Dragon Hoard

"A dragon must live in a barrow, / Old and proud of his treasures"

―Maxims II lines 26b-27a - Introducing the Medevial Dragon pg.5

In mythology and fantasy, a dragon will often possess a hoard of gold, treasure, or a multitude of other objects it keeps and covets, of which it will guard with its life. The trope has its origins in ancient Greco-Roman mythology but historically is most prominent in medieval Norse and Old English myths such as the case with Fafnir and Beowulf's dragon. This would be relayed by J.R.R. Tolkien with his dragons and proceed to be brought into modern fantasy.

Examples

Ancient Greco-Roman Mythology

The notion of dragons being guardians of specific objects of desirability and of which they obsess over is prevalent in ancient Greco-Roman mythology as early as the 7th century BCE. Notable examples include the multi-headed Dragon of Ladon, who guarded the golden apples that resided in the Garden of the Hesperides, and the Colchian Dragon who guarded the Golden Fleece. Dragons also guarded places, particularly bodies of water, of which had divine purpose, an example being the Dragon of Ares who guarded a spring that the god Ares presided over before being slain by the warrior Cadmus. The association of dragons with gold is also present in cultural motifs. It was said that for the ancient Greeks, dreaming of a snake indicated wealth and fortune. The association of snakes or dragons with "temple treasures" may have actually originated from ancient Egypt, the Egyptians having a high veneration for snake motifs.

It is important to note that dragons in these myths are more of "watchdogs" for beings higher than them rather than sovereign entities who specifically crave objects of desirability, making them separate from their mythological and literary successors.

Germanic Mythology

Fafnir guarding his gold hoard on top of human remains from his would-be slayers. Richard Wagner, Siegfried 1876

The association with dragons and treasure was notably present in the Old English and Norse mythology and culture. The famous mythical conflicts of Sigurd and Fafnir as well as Beowulf and the dragon he fights are often cited given the importance of the treasure hoards possessed by both dragons in their respective literary depictions. The dragon's hoarding of gold and linked malevolence in Beowulf can be traced to negative views of hoarding in Old English and Norse society, the act of hoarding being seen as infringing on the social welfare and making the object of said hoarding worthless. Meanwhile, the story of Fafnir showcases the negative associations with greed and that dragons are the cause of falling prey to cursed gold, as seen in other myths in Norse mythology where humans turn into dragons, serving as a literary explanation for the origin of dragons. Other cultural motifs, such as iconography on objects of high importance such as those featured on ships and swords having serpentine/draconic motifs on them, shows a connection with serpents/dragons and high monetary status.

In British folklore, there are mutiple sites with buried treasure and burial mounds that are associated with dragons. An example is Devonshire where it is purported a dragon crosses over the Exe Valley from the hill fort on Dolbury Hill to the one on Cadbury or vice versa, guarding treasure on either or both locations. These folk myths do not describe the dragon as an oppressive entity that burns down the countryside though, but rather simple agents that guard treasure till the end of their natural lives, with tales of dragon-slaying not including treasure hoards dragons keep. This makes these relatively recent folk myths separate from the tales of old.

In Popular Culture

Tolkien's dragons, particularly Smaug, share a similar obsession with treasure, of which is likely owed to Tolkien's heavy usage of motifs from Germanic mythology in his works. The story of Smaug in particular shares similarities to both the story of the dragon in Beowulf and Fafnir: the theft of a cup as the first object stolen from a dragon's hoard as seen in Beowulf and Smaug being able to speak as Fafnir is capable of are most notable. Smaug being slain by a human hero as opposed to a dwarf or hobbit that populates The Hobbit, and the return of treasure to its original owners, are also both reminiscent of its predecessors. Tolkien also elaborates on the impact of what happens after a dragon's treasure is taken by their slayers, the dragon's obsession leaking onto his killers in a form of "dragon-sickness" where they become just as obsessive over material objects as the dragon had.

In other modern fantasy media, the dragon hoard is arguably one of the more cliched tropes in the medium. The behavior and motivation of the dragon for developing their hoard can depend on their intelligence and moral compass, the collecting of treasure may only be an amusing habit for an intelligent dragon whereas for more malevolent and monstrous dragons the collecting of treasure serves as their primary motivation. More humorous works featuring dragons may have the dragon collect various collectibles or other objects rather than gold to flesh out an individual dragon's personality through their preferred object to collect and hoard.

Explanations

The dragon's innate love for treasure has been questioned even in classical times. The ancient Greeks and Romans had come up with two popular explanations at the time, the first one being the dragon's hoarding had been divinely ordained. This first explanation can be seen in a fable composed by Roman poet Gaius Iulius Phaedrus (c.15 BCE to c.50BCE) where a fox accidentally stumbles upon a dragon's underground lair and its hoard of gold. After apologizing for its disturbance, the fox asks the dragon why it hoards the gold. The dragon answers that it had been tasked by Zeus to do so, and that it would not be willing to give the gold away regardless of what would happen to it because of that. The second explanation is similar to the modern explanation with dragons simply having an innate love for gold and other treasures, as expressed by some such as Greek sophist Philostratus the Elder (c. 190 to c.230 CE).

In modern times, those that analyze the history of dragons as depicted in mythology often bring up the etymological origin for the word dragon, tracing all the way back to ancient Greek drakon which possibly means "sharp-sighted one" and used as a descriptor for serpentine entities. This contrasts most of the usual term descriptors applied to snakes in the ancient Greek language, which are used to describe the snake's movement, drakon being used to describe the snake's eye movements and more specifically watching. This association, combined with the linking of dragons with chthonic environments and henceforth underground treasures such as jewels, could've solidified the dragon as a guardian of treasures in the literary and mythological scope.