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Consider a scenario in which Smaug was not killed in T.A. 2942, continuing to live to T.A. 3019, the year of the Battle for Middle-earth. Now let's say that he and Sauron had a major disagreement concerning the sharing of the treasure within the Lonely Mountain, at which Smaug grew so angry at the thought of losing even just one piece of it, that he decided to teach Sauron a lesson by attacking Barad-dûr.

Smaug had easily destroyed the city of Dale and Lake-Town, and he easily fire-blasted and smashed his way into the Lonely Mountain so I wonder if it would have been much of a challenge for him to destroy Barad-dûr despite its large size. I doubt that Barad-dûr would have had anything in its weapon arsenal that would have penetrated Smaug's scales and he would likely have had no trouble with taking out the nine Nazgûl riding on their fell Beasts.

If he had wanted to, could Smaug have destroyed Barad-dûr?

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  • Fundaments of Barad-dûr were indestructible unless One Ring was destroyed, otherwise it's anyone's guess what he could do.
    – Mithoron
    Commented Jun 11, 2020 at 18:02

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Probably Not.

Smaug might be capable of destroying Dol Guldor but not The Black Tower of Baradur . This because this tower was made from the power of the Ring and the Ring Must be destroyed to destroy Barad Ur.

Now , at the end of the second age The Elves and Men did manage to destroy the tower but not its foundations. How the elves managed to do that I have no idea.

Secondly, Baradur is made from 'Adamant' .I have no idea what this might be, but evidently it's very tough ( possibly similar to the Orthanc Tower. The Ents could barely make a scratch on it! ) .

Smaug destroyed Lake Town using his Fire, and since the whole town was made of Wood, it was easily destroyed. The same case may be for Dale. He conquered the Lonely Mountain but he couldn't destroy it. His fire has no effect on Rocks and Stones.

Since Barad Ur is also made from a material similar to stone, his fire would have no effect on Baradur ( which in itself is a Tower of Fire ) . He might not be capable of destroying Baradur using his tail either ( assuming that it's made from the same material as Orthanc which is literally indestructible ).

Moreover, Sauron had many fell creatures ( such as Balrogs ) under his sway that could have easily defeated Smaug .

EDIT : It isn't difficult to slay a dragon. Elven warriors slew dragons throughout the first age ( notably Earendil < Ancalagon ) .If an Elf can slay a dragon, it must be a breeze for Sauron.

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  • That's a good point you bring up about the tower being built and protected by the power of the Ring. I don't know if a Balrog could defeat Smaug because I don't think a Balrog's fire whip or fire sword could penetrate Smaug's scales.
    – user126715
    Commented Jun 10, 2020 at 11:15
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    "Adamant" is another form of the word "diamond", but the word can also be used in a metaphorical sense for any material that is supremely hard and unyielding. It has also been used as a synonym of lodestone (magnetite). Tolkien presumably knew all this and did not mean to enlighten his readers as to the exact composition of Barad-Dur's walls.
    – Invisible Trihedron
    Commented Jun 10, 2020 at 12:40
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    @The MadHatter Sauron didn't have any known Balrogs under his command. The Dark Tower was destroyed by mena and elves, sexcept for its foundations, at the end of the seond age. Ancalagon the Black, greatest of dragons, destroyed the towers of Thangorodrim by falling on them, even though they were made by Morgoth himself.. So possibly Smaug could have knocked down the less tower of Barad-dur, even if he couldn't destroy its foundations.
    – M. A. Golding
    Commented Jun 10, 2020 at 16:11
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    Ancalagon was the largest of the dragons.At minimum he is twice the size of Smaug.Which explains why he managed to destroy Thangoridrim . He also had one Balrog at least as Legolas says " ... deadliest of elf banes save the one that sits in the dark tower ".Smaug could probably Knock out Baradur but breaking his bones in he process probably.
    – TheMadHatter
    Commented Jun 10, 2020 at 18:27
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    @TheMadHatter Legolas was calling Sauron an 'elf bane' there, it is not some term that only means Balrog or meant that there was another Balrog in Mordor.
    – suchiuomizu
    Commented Jun 12, 2020 at 0:14