, and Bard was able to slay Smaug only because the arrow came from underneath. With his belly firmly on the ground, a great drake like Smaug is nearly invincible, and the defenders of Lake Town would stand no chance had he been able to cross the bridge.

[Sauron the White]

Of course, had Smaug been able to land in the middle of Lake Town, destroying the bridge would've made no sense, as you pointed out. We'll have to assume he couldn't.

That assumption is convenient and contrary to how I read the story. Laketown brings in lots of goods by boat. They have dock areas which would be suitable for any such landing. You discount the idea of landing on roofs - something which I do not, even if it is just to help him slow down and hop off.

If Laketown is that crowded with small structures that there is no place to land, how would Smaug get around the town while on the ground anyways?

What purpose would there be for him to actually walk across that bridge?

Again, why destroy the bridge? To stop Smaug? How does that stop him? What it does do is cut off the quickest route of escape of the town residents and that does not seem very bright.

Why does a creature who can fly and attack from the air need with a land bridge? It simply makes no sense that I can see.

I agree that if a land based army was marching on your town, then you may want to cut yourself off from them in that fashion. But the attack was clearly by air and the people of Laketown knew that he was coming by air.

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^My point is simple really:

The inhabitants wouldn't have wasted their time destroying the bridge if they thought Smaug could land on Lake Town. And they were right: he could not, or at least did not.

[Sauron the White]

There is a far more obvious point.
Why would Smaug need to land at all?
He has no use for that bridge.
What is the point of destroying a bridge to the land if the dragon Smaug does not need to use that bridge?

And you saw they would not have wasted their time. Fact is they had precious little time according to the author. How fast can they destroy a bridge? Are we to believe that a pre industrial people can destroy a large bridge in the time it takes a dragon, already in sight, to fly to them?

[alatar]

Originally Posted by Sauron the White

That assumption is convenient and contrary to how I read the story. Laketown brings in lots of goods by boat. They have dock areas which would be suitable for any such landing.

These docks received floating barrels and surely some boats, but ships? It's a lake, not a sea port. Regardless, I'm not sure how comfortable Smaug would be landing on something of unproven girth so near the water.

You discount the idea of landing on roofs - something which I do not, even if it is just to help him slow down and hop off.

Could he land on a stick roof thatched with straw? I'm not sure of the structures of Laketown, nor know the weight of Smaug to perform an adequate experiment.

We do know that Smaug rarely ran great distances, and so don't have to discuss worm glycogen levels...

If Laketown is that crowded with small structures that there is no place to land, how would Smaug get around the town while on the ground anyways?

People were responding in fear, plus if he could get into the city on the ground, he may have had more opportunity to eat them than just cook them.

What purpose would there be for him to actually walk across that bridge?

Again, why destroy the bridge? To stop Smaug? How does that stop him? What it does do is cut off the quickest route of escape of the town residents and that does not seem very bright.

There may have been some gold that he might not have minded adding to his horde. Plus at what distance can dragon eyes bemuse people? What if he walked to the town end of the bridge, hypnotized some survivors and made them marry their siblings?

If you knew that that was a possibility, surely you'd throw down your bridge, just to be safe ("Better cooked that hooked!).

Why does a creature who can fly and attack from the air need with a land bridge? It simply makes no sense that I can see.

You're just not trying hard enough.

I agree that if a land based army was marching on your town, then you may want to cut yourself off from them in that fashion. But the attack was clearly by air and the people of Laketown knew that he was coming by air.

Again, they may have been just responding in haste to an attack of which they knew little, little of what form it would eventually take.

[Sauron the White]

I agree that they responded in haste. I also think this is one of the glaring errors in the writing of this part of the tale.

Lets approach this using a bit of common sense.

"Oh look a fire breathing dragon is attacking us from the air".

""Quick, destroy the only bridge that affords us a quick escape to the land"
Yup, now I see.

[davem]

It seemed a town of Men still throve there, built out on bridges far into the water as a protection against enemies of all sorts, and especially against the dragon of the Mountain.

There was once more a tremendous excitement and enthusiasm. But the grim-voiced fellow ran hotfoot to the Master. "The dragon is coming or I am a fool!"he cried. "Cut the bridges! To arms! To arms!"
Then warning trumpets were suddenly sounded, and echoed along the rocky shores. The cheering stopped and the joy was turned to dread. So it was that the dragon did not find them quite unprepared.
Before long, so great was his speed, they could see him as a spark of fire rushing towards them and growing ever huger and more bright, and not the most foolish doubted that the prophecies had gone rather wrong. Still they had a little time. Every vessel in the town was filled with water, every warrior was armed, every arrow and dart was ready, and the bridge to the land was thrown down and destroyed, before the roar of Smaug's terrible approach grew loud, and the lake rippled red as fire beneath the awful beating of his wings.
Amid shrieks and wailing and the shouts of men he came over them, swept towards the bridges and was foiled! The bridge was gone, and his enemies were on an island in deep water too deep and dark and cool for his liking. If he plunged into it, a vapour and a steam would arise enough to cover all the land with a mist for
days; but the lake was mightier than he, it would quench him before he could pass through.

Clearly Smaug was afraid of the lake & wished to avoid it as far as possible. The bridge would have given him access to the town certainly, but its entirely possible that he intended to burn the bridge & thereby burn the town, or even just besiege the place & starve the people.

That said, its not clear he actually wanted to destroy Esgaroth at all, merely teach the people a lesson:

"Barrel-rider!"he snorted. "Your feet came from the waterside and up die water you came without a doubt. I don't know your smell, but
if you are not one of those men of the Lake, you had their help. They shall see me and remember who is the real King under the Mountain!"
He rose in fire and went away south towards the Running River.

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Originally Posted by alatar

Plus at what distance can dragon eyes bemuse people? What if he walked to the town end of the bridge, hypnotized some survivors and made them marry their siblings?

If you knew that that was a possibility, surely you'd throw down your bridge, just to be safe ("Better cooked that hooked!).

That made me laugh out loud. Good stuff alatar!

And StW, didn't they evacuate women children and such before destroying the bridge? This I how I remember it anyway.

I'm getting a bit fed up with this discussion (a smilie not available on this forum comes to mind: you know the 'beating one's head against a brick wall'-one) but let me reiterate and expand on one point I previously made: Lake Town was constructed as it was in order to offer the best possible protection against Smaug. When the defenders destroyed the bridge I must assume they did so because this was part of a pre-devised emergency plan. As they knew the bridge would have to be destroyed quickly I must also assume it was constructed in a manner that makes this possible.