The Greed for Gold
Does the justification matter in the reclaiming of the treasure? Will it affect the overall outcome or restoration of order after the dragon’s death? The works, The Hobbit, Beowulf, and The Volsunga Saga, prove that you must be more justified than the dragon when claiming the treasure. The treasure must truly have belonged to you prior to the dragon in order for the treasure to have a positive outcome and improve the current circumstances. That being said, in The Hobbit, Beowulf and The Volsunga Saga we can also see that sometimes a dragon’s treasure may not always bring you wealth and prosper, peace nor resolve corruption. The problems of these men in these epics may only be resolved if there was a problem to begin with the dragon. They may not simply anger a dragon and steal his hoard without any initial threat from this dragon. Whose treasure was it in the first place? What is the reasoning to why you must claim the dragon’s treasure? In The Hobbit, Smaug, the dragon, hoarded what was initially the dwarves’ treasure. Before Smaug’s arrival to The Misty Mountains, this treasure was King Thror’s. The dragon also took over King Thror’s village, what was their rightful home. The dragon had destroyed the peace of the dwarves under the mountain, stolen their riches and wiped out their population. King Thror being a relative of Thorin and his group of thirteen, gave Thorin and company perfect reasoning to slay the dragon and reclaim their treasure. Smaug also began to wreak revenge on the Lake Town, giving Bard justification to kill the dragon in order to save his fellow people and village. It’s clear that the dragon is less justified in this battle. Smaug had posed the initial threat, resulting in the fight. Out of the three stories, The Hobbit, Beowulf and The Volsunga Saga, The Hobbit is the only one in which the order is restored better after the dragon’s death, there was even a greater peace. The treasure was not cursed like that of The Volsunga Saga nor did