Guardian Dragons

Guardian Dragons by Griffin Cadigan

In Grendel by John Gardner, the Dragon that Grendel encounters is found in a large cave full of treasure. The Dragon converses with Grendel in an attempt to convince the smaller monster to follow the dragon's ideology. This portrayal of the Dragon reflects a common motifs of dragons picking a location and guarding something valuable while there and of dragons conversing with those who enter their lair. Some of the more prominent examples that come to mind are Smaug from the film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, Fafnir in Richard Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelungs, and Durnehviir from Bethesda Game Studios' The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Dawnguard. All four dragons guard something of great value and all aid the protagonist in their conversations.

Smaug is the primary antagonist in The Hobbit, as his occupancy in Erebor is what drives the dwarven company to venture into the Lonely Mountain to take back their kingdom. When Smaug appears to Bilbo Baggins, he is lazing about in his stolen treasure. When the hobbit accidentally awakens the drake, Smaug engages in conversation with Bilbo while trying to find the burglar. In doing so, he is able to figure out Bilbo's purpose and flies off to destroy the neighboring Lake-town in a furious rage. Smaug is shown to be closely guarding his horde of treasure, including the Arkenstone, in a manner similar to the Dragon in Grendel. Both are well-spoken and intelligent, as seen in their dialogue, and are very powerful. They both also are guarding a hoard of treasure that they collected from their conquests. While the Dragon talks of nihilism and a fatalistic point of view while remaining casual with Grendel, Smaug arrogantly boasts of his deeds and strength while maintaining a somewhat formal tone with Bilbo. Smaug in the film also mentions the corrupting influence the wealth has, which foreshadows to Bilbo the greed that Thorin would be overcome near the end of the film trilogy.

Fafnir in Der Ring des Nibelungen, specifically the Siegfried portion, is characterized by his immense greed and ferocity that he guards his treasure with. Here, there is a similarity between Fafnir and Smaug. Fafnir's greed was so great that he slew his own brother in order to horde the treasure that was given to the two by the gods. While he does converse with Siegfried after the son of Sigmund has defeated him, Fafnir only tells him that Siegfried should beware of betrayal before dying. These final words reflect not only what Siegfried will encounter shortly after slaying Fafnir, but also the fate will eventually befall the warrior.

Durnehviir from The Elder Scroll V: Skyrim is much different than the above-mentioned examples. This dragon is found in a place called the Soul Cairn, a plane filled with captured souls. In the past, Durnehviir struck a deal with the rulers of the Soul Cairn in order to gain necromantic magic in order to prove his superiority over other dragons. However, his greediness over maintaining his territory and strength led to his downfall as he had been tricked by the Ideal Masters, the Soul Cairn's rulers; being forced into servitude under them. The only way to be released from his service was to kill Valerica, a woman who who sought shelter in the Soul Cairn. Valerica, however, is a vampire, and therefore was not alive to begin with. Forced to be the vampiress' jailer, Durnehviir eventually is bound to the realm and can no longer return to Tamriel for extended periods of time. Durnehviir is respectful to the Dragonborn after being bested in combat by them during the latter's quest to retrieve a scroll from Valerica and offers to teach them a magical shout in exchange for temporarily summoning the dragon to aid in battle. Durnehviir is interesting to compare and contrast with the other dragons. Like the Dragon and Smaug to an extent, he is affable to the protagonist. He also guards something valuable in the story. However, unlike the other examples, Durnehviir does not want to guard the Soul Cairn, he wants to be free of his burden and be able to fly in the skies of Tamriel once more.