Make Room for Dragons

the Elves and Sauron, but if we hear little about Lindon, Eriador, and Rhovanion in the Second Age, we hear virtually nothing about the far eastern lands of Middle-earth. We know only that the dragons fled east from the ruin of Angband, and did not trouble the world for many years after. But if dragons settled in the Withered Heath and nursed their wounds, why did they not recover quickly? The tales of Glaurung and Smaug show these creatures were powerful and cunning. It may be that the early dragons depended upon Morgoth's evil will, and much like Sauron's Ring of Power their apparent autonomy of will was more a disassociated act of their master's malice. That is, the early dragons could have been reduced to an almost mindless state once Morgoth was gone. Such creatures would be able to breed true, and having the capacity for intelligence would eventually have recovered it or developed it. But would that process have required 5,000 years? Or, can those of us who long for tales of courage and daring-do in the Second Age rationalize an adventure among the scaly beasts before Sauron could make full use of them? Dragons could have migrated further east in the early part of the Second Age, spreading their primitive beastly terror among the distant and darkened lands where the Eldar and Dunedain had no contacts and all records perished. There dragons could have become fearsom demigods, through no wit of their own, among primitive men who would know no better than to think that Morgoth had sent them. Sauron indeed began to organize the evil creatures which had once served Morgoth after about the fifth century of the Second Age. He stayed far away from Lindon and Eriador, but not so far that Gil-galad didn't hear rumor of someone or something moving in the shadows. When Gil-galad shared his concerns with Tar-Meneldur, the Elvenking wrote: "A new shadow rises in the East. It is no tyranny of evil Men, as your son believes; but a servant of Morgoth is stirring, and evil things wake again. Each year it gains in strength, for most Men are ripe to its purpose. Not far off is the day, I judge, when it will become too great for the Eldar unaided to withstand." However, Gil-galad's letter reached Tar-Meneldur in the year 882, and Sauron did not even begin establishing Mordor as a stronghold until around the year

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