Glaurung Character Analysis in The Silmarillion

Glaurung, one of the first dragons, serves Melkor and bolsters the strength of his orc armies. He leads the orc attack against Nargothrond and meets Túrin, the son of Húrin, whose family Melkor has cursed to misfortune. Glaurung is Melkor’s instrument for enacting the curse; he sets Túrin on the path to ruin by convincing him to go looking for his mother and his sister Nienor. Glaurung is crafty and persuasive—he has the ability to twist the truth and make Túrin believe the worst of himself. When Nienor arrives at Nargothrond looking for her brother, Glaurung places her under a spell that completely wipes out her memory. Several years later, Glaurung travels to the forest of Brethil, where Túrin and Nienor live as a married couple, unaware that they’re siblings. Túrin stabs Glaurung, who reveals the secret of her identity to Nienor before he dies, leading to the suicides of both Nienor and Túrin and fulfilling Melkor’s curse.

Glaurung Quotes in The Silmarillion

The The Silmarillion quotes below are all either spoken by Glaurung or refer to Glaurung. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

‘Farewell, O twice beloved! A Túrin Turambar turun ambartanen: master of doom by doom mastered! O happy to be dead!’

Related Characters: Nienor/Níniel (speaker), Túrin Turambar, Glaurung, Melkor/Morgoth, Húrin, Gwindor

Page Number and Citation: 223

Explanation and Analysis:

In this passage, Níniel remembers her identity as Nienor, Túrin’s sister, and realizes that their curse has caught up to them—she is married to Túrin and pregnant with his child. Nienor and Túrin are haunted by Melkor’s curse on Húrin’s family, which is carried out largely by the dragon Glaurung. During his travels, Túrin changes his name repeatedly in an attempt to avoid his fate. As Gwindor recognizes, however, Túrin can’t escape Melkor by changing his name—his fate lies in himself, not in what he calls himself. Still, Túrin disregards Gwindor, taking on the name Turambar (meaning “Master of Doom”) Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corpori

Glaurung Character Timeline in The Silmarillion

The timeline below shows where the character Glaurung appears in The Silmarillion. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...but Fingon spots the orcs and drives them into the sea. Morgoth then sends out Glaurung, the first of the dragons, to terrorize the elves, but Fingon surrounds him with archers... (full context)

...during a period of peace. Before they can agree, Morgoth attacks suddenly in winter, sending Glaurung and the Balrogs to burn the plains of Ard-galen and killing many Noldor caught in... (full context)

The elves rally to Finrod and Maedhros, but the orcs take Maglor’s Gap and Glaurung burns the land. They manage to keep the orcs from entering Ossiriand and the wild... (full context)

...and instead leads Nargothrond’s forces out to fight Morgoth’s army. The orc armies, aided by Glaurung, are too strong. Orodreth is killed and Túrin carries Gwindor, gravely wounded, from the battlefield... (full context)

Túrin arrives and meets Glaurung in front of the doors of Nargothrond. Túrin withstands his fire, thanks to his Dragon-helm,... (full context)

Túrin attacks Glaurung, who jumps back and offers Túrin his freedom to go and find Morwen and Nienor,... (full context)

...actually Túrin. Rumor says that he was either killed or is still a captive of Glaurung. Morwen leaves Doriath to find Túrin and Nienor secretly follows her. Though Thingol sends guards... (full context)

...Túrin the first time he proposes to her but accepts him three years later. When Glaurung sends orcs into Brethil again, Túrin takes up his sword and leads his men to... (full context)

Shortly after, Glaurung appears on the borders of Brethil, and Túrin makes a plan to defeat him with... (full context)

Glaurung wakes up and begins to crawl over the gorge while Túrin is still below, and... (full context)

Níniel, waiting near Nen Girith, hears Glaurung screaming and, followed by Brandir, runs to find Túrin, who’s still unconscious and appears to... (full context)

...crowd at Nen Girith ask where Níniel is, and he explains that she, Túrin, and Glaurung are all dead. He also reveals Níniel and Túrin’s identities as brother and sister, and... (full context)

...and Túrin is cruel to him, assuming he’s “begrudging” his relationship with Níniel. Brandir repeats Glaurung’s last words, revealing Níniel as Nienor again and calling Túrin a curse on his family.... (full context)

...to do, he meets Mablung with a company of elves who came to help kill Glaurung. Túrin begs for news of his family in Doriath. Mablung explains that Morwen was lost... (full context)

...Nargothrond, where he meets the dwarf Mîm who took possession of the treasure inside once Glaurung left. When Mîm challenges him, Húrin reveals who he is and that he knows that... (full context)

Glaurung Character Analysis

Glaurung Quotes in The Silmarillion

Chapter 21 Quotes

Glaurung Character Timeline in The Silmarillion