Cold-drakes: Difference between revisions

From Tolkien Gateway
No edit summary
(26 intermediate revisions by 16 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
[[File:Kevin Ward - Cold-drake.jpg|thumb|[[Kevin Ward]] - ''True Cold-drake'']]
{{people infobox
'''Cold-drakes''' were, to the best of our knowledge, lesser [[dragons]]; those of dragon-kind who did not have the ability to make fire, yet some of this kind were possibly capable of flying.  
| name=Cold-drakes
| image=[[File:Kevin Ward - Cold-drake.jpg|250px]]
| caption=Kevin Ward - ''True Cold-drake''
| pronun=
| othernames=
| origin=Bred by [[Morgoth]] in [[Angband]]
| location=[[Angband]], [[Northern Waste]], [[Withered Heath]], [[Grey Mountains]]
| affiliation=[[Morgoth]]
| rivalry=[[Dwarves of the Grey Mountains]]
| language=
| people=
| members=
| lifespan="Long and slow"<ref>{{S|13}}</ref>
| distinctions=Could not breathe fire
| height=
| hair=
| skin=
| clothing=
| weapons=
}}
{{Quote|Now the least mighty - yet they were very great beside the [[Men]] of those days - are cold as in the nature of snakes and serpents, and of them a many having wings go with the uttermost noise and speed...|''[[Turambar and the Foalókë]]}}
'''Cold-drakes''' were dragons that could not breathe fire. [[Morgoth]] bred and used cold-drakes in the [[First Age]]. After the [[War of Wrath]], some cold-drakes were found in the [[Northern Waste|waste]] north of the the [[Grey Mountains]].


They were used by [[Morgoth]] in the wars of the [[First Age]], though the only specific mention of them in this period in [[J.R.R. Tolkien|Tolkien]]'s published work may be found in ''[[Turambar and the Foalókë]]'' and, perhaps, in those strange ''serpents of iron'' of ''[[The Fall of Gondolin]]''. After the [[War of Wrath]], in which most would have perished, some few seem to have escaped into the [[Northern Waste|northern regions]] of [[Middle-earth]], beyond the [[Grey Mountains]].
As the millennia passed, their numbers grew, until they became a serious threat in the later centuries of the [[Third Age]] to the [[Dwarves]] that mined the Grey Mountains.<ref name="AppA">{{App|Durin}}</ref> In {{TA|2589}}, [[Dáin I]], [[Kings of Durin's Folk|King of Durin's Folk]], and his second son [[Frór]] were slain at the gates of their [[Dáin's halls|halls]] by a Cold-drake.<ref name="AppA" /> The attacks of these fearsome creatures persuaded the Dwarves to migrate eastwards from the Grey Mountains, and it was soon afterward that their [[Dwarf realms|realms]] in the [[Iron Hills]] and at [[Lonely Mountain|Erebor]] were established.


As the millennia passed, their numbers grew, until they became a serious threat in the later centuries of the [[Third Age]] to the [[Dwarves]] that inhabited the Grey Mountains, whom they eventually made [[War of the Dwarves and Dragons|war]] against. In the year {{TA|2589|n}} of the [[Third Age]], [[Dáin I]], King of [[Durin's Folk]], and his second son [[Frór]] were slain at the gates of [[Dáin's halls|their halls]] by a Cold-drake. The attacks of these fearsome creatures persuaded most of the Dwarves to migrate eastwards from the Grey Mountains, and it was soon afterwards that the [[Iron Hills]] and [[Lonely Mountain|Erebor]] became the major dwellings of the Longbeards.  
==Portrayal in adaptations==
'''2013: ''[[The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug]]'':'''
:Speaking about dragons, [[Thranduil]] tells to [[Thorin]] that he knows dragonfire, as in the past he has fought "the serpents of the North". Saying this, his cheek decomposes, as if some old wound inflicted by such dragonfire is returning.


Of the history of the Cold-drakes after this period we are given no hint. Four hundred years later, at the time of [[Bilbo Baggins]]' journey to Erebor, they seem to have left the Grey Mountains (at least, [[Gandalf]] makes no mention of them when describing the dangers of that region). It is possible that the [[Orcs]] who colonized the mountains after the departure of the Dwarves drove them back into the cold wastes to the north, or that the Dwarves did after they retook them. However, we can do no more than speculate on their ultimate fate.
'''2018: ''[[The Lord of the Rings Online]]'':'''
 
:Cold-drakes appear throughout the northern lands of [[Middle-earth]], particularly in the [[Ered Mithrin]] where they serve "Hrímil Frost-Heart", a dragon who consumed one of the dwarven [[Rings of Power]]. Hrímil's mightiest spawn, the Cold-drake "Vethúg Wintermind", was the one to slay King [[Dáin I]] and his son [[Frór]] in Thikil-gundu, "The Steel Keep" (otherwise known as [[Dáin's Halls]]). Unlike Tolkien's Cold-drakes, who simply could not breathe fire, the game's Cold-drakes often project icy breath.
 
== References ==
 
*{{HM|AA}}
*{{HM|H}}
*{{LT2}} ''[[Turambar and the Foalókë]]''
*{{LT2}} ''[[The Fall of Gondolin]]''


{{references}}
[[Category:Dragons]]
[[Category:Dragons]]
[[de:Drachen#Kaltdrachen]]
[[de:Drachen#Kaltdrachen]]
[[fi:Hyykäärmeet]]
[[fi:Hyykäärmeet]]

Revision as of 18:19, 17 February 2021

Cold-drakes
People
Kevin Ward - Cold-drake.jpg
Kevin Ward - True Cold-drake
General Information
OriginsBred by Morgoth in Angband
LocationsAngband, Northern Waste, Withered Heath, Grey Mountains
AffiliationMorgoth
RivalriesDwarves of the Grey Mountains
Physical Description
Lifespan"Long and slow"[1]
DistinctionsCould not breathe fire
"Now the least mighty - yet they were very great beside the Men of those days - are cold as in the nature of snakes and serpents, and of them a many having wings go with the uttermost noise and speed..."
Turambar and the Foalókë

Cold-drakes were dragons that could not breathe fire. Morgoth bred and used cold-drakes in the First Age. After the War of Wrath, some cold-drakes were found in the waste north of the the Grey Mountains.

As the millennia passed, their numbers grew, until they became a serious threat in the later centuries of the Third Age to the Dwarves that mined the Grey Mountains.[2] In T.A. 2589, Dáin I, King of Durin's Folk, and his second son Frór were slain at the gates of their halls by a Cold-drake.[2] The attacks of these fearsome creatures persuaded the Dwarves to migrate eastwards from the Grey Mountains, and it was soon afterward that their realms in the Iron Hills and at Erebor were established.

Portrayal in adaptations

2013: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug:

Speaking about dragons, Thranduil tells to Thorin that he knows dragonfire, as in the past he has fought "the serpents of the North". Saying this, his cheek decomposes, as if some old wound inflicted by such dragonfire is returning.

2018: The Lord of the Rings Online:

Cold-drakes appear throughout the northern lands of Middle-earth, particularly in the Ered Mithrin where they serve "Hrímil Frost-Heart", a dragon who consumed one of the dwarven Rings of Power. Hrímil's mightiest spawn, the Cold-drake "Vethúg Wintermind", was the one to slay King Dáin I and his son Frór in Thikil-gundu, "The Steel Keep" (otherwise known as Dáin's Halls). Unlike Tolkien's Cold-drakes, who simply could not breathe fire, the game's Cold-drakes often project icy breath.

References