What if SMAUG had gotten The One Ring?

[CAB]

Originally Posted by Gordis

Recently on another forum a user has posted this quote, previously unknown to me:

So, it seems,unlike Smaug, Glaurung was a wereworm.

Hmm…I don't know. There was no dragon form before Glaurung, so how could a demon be put in a dragon's body to make Glaurung?

EDIT:

Originally Posted by Gordis

I like CAB's idea connecting the Ring's ability to change size with Sauron's shape-shifting. Great idea, CAB and a quite original one!

Thanks Gordis, but has this really never been suggested before? Well, anyway, I think it is probably the best explanation.

[Gordis]

Originally Posted by CAB

Hmm…I don't know. There was no dragon form before Glaurung, so how could a demon be put in a dragon's body to make Glaurung?

I think Morgoth first bred an animal. Actually Glaurung took long to grow: it is not like a Maia taking shape. I think during his first unsuccessful performance he was still a dragon - a simple animal. But then, maybe, Morgoth used his body to house an evil spirit - a houseless Elf or maybe a maia. Maiar could acquire a physical form on their own, but as DPR has suggested, there was likely a "conservation of mass" issue - even Sauron couldn't change into something really big like a dragon or a mumak.

Originally Posted by CAB

Thanks Gordis, but has this really never been suggested before?

Not to my knowledge.

[Earniel]

It is possible that Tolkien tried to make the genesis of dragons more akin to the balrog, making them demons.

I'm not sure of the term wereworm, though, to me it implies that Glaurung them must also have had another form to which he could turn.

[Gordis]

Originally Posted by Eärniel

I'm not sure of the term wereworm, though, to me it implies that Glaurung them must also have had another form to which he could turn.

I believe "worm" simply means "dragon" in Tolkien's works, not like a species of "Vermes" in zoology.
In the Hobbit Smaug was referred to as "worm":

There was a most specially greedy, strong and wicked worm called Smaug.
It may be a mercy and a blessing yet to know of the bare patch in the old Worm's diamond waistcoat.

Were-something (-wolf or-worm) means an animal inhabited by an evil spirit.

if I have to walk from here to the East of East and fight the wild Were-worms in the Last Desert. - The Hobbit

[Earniel]

Oh, I was referring to the 'were' bit, not the 'worm', that I understood. But if like werewolves, then the wolf-form is a second form, not the only one. At least, that's what the word implies IMO.

[Gordis]

the wolf-form is a second form

Could you, please, explain your idea, Earniel?

[Earniel]

Well werewolves is used for people turning into wolves on occasion, right? The word 'wereworm' suggests to me a similar process, where something is turning into a worm instead of a wolf. The word, to me, implies that there are two forms to content with, which I don't think fits to either Glaurung or Smaug.