Lake Town, Esgaroth
Dale was the human city adjacent to the Lonely Mountains and the gates of Erebor. Dale was a city of humans that served as a trade post for the elves and the dwarves.
However the dragon Smaug would destroy the city Dale when Smaug took over Erebor. The human lord of Dale Girion was killed by Smaug during the destruction of Dale.
The refugees would later settle in the Long Lake and they would build a new city above the water called Lake-Town.
Lake Town was also called Esagroth and Smaug didn’t necessarily destroy Lake Town as Smaug thought the humans posed no threat to him.
Lord of Lake-Town
Unlike the movie, the lord of Lake-Town wasn’t corrupted at the first place and was actually elected by the people of Lake-Town.
The Lord of Lake-Town first doubted Thorin Oakenshield’s claim that he was the heir of Erebor, however after hearing the daring plans of Thorin to slay Smaug, the lord of lake-town would provide shelter and logistics for Thorin. However, when Smaug started to burn Lake-Town, the lord of Lake-town was frightened and tried to flee.
In the novel, the survivors of Lake-Town would disapprove of the lord of lake-town and Bard was elected their new leader. After the Battle of Five Armies, the lord of Lake-town became obsessed with the gold that Bard brought and fled and died in the outerlands in the novel.
In the movie, the lord of lake-town and the councilor were described as greedy selfish people from the first place while both died because of their greed.
Bard, descendant of Girion
In the movie, Bard helps the dwarves sneak into Lake-Town as he hid the dwarves inside barrels of fish. However, in the novel Bard didn’t encounter the dwarves like this nor did the dwarves ever enter barrels of fish.
Bard was a descendant of Girion the lord of Dale, the human city that Smaug sacked along with Erebor. Bard was called a bowman and he was a skilled archer. Later Bard would slay Smaug with the Black Arrow that was an heirloom that descended from Girion.
Prophecy of Erebor
Although the movie talks about a prophecy of the return of the king of Erebor, in fact in the novel there wasn’t such prophecy.
It seems that the prophecy of Erebor was added to give a logical reason for the people of Lake-Town to support Thorin and the dwarves.
In the novel, Lake Town wasn’t under dictatorship of a greedy lord and the people of Lake-Town had no reason to kick out nor resist the dwarves.
Durin’s Day and the Secret backdoor of Erebor
Thror escaped Erebor with Thrain second by the secret backdoor of Erebor when Smaug attacked Erebor.
Thror would then encrypt the location of the secret backdoor of Erebor with Ithildin which is a substance made from Mithril that only appears under the moon light. By Ithildin, Thror marked the secret location of the backdoor and how to find it.
Thorin Oakenshield and the dwarves couldn’t find the secret door as the map indicated that the keyhole shall be lit by the last light of Durin’s Day under the rock where the thrush would peck.
Durin’s Day was a day between Autumn and Winter where both the Sun and the Moon were in the sky. While the dwarves had a hard time finding the keyhole to the secret backdoor of Erebor, Bilbo Baggins was able to discover the keyhole that appeared in the moonlight where a thrush really did peck.
Dragons of Legendarium and Smaug
Dragons weren’t limited to winged dragons but there were also dragons without wings like the first dragon Glaurung and there were cold dragons that lived in the far north Grey Mountains.
The winged fire dragons were also called Uruloki that could breathe fire and the winged fire dragons were considered the strongest dragons of the Legendarium.
The strongest dragon that ever existed was Ancalagon that was slayed by Earendil during the War of the Wrath during the First Age.
Dragons were created by Morgoth, the former master of Sauron and only a few managed to survive after the War of the Wrath that marked the end of the First Age.
There were more dragons living but they resided in the far north and didn’t interfere much in the history of the Third Age except when the dwarves resided in the Grey Mountains.
After the war of the Dwarves and Dragons and eventually the dwarves lost and withdrew from the Grey Mountains, dragons except for Smaug don’t interfere with much with the other races of Middle Earth.
Smaug was the most powerful fire dragon or Uruloki of the Third Age that claimed the treasures and wealth of Erebor.
Encounter of Bilbo Baggins and Smaug
The dragon Smaug could smell the presence of a dwarf from a distance so Bilbo Baggins was selected to scout Erebor as Smaug would have never encountered a hobbit and would be recognize its scent.
Bilbo Baggins would then encounter the dragon Smaug and Bilbo Baggins immediately put on the One Ring to cloak himself once Smaug awaken from its sleep after Bilbo Baggins accidentally made a noise.
Smaug was intrigued because he could smell something and feel the presence of Bilbo Baggins but Smaug couldn’t see him with his eyes as Bilbo Baggins was hiding by the cloak ability of the One Ring.
Dragon Sickness and magic of Dragons
The movie talks about a sickness of greed that flows in Thror, Thrain second and Thorin Oakenshield and a curse of the dragon. In the novel The Hobbit, there wasn’t such sickness of greed nor a direct curse caused by the dragon Smaug.
This curse was set more for the plot of the movies so the audience could better understand the story. However, dragons did possess powerful magic that could seduce humans, dwarves and elves.
During Silmarillion and the stories of The Children of Hurin, the first dragon ever created the wingless dragon and the father of dragon Glaurung would control Hurin and Nienor with the magic of dragons.
Bilbo Baggins wouldn’t ever tell Smaug his real name as Bilbo Baggins feared the magic of dragons. Possibly, Smaug might have cast some magic onto the treasures of Erebor, however in the novel there aren’t any direct statements of such dragon magic.
Smaug’s attack on Lake Town
In the novel, the dwarves never got the opportunity to attack Smaug by themselves because they were stuck in an avalanche caused by Smaug flying to Lake Town.
Smaug would attack Lake Town because he didn’t know the presence of the dwarves and thought Bilbo Baggins was able to burgle in because of the help of the humans of Lake Town in the novel.
In the movie, Thorin Oakenshield and the dwarves attack Smaug and Smaug would stop his attack on the dwarves of Erebor for a similar reason in the novel as Smaug thought the dwarves successfully broke into Erebor because of the help of the humans of Lake Town.
Smaug wanted to give despair and take out the hope of the dwarves by destroying Lake Town to show how helpless they were.
