flo_nelja

I have now a firm headcanon about where dragons come from (given that it's very clearly mentioned that you can't create sentient beings from nothing unless you're Iluvatar)

1) Middle-Earth in olden day is always described as having lots of huge, natural, non-evil but dangerous creatures, and as they play no place in the story I always forgot. But it's the reason why being the Vala of hunting counts as super-badass.
2) When Ungoliant went south, she found no shortage of totally natural giant spiders to have kids with.
3) Ungoliant's descendants are fully material, can die but live very long, and can talk.
4) So it makes total sense that if you have a mad scientist lab and you know this works you would experiment on this. Mix a natural giant snake and a Balrog, and you've got exactly the power level and intelligence that fire dragons have, and then you just have to mix them together and keep the most interesting offspring until they can fly
5) You don't have to imagine there was sex involved like there was with Ungoliant. They have mad scientists labs. It might have happened. Or not.
6) In this theory, Glaurung, that isn't related to fire at all but can breathe fear and lies, is probably Sauron's kid.