The anatomy of Glaurung

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I am fascinated by Glaurung but I never really could visualize for myself just how the father of Dragons looks like. This is an attempt to clear this out, hopefully with some help. It is a fact that he is a great reptilian-like creature with four legs. He cannot fly, but walks the earth, but how does he move about? Does he crawl on his belly like a huge snake, or would he hoist up his bulk over the ground and walk or run upright (the horror!). To be honest the last part can’t be right, all accounts tell of a crawling snakelike Glaurung. He is a Worm after all and to me that signifies a snakelike creature. But what is a “Worm”, from where did Tolkien get this term? Anyway, Glaurungs undersides was “pale and wrinkled … and all dank with a grey slime, to which clung all manner of dropping filth…”, and this is no doubt the fabled soft belly of a snake that Turin speak of. A dragon’s curse and only weak spot. The manner of movement this makes possible comes in handy quite often though, as Glaurung often sort of glides up and surprises people in CoH. Obviously he can move about almost without sound if he wishes to.

A major problem with the soft slimy belly is the immense heat that seems to emancipate from the great Worm at most times. He enters a river and it boils instantly, people near him almost faint from the heat and stench. Yet he has a slimy belly. Man, he must be gliding around on hot wax.

His upper side is covered by impenetrable armor. Do you think it would have been a bony, crocodilian crust, or thick, snakelike scales or something completely different? And what about his legs? Given that he crawls on his belly they must have been of limited use moving about. Rather used to grab onto things, such as dwarves and ponies, I suppose. One thing is certain, Glaurung has a long and powerful neck for he is able to coil back from swords and tower above his hapless victims. This would indicate an even longer tail end for balancing purposes. Yes, the more I think about it, Glaurung must basically have looked like a huge snake. Perhaps proportionately a bit thicker and shorter than most snakes, but still. His legs must have been rather modest appendixes with much less power than in his tail, yet certainly strong enough to squish a few dwarves with I suppose.

Oh and he talks too of course! Does Glaurung have vocal chords, lips and for the purpose a functional tongue? Hardly think so eh?